Hospices facing uphill struggle (From News Shopper)

Hospices facing uphill struggle

12:03pm Thursday 11th April 2002 in News

News Shopper's campaign to get proper funding for children's hospices is starting to gather pace. This week we look at the uphill struggle these charities face to fund children's hospice care ...

EVERY year, children's hospices face raising at least £1m to keep going. Unlike hospices which care for adults, children's hospice charities have to raise all their running costs themselves.

While adult hospices like St Christopher's, in Sydenham, or Greenwich, and Bexley Cottage Hospice, receive about a third of their costs from the NHS each year, similar care centres for children get little or no NHS help.

For Demelza House in Sittingbourne, which cares for children across the News Shopper area, this means raising £1.6m every year, to maintain its eight hospice beds, employ its specialist staff and provide care and support for children and their families.

The Ellenor Foundation, in Dartford which provides hospice care for children at home in Dartford, Gravesham and Bexley, has a slightly less daunting task, but still has to work day in, day out to find the £350,000 a year it needs to keep going.

If children's hospice care was funded in the same way as adult care, it would take part of the burden off fundraisers.

The Government says it provides money for children's hospice care to health authorities and primary care trusts.

But because money is always in short supply in the NHS, and there are relatively few children who need hospice care, the health authorities prefer to pay for it on a case-by-case basis.

As Chris Lock, commissioning manager for Dartford, Swanley and Gravesham PCT said: "We have to prioritise. There's never enough money."

Alexa Kersting-Woods, head of fundraising at Demelza explained the problems of a never-ending fundraising treadmill.

Last year when the hospice ran into serious financial problems, it only had one person in charge of raising funds. Now there are 10. Three are administrators and two are part-time.

Five are community fundraisers, who try to raise the profile of the hospice and support fundraisers and their events.

"It is very competitive. Some big charities have big marketing departments. We are quite small," explained Alexa.

One key element are the regular donors who give the hospice a guaranteed income. Commercial sponsors who provide services are another and so are companies who "adopt" the hospice for a year or more.

She added: "We have a strategy and regular targets but of course, we never reach the end because there is always another £1.6m to raise."

A LITTLE SLAVE LABOUR GIVES A VITAL LIFELINE

SIXTH formers at Coopers School, in Chislehurst, raised more than £1,600 for Demelza House despite being limited to three days of fundraising instead of a week, because of bad weather.

Organised by Jonah Hardy and Gemma Garrard, events included pupils "buying" a sixth former as their slave for a day, teachers in the stocks and a sixth form cabaret.

Demelza House is holding an open day on April 27, when visitors can meet staff and volunteers and tour the hospice. Call Lisa on 01795 845228 to book a place.