SHE inspired so many and now Sophie Rolf will have a lasting legacy.

It will be four years tomorrow (Saturday) since the six year old, of Totland, lost her brave battle with a brain tumour.

To mark the anniversary, her parents, Aaron Rolf and Gemma Blamire, have revealed plans to create a bespoke area for children and young people, where they can receive day respite, social and emotional support sooner after diagnosis, as part of £1.5 million plans to refurbish Oak House, a disused building on Earl Mountbatten Hospice site in Newport.

New spaces for children and young people will be included, such as rooms for group work, relaxation, therapy rooms and areas for socialising.

Aaron Rolf and Gemma Blamire, Sophie's parents, said: "Of all the months, November is undoubtedly the toughest.

"In the four years since we lost Sophie, we have always tried to put a positive spin on November and this new project continues that trend.

"To think the Island is finally going to have an actual building to house these services is testament to how far we have come, which in turn reflects the level of kindness, support and generosity of our little community.

"As a family that has been through the toughest of times, we know just how important it is to have these services in place.

"To now have a dedicated area where these services can overlap seamlessly is a fitting conclusion from where we started.

"Sophie's wish to help other children as they helped her is something we are thrilled to be able to continue."

Hospice chief executive Nigel Hartley said: "So much has already been achieved by Sophie and her family and we are so grateful for their continuing support, which means we can ensure the best quality of care for many more young people much earlier in their life-limiting illness.

"Thanks to our unique partnership, we are already able to provide a bespoke room on our hospice ward for children who are very close to dying and after they have died, when parents can spend time with their child so they can come to terms with their death and say goodbye.

"Although this service is not needed very often, when it is needed, we are able to offer support to the whole family, who can also access our KissyPuppy Children and Families Bereavement Service following the death of a child or adult.

"This bereavement service is open to anyone who has experienced any death across our Island community.

"This new development will mean we have more space to offer day respite to children and their families in the years and months leading up to the end of their life, providing them with a space to be with other children and young people in as normal, as joyful and as sociable an environment as possible."

KissyPuppy - The Sophie Rolf Trust - has pledged £300,000 towards the new children's area, part of a much wider project at Oak House to ensure hospice support services are available to all Islanders who need them.

This will include a new and unique Mountbatten Co-ordination Centre, which will ensure anyone needing hospice care, including older, frail people and those living with long-term conditions are known about sooner, so appropriate support can be put in place much earlier.

There will also be facilities for education and training, so the hospice's expertise and knowledge in end of life care can be shared with their partners across the IW, as well as space to develop a new cohort of volunteers who will in future deliver more services in the places people where people live.

The £1.5m raised through the capital campaign is in addition to the £7m that is needed to continue running current hospice services across the Island, and we remain ever thankful for our community's continuing support.

It is hoped the refurbishment will start next year and will take two years.

A Christmas shop will be opening at Sophie's and Earl Mountbatten Hospice's Lugley Street store, Newport, tomorrow, at 9.30am.

The Earl Mountbatten Hospice has asked us to point out the Oak House facility is not a children's hospice, rather a facility for children with serious illnesses, as stated in the County Press today (Friday).