Birmingham Hospice has been awarded over £1.1 million as part of the £75 million of additional funding for hospices announced by the Government.
This funding must be used for capital projects such as buildings and equipment, not ongoing costs such as pay, and needs to be spent by March 2026.
We have earmarked the funding to make several improvements including energy efficiency measures to reduce our costs, new shop openings to drive our income, the development of our Heeley Road shop building in Selly Park to look at additional sources of income, and a long-term plan for our houses in Erdington.
In addition, we have invited our people to put forward suggestions for projects that generate a return for the hospice, or that support end-of-life care. Expressions of interest for this are currently open and we are looking forward to receiving ideas on how we can use this money to further support the care that we give across our sites.
We received over £200,000 earlier this year as part of the same funding pot from central government, which has been used for projects including new flooring and rewiring work, refurbishment of the Boardroom at Erdington, new laptops and an additional larger van for the Retail Team to support the ever-increasing house clearance work that we are undertaking, which generate vital income.
This year, it is estimated it will cost around £19 million to run our services and 42% of our costs need to be covered through voluntary income such as fundraising activity, income from our shops and voluntary donations.
Paul Bytheway, Chief Executive of Birmingham Hospice, said: “Hospices continue to face a very challenging funding situation and any extra investment is welcome. Investing in our buildings and equipment will help us to ensure our services are fit for the future. However, this funding cannot be used for ongoing costs such as staff pay and it is vitally important that a long-term solution to give hospices sustainable funding is found.
“We are pleased to see the importance of palliative care was recognised in the Government’s 10-year Plan for the NHS, while the current debate on Assisted Dying has also moved this issue up the agenda. We continue to work with our colleagues in Hospice UK to make the case for increased funding for hospices both at a national level and locally.”
