For a second year, St. Rocco’s are proud to stand with over 125 hospices across England, Scotland, and Wales, for the “This is Hospice Care” campaign, brought together by Hospice UK.
Hospice care is more than you think. Somewhere in your life, in your family, your friendships, your community – hospice care is already making a difference in ways you might not expect. But just as the ways we help people grow every year, the need also grows. At St. Rocco’s we are currently able to support one in six patients because someone decided to leave a Gift in their Will – a stranger, a neighbour, someone who never even used our services – decided hospice care mattered enough to protect. Someone you’ll never meet made sure we could be here for our community. Now we’re asking you to be that someone for the next generation.
When you leave a Gift in your Will to us, you ensure that when someone in the Warrington area researches symptoms at 3am, when a family needs those crucial words, when life feels impossible – we’re here. Together, we can make sure that hospice care lives on for all, for now, forever.
Last year, 450 beds were out of use in UK hospices, and many had to reduce or close some of their community services, primarily due to insufficient funding and financial pressures forcing hospices to scale back services. Many hospices have waiting lists and demand for end of life care is rising. Hospices desperately want to reach everyone who needs them, but financial pressure is holding many back. The reality is that for St. Rocco’s, we must raise over £5 million each year to keep our services running.
Through powerful real-life stories, the This is Hospice Care campaign shows how hospices help support whole communities through their hardest days, and how people in their community can make giving back part of their legacy. From helping people get their pain under control, to planning birthday parties or delivering grief counselling; hospices create moments and bring comfort when it matters most. These stories highlight how critical Gifts in Wills are in keeping this vital support available for everyone, now and for generations to come.
Catherine Bosworth, Director of Income Generation and Grants at Hospice UK, said: “Gifts in Wills are the lifeline keeping our hospices open. Every single hour, someone receives care that wouldn’t exist without the generosity of people who choose to support hospice care in their Will. That’s the reality we’re working with and it’s becoming increasingly fragile, as funding pressures threaten hospice services, right when demand is rising. Our ageing population means demand for hospice care will only continue to grow, so it’s vital that we do what we can to secure hospice care now. A gift in your will to a hospice doesn’t require parting with your money today, anyone can leave a legacy. Gifts of any size can make a significant difference – just £30 can fund a home care visit, £200 a specialist palliative care visit, it all helps hospices be there for people who need them.”
St. Rocco’s Hospice have provided compassionate, wrap around care to those in the Warrington Community for over four decades. Our care is provided free of charge and one in six of our patients are currently supported through Gifts in Wills. Without the generous gifts that people have left us, we wouldn’t have been able to provide this care.
To find out more about leaving a gift in your will to your local hospice, click here or contact us on 01925 575780.
