£130k drop in hospice funds

Donations to a Wolverhampton hospice have plummeted by more than £130,000 this year, it was revealed today.

The hospice in Compton Road West has received £376,468 since the start of April, compared to £512,502 for the same period in 2008.

Support and sponsorship from corporate backers has also declined.

Hospice spokesman Simon Cater said today it was a "challenging time" for the charity, which provides free care to a catchment area of 1.3 million across the Black Country, including Wolverhampton, Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and South Staffordshire, and is only part-funded by the Government. We have noticed a considerable drop in donations," said Mr Cater.

He revealed donations for memorials were down by £65,300 and public donations had dipped by £28,800 on last year. It costs more than £5 million a year for the hospice to provide its services to people with life-limiting illnesses and their families.

With Government funding only providing one third of this, Mr Cater says the hospice relies heavily on fundraising to maintain its level and quality of care, and that the donation budget set by bosses was down by £20,500.

"People are still being very generous and raising money for us by holding events which is very much appreciated," he added. "They will just ring us up out of the blue and say we're holding an event for the hospice. The shops are doing all right at the moment as well."

The hospice was forced to scrap a fundraising trek up Mount Etna in Sicily this autumn because not enough volunteers signed up.

Meanwhile Acorns Children's Hospice in Walsall launched a crisis appeal for more than £1m in March this year to help secure its future and safeguard the care of hundreds of severely ill children from across the Midlands.

Several posts were axed from the fundraising team at the start of the year. But bosses have vowed they will not cut any of the 600 beds available at hospices across Walsall, Birmingham and Worcester.