South Cumbria’s St Mary’s Hospice will receive an £86,000 funding boost from the Government.
The Government announced an £100m package for hospices last year and has now allocated the first £25 million.
St Mary’s Hospice, based in Ulverston, said: “There is a huge gap in funding for palliative care across the UK, and this Government intervention, secured by the great work of Toby Porter his team at Hospice UK, is a very welcome first step to addressing it.
“We provide care for hundreds of families across Furness and the South Lakes and it is that community that funds that care for eight out of every ten of our patients.
“Even with this welcomed intervention, we’ll still be wholly reliant on people taking part in our events, playing our lottery, shopping with us and visiting our Orangery cafe.”
Catherine Burn BEM, St Mary’s chief executive, said: “We welcome this additional funding and we’re grateful to Hospice UK for the work they’ve done on championing the cause of independent hospices, to help persuade the Government of the need for increased funding.
“It costs nearly £6m a year to run our hospice — and we get less than a fifth of that the Government. The increase in the national minimum wage and national insurance changes which in into force in April will mean our staff costs increase by around £200,000 next year.
“So this extra funding is a welcome relief, and we’re thankful for it, but we will still be heavily reliant on our community to support us going forward. We’re so lucky to have such a supportive community across Furness and the South Lakes.”
