Children’s hospices CHASE and Shooting Star have announced plans to merge.

The two organisations have yet to complete legal formalities, but yesterday issued a statement saying that the decision had come in the wake of two-month consultation with staff, families and supporters.

The new organisation will be called Shooting Star CHASE and headed by current CHASE chief executive David King.

King said that his charity was “delighted” by the decision.

“The work undertaken has confirmed to both boards that a merger is the best way forward and is a fantastic opportunity to build on the great work of Shooting Star and CHASE,” he said.

A spokeswoman for CHASE said that there will potentially be redundancies, particularly given that there will be only one senior management team, but that staff will be consulted in the process when the organisation starts to look at the merged structure at the end of August.

“It is about the families we support and putting them first,” she said.

At present CHASE requires £4m to operate which Shooting Star needs to raise £3.5m. The CHASE spokeswoman said it is yet unclear how much savings will be involved in the merger, but that the total cost of operating both hospices will naturally be reduced.