Comment: St Catherine’s Hospice needs our support more than ever

Most of us living here have had first hand experience of the vital work they do - we’ve seen the compassionate care they offer our loved ones in their final days and the support they give our families during the darkest of times.

They provide physical and emotional care, with a mission that no-one should face death and loss alone.

The value of this provision is simply immeasurable.

But hospices are largely funded by us - their supporters in the community.

Only one third of their funding comes from government, the rest relies on the generosity of local people and businesses.

Normally that comes in spades, with fundraising events from the popular Midnight Walk to marathons, cake sales, cycle rides, and coffee mornings.

But we all know times are tough and those sorts of events haven’t happened this year thanks to the pandemic.

St Catherine’s isn’t alone in this - all of our charities are struggling with a shortfall in donations.

The hospice is predicting a drop in funding of £1.5 million this year, so today we’re launching the Help Our Hospice campaign to highlight the great work being done there, and to encourage you, our readers, to get behind them.

Has your fundraising event been cancelled? Why not think of an alternative way you can raise money in a Covid-safe way for this most worthy of causes. Is your group or school looking for a good cause to support? Here’s one, right here.

And every penny counts.

Let’s see what we can achieve if we all work together.