A THREE-YEAR-OLD Bob the Builder fan has met his yellow dungareed hero - and given him a matey bite on the ear too.

Bob wouldn't have minded. The friendly faced builder, who was temporarily foreman on one of the most publicised building sites in the three counties, was honoured to meet Joshua Loader.

For the little boy from Colwall will be one of the first Herefordshire children to christen Acorns' new children's hospice.

He was on the building site at Bath Road, Worcester, on Tuesday, to check over the first stages of the building with Bob, his mum, Beverley and Dad, Dave.

Little Joshua, who will be four next month, was in fine form, attempting to bite Bob's ear and finger to the delight of his parents who had rushed him to hospital only last Thursday.

He spent the weekend in hospital but, perhaps encouraged by Bob's well-sung line 'Can we fix it? Yes, we can' was determined to make this week's celebrations, a major milestone in the charity's £4m appeal.

"Joshua had been in hospital. He had two fits on Thursday morning," said Beverley, 28, who keeps a 24-hour watch over her young son.

She is looking out for a rise in his temperature, an early warning he may be about to have a seizure. On the weekend it was a common chest infection that triggered the fits.

The care Joshua needs means Acorns is invaluable to his family. However, the nearest available hospice is at Selly Oak, Birmingham.

"The one at Worcester will be absolutely brilliant, not so far to travel, which means Joshua won't get all worked up in the car. It will be closer to home and I will feel happier about leaving him as well," said Beverley, who will have a chance to rest while Joshua is cared for.

She has been told he has brain damage, caused by a prolonged epileptic seizure.

He had started having fits when he was just three-months-old. Eventually epilepsy was diagnosed.

"He could have one fit a week or two in one day, it varies with him. We couldn't plan to do anything or go anywhere. Fifty-odd times he's been in hospital," said Beverley.

It was October 2001 that Joshua had a massive seizure. "He ended up in Birmingham Children's Hospital. He was in a semi coma for three weeks. He started coming round and we could see a little boy lying there with his eyes open - but there was no one there. You could flick your fingers but there was nothing."

Brave Joshua has made huge progress this year. The nasal gastric tube he received his meals through has been put away and he is enjoying his food mashed. Fits have also reduced. There is panic when his temperature creeps up, but tentatively his family hope he is improving.

They found solace on Tuesday by talking to other families in the same situation. The first signs of support closer to home came at the end of 18 months of hard fundraising.

It's expected the building programme will take around 13 months to complete. Contractors, Malvern-based Speller-Metcalfe, plan to hand over the hospice to Acorns at the end of 2004 for the finishing touches.

When that's done, the state-of-the-art building on the southern boundary of the city will be able to provide palliative care for more than 200 children and their families across Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire - with an estimated 50 from the county.

It will have 10 bedrooms, a multi-sensory room, a specially designed playroom, hydrotherapy pool, family accommodation and a dedicated unit for teenagers as well as an acre of landscaped gardens.

Popularly, the grounds also include new stables and a paddock for resident donkeys, Dotty and Sally.

Acorns has raised £3m of the £4m it needs to build and equip the hospice. "It's hard to believe that 18 months since launching our fundraising appeal to the general public we are now starting to build the new hospice. It's a fantastic moment," said Acorns' chief executive, John Overton.

For further information or to make a donation, call Acorns on 01905 767676 or visit www.acorns.org.uk