A charity set up in memory of a popular youth leader has opened its fourth "home from home" to help leukaemia patients and their loved ones.

The Karen Morris Memorial Trust's free facility in Birmingham will provide two families with a welcoming space to stay with the patient during their treatment. The trust already offers places for 11 families at hospitals in London, Oxford and Cambridge.

Ms Morris had leukaemia and her mother, Sylvia - who established the charity in 1999 - said it was important to help patients "escape the cabin fever of hospital.

"There's all the creature comforts of home and they don't feel they are in a hospital setting.

"They can get their favourite meals and there are books, games and DVDs in all the flats.

"It helps their emotional well-being, which contributes towards their physical well-being. The family members who stay in the flats are also calmer as a result and are available 24/7."

The trust had "raised over £1.8 million, set up four homes and along the way funded some complementary services for leukaemia patients. It's unbelievable."

Among guests at the official opening were Birmingham Progressive Synagogue chair Valerie Harrison and Rodney Mariner, the rabbi emeritus of London's Belsize Square shul.

One of the first occupants of the home, Gerald, told the audience how much it meant to him to have a place where he and his wife could stay while he received care.

"I was diagnosed with chronic myelomonocytic leukaemia and live midway between Bristol and Gloucester.

"The hours of daily travelling would have been too much. I wanted you to know how much this facility has helped me at this time of uncertainty."