Hospices across London have come together to change perceptions of hospice care and highlight the vital importance of gifts in wills to their holistic palliative care services for adults and children in their communities.
The twelve hospices: Community Hospice, Demelza, ellenor Hospice, Harlington Hospice, Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice, North London Hospice, Royal Trinity Hospice, Shooting Star Children’s Hospices, Saint Francis Hospice, St Christopher’s, St Joseph’s Hospice and St Luke’s Hospice, serve a population of millions of Londoners and directly care for around 25,000 people every year and their loved ones. That’s enough people to fill more than 280 London double decker buses.
Nurses representing ten of the participating hospices came together in central London to encourage people to leave a legacy for Londoners and to highlight the parts of hospice care which are unknown to the wider public, each holding an item representing the holistic care the charities offer. In addition to clinical care across their communities, London’s hospices provide innovative, age-appropriate therapeutic support via art therapy, play therapy, gardening therapy, and pets as therapy. The hospices also offer ongoing bereavement support for those left behind after the death of an adult or child.
The hospices are taking part in the “This is Hospice Care” campaign, a national collaboration of 143 hospices across England, Scotland and Wales, brought together by Hospice UK, which launches today. The campaign includes a powerful national TV campaign based on real life stories from people who have experienced hospice care that challenge misconceptions about hospices, showing the breadth of care and support they provide and highlighting their place at the heart of local communities.
3,657 adults and children and their loved ones benefited from free hospice care in the capital last year thanks to the generosity of people choosing to leave a gift in their will to a hospice. New data released from Hospice UK today suggests legacy donations to hospices in Great Britain fund the equivalent of hospice care for 30,000 people per year, or 6,000 hospice nurses every year.
The hospices are now calling on Londoners to consider leaving a gift in their will to their local hospice, to ensure that the vital care they provide is secured for future generations. A new Hospice UK website, which launches today – www.thisishospicecare.org.uk – helps people find their local adult or children’s hospice, ensuring that the legacy they leave will directly help members of their community.
Last year, many hospices across the country were forced to announce cuts to services and jobs following spiralling costs and a surge in demand for care, which is expected to increase by 25% by 2040. Government intervention before Christmas saw a welcome £100m capital funding boost for both adult and children’s hospices, and an additional £26m grant for children’s hospices. This short-term injection of funds will help ease immediate financial pressures for some hospices for the next two years but it does not solve the ongoing funding crisis affecting the sector.
Leaving a gift in a will – whether a percentage of an estate, a set amount, or an asset such as property – helps fund hospice care for future generations. This flexibility means that any gift of any size will positively impact the care of people at the end of their lives.
Catherine Bosworth, Director of Income Generation and Grants at national charity Hospice UK, is encouraging Londoners to consider the profound impact that a gift in their will can have:
“It is great to see the London hospices come together to celebrate and raise awareness of the impact that gifts in wills have on quality of life and death for adults and children across the capital. Hospices rely on charitable donations to keep their doors open, which is why we’re asking everyone to consider leaving a gift in their will to a hospice close to their heart. By doing so, you can help us continue to provide this vital care, ensuring that everyone has the support they need for generations to come.”
The amount of government support that hospices receive varies, but the hospices involved in the campaign must raise millions of pounds each year to supplement the government funds they receive. Last year, the cost of hospice care for 1 in 7 Londoners was paid for thanks to gifts in wills.
London’s hospices are urging people to leave a gift in their will to help secure the future of hospice care in their communities. Find out more about the campaign and watch the film at www.thisishospicecare.org.uk
