Hospice Care Week (October 7 to 13) is a chance for hospices across the UK to celebrate the vital work being done to support local people in need of essential palliative and end-of-life care.
Bury Hospice relies on the ongoing generosity of its supporters because, unfortunately, government funding alone, just isn’t enough.
It costs £4.5m a year to run the hospice, which currently only receives a 13 per cent contribution from the NHS.
As a local charity, the hospice faces challenges when it comes to sustaining the provision of our services, which we aim to continue providing free of charge to those who require them.
Hospice Care Week UK draws attention to the hospice sector, calling upon policy makers to usher in a change by increasing government funding in order to ensure hospice sustainability, nationwide.
Hospices across the UK are struggling as the result of a lack of adequate funding, which is increasingly leading to services being cut, inpatient beds closing, and vital community services being drastically reduced.
The theme of Hospice Care Week this year is hospice retail, which, along with community donations through regular giving, fundraising, legacies, and by playing our weekly lottery, form the bulk of the hospice’s income revenue.
The impact of the hospice retail cannot be overstated, because our shops are central to the work that we do.
We have seven shops located across the borough, as well as a donation centre/warehouse in Radcliffe.
According to Hospice UK, for the first time ever, more money has been spent in hospice shops than has been given to hospices by government funding.
Every customer who purchases pre-loved items from any of the hospice shops, is contributing massively to our cause, because every penny spent directly supports our services.
This week in particular, we are celebrating all of the hospice charity shop heroes who provide amazing customer care, product knowledge, and enthusiasm for serving the local community.
Rita Fortune volunteers at our Radcliffe branch, and come this December, she will have been volunteering for the hospice for 10 years.
Rita said: “I used to pop into the shop every week, and thought it would be a good idea to help out as well as get some bargains for myself.
“I have really enjoyed my time, and I’ve met some great people – I hope to continue on as long as I can.”
Rita’s sister Pauline Conway also became a volunteer at the Radcliffe store after she moved to the area in October 2022.
Pauline said: “I decided to join my sister by becoming a volunteer and giving my services. I’ve met lots of nice people and I enjoy giving back in order to help the hospice.”
Our committed volunteers do fantastic jobs across all departments of the hospice, each person’s contribution helping to ensure that our care services remain open and accessible to local people in need, in spite of the huge financial pressures we face.
There are many ways that you can get involved in supporting the Hospice, learn more by heading to buryhospice.org.uk/how-you-can-help.
For more information about the hospice shops go to buryhospice.org.uk/shops.
To find out about the volunteering roles you can get involved in, email volunteering@buryhospice.org.uk or call 0161 543 9671.
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