From almost 50,000 contacts by our Community Team to serving 30,000 people in our shops, the influence of Birmingham Hospice extended across the city and beyond over the past year, as evidenced by our latest Impact Report.
We reflected on our recent successes as well as looking to the future with the launch of our 2025-28 strategy, setting out our priorities for the next three years, during a civic reception at Birmingham’s Council House on Thursday 9 October to coincide with Hospice Care Week.
The event was hosted by Chief Executive Paul Bytheway and Chair of the Board of Trustees Dawn Ward CBE DL. Guests included Councillor Zafar Iqbal MBE, the Lord Mayor of Birmingham, and representatives from the health and social care sector, local MPs and councillors, corporate supporters of the hospice, and partners from the voluntary sector.
The strategy, entitled Our Future Together, outlines a clear and ambitious vision for transforming care for our patients and embracing new ideas and technologies, while staying true to the values and heritage that have guided us for over a century.
At a time when demand for end of life care continues to grow while the financial pressures on charities remain challenging, we delivered high-quality care at our sites in Erdington and Selly Park and in the community throughout the 2024-25 period. An average of 670 patients received care across our services every day, and patient feedback shows 99% of respondents would recommend Birmingham Hospice’s services to those who need them.
Other highlights included:
- Around 70,000 hours of work donated by 660 valued volunteers in roles across the organisation.
- Over 370,000 people served in the hospice’s shops.
- Four major awards for the organisation including Charity Shop of the Year and Greater Birmingham Chamber of Commerce’s Excellence in Inclusive People Development prize.
- Over 350 training sessions, reaching more than 3,400 healthcare professionals, students and community partners, delivered by the charity’s in-house Education Team.
- Nearly 200,000 video views on TikTok, in the hospice’s first year on the platform.
It cost £18.8million to run Birmingham Hospice’s services last year – that’s £1,566,666 per month or £51,506 per day – and 42% of those costs need to be covered by voluntary income such as fundraising activity, income from our shops and voluntary donations.
Chief executive Paul Bytheway said: “It was a huge pleasure to see so many of our valued supporters at this event, which allowed us to set out our achievements over the past year and engage in some valuable discussions about the future of our care.
“Like hospices across the country, this past year brought us real challenges. What truly made the difference was our incredible supporters – from fundraising efforts to volunteering time; from spreading the word about our work to simply being there when we needed it most. Hospice care is truly a community effort; it’s what makes our care possible.”
The Impact Report and Strategy can be viewed online here.
