Hospice charity launches second urgent fundraising appeal of 2020 as it reveals £2million monthly shortfall

The charity is experiencing an eye-watering £2million a month shortfall, whilst its doctors and nurses continue to play a vital part in the coronavirus effort.

Sue Ryder is appealing to local people to support its urgent fundraising campaign ‘We Can’t Stop’ so that Sue Ryder St John’s Hospice can continue to provide the expert and compassionate end of life care it is so well known for.

And the Biggleswade Chronicle is partnering with the hospice to promote their urgent appeal, with a series of articles in the coming weeks and months which will highlight the crucial and compassionate work of staff, while we’ll also be hearing from families about the care they and their relatives have received.

Allison Mann, hospice director at Sue Ryder St John’s Hospice, said: “Coronavirus has hit us hard. We received a wonderful response from our supporters to our emergency appeal earlier in the year.

“This, paired with the emergency funding that we received from the government, covered our funding shortfall until the end of June 2020.

“Unfortunately however, our struggle continues. Our fundraising events remain cancelled for the rest of this year and our high street shops have now closed for a second time. As we head into the winter months and coronavirus cases continue to rise, we are expecting an increase in people needing end of life care.

“None of us expected this pandemic to go on for so long and clearly a monthly shortfall of £2 million is unsustainable for any charity, which is why we need to ask the public to help us.

“Sue Ryder St John’s Hospice is playing a vital part in the coronavirus effort – all of the staff here want to use their skills, expertise and experience to help patients and their families in the months ahead, as well continue to relieve the pressure on the NHS.

“However, in order to keep our services running through the winter and beyond, we urgently need to secure more funding now.

“We know that times are tough for everybody at the moment, so please be reassured that every bit really does help and thank you very much from all of us.”

To support Sue Ryder visit: sueryder.org/winterappeal20> If you’ve got a story to tell about the work of the hospice, send details to [email protected]