Income at Wolverhampton Compton Hospice plummets by £700k

The hospice's chief executive, Ron Middleton, admitted that some areas of the accounts were "disappointing". There were some positives from the figures, though, with trade income up to £2.8 million from £2.7m, with new hospice shops helping to boost the total.

And the hospice also has a surplus of almost £500,000, although Mr Middleton said that only amounted to a couple of weeks of running costs.

However the drop in income – £7.8m, down from £8.5m in 2010-11 – is skewed slightly as the hospice received a £500,000 Department of

Health grant a year ago towards a refurbishment project for 18 rooms.

Spending was also down to £7.3m, from £7.6m.

The chief executive said the results were a mixed bag.

"There's a lot of comfort in the fact we had a surplus and it's difficult to compare with the previous year because of the grant," he said.

"There are some areas of fundraising which are disappointing.

"Corporate support for example is quite difficult in Wolverhampton."

The hospice received £630,154 in voluntary donations and £864,770 in wills for the 2011-12 financial year. In 2007-08 those two figures were £1.1m and £1.3m respectively.

A relocation of the hospice's in-patients unit cost £162,000 and there were repair costs of £384,075.

But costs associated with the running of the hospice reduced by £244,830 – in part down to a cost-cutting programme which resulted in a small number of redundancies and a reduction in staff hours.

Mr Middleton added: "It's hard work out there. We continue to need the great support we have from the Wolverhampton public."

The hospice, in Compton Road West, has 259 staff.