The new Heart of Kent Hospice at Linton has £3.53m from Maidstone council, but £12m of its £18.5m cost is still to find. What it will have, and how to give.
Heart of Kent Hospice has £3.53m from Maidstone Borough Council towards its new building at Linton. It still has to raise £12m before the hospice can be built.
The council announced the award on 7 October. The hospice confirmed it the same day and said the money takes it past a third of the £18.5m project cost.
The new hospice will replace the charity’s current home in Aylesford, which has served the area for 35 years. It will stand at Greensand Place, Heath Road, Linton, next to the Greensand Health Centre on the eastern edge of Coxheath. That is about three miles south of Maidstone town centre.
Where the money comes from
The council’s money is Community Infrastructure Levy, a charge on new development that the borough spends on infrastructure. Cabinet chose the hospice as one of eight projects on 22 July, and we reported the full list of allocations in August. The council’s release this week says the projects add up to a £13.8m package.
The hospice’s Future Hospice page sets out the rest of the funding:
- an estimated project cost of £18.5m
- a target of £12m from its capital campaign with donors and supporters
- a legacy of nearly £3m from Edwina and David Bicker, who left the hospice 75% of their estate, according to the hospice
- the money from selling the Aylesford hospice
- the hospice’s own contribution
What the new hospice will have
Maidstone’s planning committee approved the move on 20 June 2024. The detailed reserved matters application was approved in November 2025. The hospice says that approval means building work must start within three years.
According to the hospice’s own plans, the building will have:
- 12 single bedrooms on the inpatient unit, two more than now, each with an ensuite and direct access to the gardens
- larger bedrooms with beds that extend into “cuddle beds”, so visitors have more room
- a public café looking out over the Greensand Ridge valley
- large landscaped gardens and woodland
- rooms for outpatient services, and a base for the hospice’s community nursing team
- better access and parking, with a separate entrance to the inpatient unit
The hospice says 12 beds is the right number because most of its patients prefer to be cared for and to die at home. It also says it can run 12 beds without adding staff, and the building is designed so it could be extended later.
Three other buildings have planning permission on the same development. None of them is led by the hospice:
- a 73-bed extra-care home
- a 14-unit block where young autistic adults can live independently
- up to 56 affordable bungalows for older people
Why it is moving
The current hospice opened in 1991. The charity says it is hemmed in by other development, with no room to expand. It also says the building needs frequent, costly repairs and its bedrooms are cramped.
Demand is rising. The hospice supported 2,153 people with a terminal illness in 2024/25. It covers a catchment of more than 266,000 people, and it cites forecasts that Kent’s over-65 population will grow by 32.5% between 2025 and 2040. Its care is free, whether at home, in a care home, at the hospice’s drop-in sessions or on the inpatient unit.
The building is only part of the bill. Chief executive Ann-Marie Kelly said in November 2025 that the hospice has to raise more than 80% of the £7.6m a year it costs to run its services.
What they said
Councillor Tony Harwood, the council’s Cabinet Member for Planning Policy and Management, said: “The hospice provides invaluable support to thousands of local people and their families, and this funding will help progress plans for facilities that can meet the community’s needs for many years to come.”
Ann-Marie Kelly said: “We are delighted to be awarded this substantial funding from Maidstone Borough Council’s CIL funding which will future-proof the provision of outstanding palliative and end-of-life care for terminally-ill people in our community.”
What it means for you
- If you want to give to the building fund, the hospice takes donations through its Future Hospice appeal page. Larger gifts and business support go through Erica Snow, its Head of Capital Campaign, on 01622 790195.
- If someone you know needs the hospice now, nothing changes yet. Care carries on from Aylesford, and the hospice explains how to make a referral.
- If you live in Coxheath, Linton or Loose, the hospice and the homes around it will be your neighbours. The hospice’s page has its contact details for anyone who wants to see the detailed plans.
- The hospice is asking for ideas for an art installation in the new building. It asks what hospice care means to you, on the same Future Hospice page.
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