Keech Hospice Care is the new name for The Pasque Charity and its two hospices - The Pasque Adult Hospice and Keech Cottage Children's Hospice.

The hospice services have been operating under different names for many years, often causing confusion for patients and supporters alike.

Despite the different names, the hospices have always been part of one organisation, based at one site and sharing one set of values and philosophy of care - to provide the best quality of life for patients and their families.

The new name, which was announced at the charity's Annual Public Meeting on Wednesday 30th September, has been chosen because it brings together the strongest elements of the charity's current identity.

David White, Chief Executive of Keech Hospice Care, explains: "Our new name provides a clearer identity for the charity and a greater understanding of who we are. Our previous, multiple names diluted this message and often caused great confusion and difficulty for our staff, volunteers, patients and supporters.

"There is also a financial gain to having one identity as it will substantially reduce our print, design and administration costs."

As the name changes, the charity wants to reassure all its supporters that the care it provides for adults and children and their families will remain the same high standard, delivered by the same group of professional people.

The name change will also not affect those people who wish to support either the adult service or the children's service. Supporters will still be given the opportunity to specify where their donation goes.

David concludes: "We recognise that a name change can take a while to get used to, but we are really excited about our new name and hope our supporters will share our enthusiasm."

For more information about Keech Hospice Care and its new name, visit www.keech.org.uk or contact the charity's Communications team on 01582 492339.

Press Enquiries: Please contact Sally Airey at Keech Hospice Care via email at sairey@keech.org.uk or call on 01582 497874.

This is not the first time the charity has changed its name. When the adult hospice opened in 1991 it was called the Luton and South Beds Hospice - a name that neatly reflected the catchment area it served. Nine years later, the charity opened Keech Cottage Children's Hospice, a service that covered a much wider area - the whole of Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire (and more recently Milton Keynes too).

With the charity's work extending beyond it's original Luton and South Beds boundaries, the organisation was renamed The Pasque Charity in 2002. This name, which was chosen with the locally grown Pasque flower in mind, was also applied to The Pasque Adult Hospice, while the children's hospice retained its association with its major benefactor - the Keech family.