Hospice charity’s desperate plea for cash in crisis
A charity hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak is appealing for “urgent” support after being left with a “huge hole” in its budget.
Kemp Hospice, based in Kidderminster, which cares for people experiencing life-limiting illnesses and bereavement, is facing its “greatest challenge” in its 51-year history due to the pandemic.
Karen Coles, care services manager at Kemp, said: “Today, in these challenging, worrying times I am asking for your urgent help in caring for local patients and their families who need us now more than ever during this crisis.
"I am so proud to be part of a nursing team that has cared for thousands of patients, family members and carers in our community.
“But now we are confronted with the greatest challenge we are ever likely to face. But we knew we could not leave them to fend for themselves. We had to act.
“We decided that if our patients cannot come to us, we will simply have to go to them. From the start of August, we are going to be taking our care services out into our community.
"Every patient will be able to access our specialist nursing care, physiotherapy, creative therapies, welfare advice and spiritual care all in the safety and comfort of their own home.”
But Karen said the new way of working will only be successful if the hospice continues to receive funds from people within the community.
She added: “During the pandemic we were forced to close our shops and cancel all our planned fundraising events for the summer.
“This has left a huge hole in our budget.
“The Government has given some welcome support to hospices recently, but this will not come anywhere near covering the costs of the care services we know our community will need.”
To donate visit www.kemphospice.org.uk
