Wigan and Leigh Hospice faces funding crisis due to budget deficit

Jo Carby, chief executive of Wigan and Leigh Hospice, revealed last year that both rising bills and and a fall in donations during the cost-of-living crisis was having a serious impact.

And the problem has continued this year, with the charity navigating a deficit budget, like the vast majority of hospices across the UK.

Hospice UK has projected that the hospice sector in the UK will be £186m in deficit for the financial year 2023-24.

The Hindley-based hospice depends on charitable income to generate two-thirds of its income, with the rest coming from the NHS.

Every day, the hospice has to raise £12,000 through its charity shops, lottery and fund-raising, just to keep its services going, but this has taken a hit as people in the borough tighten their belts.

Ms Carby said: “It is a really tough time for hospices at the moment. It’s always been a challenge to raise the funds we need to keep our services going, but the additional impact of the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis means we face an even more critical situation than ever before.

“We’re working really hard to secure the additional funding we need to maintain our services, and we’re getting a lot of support from local people and partners.

“It’s often not understood that hospices rely so heavily on charitable income, it’s often assumed that we get all of our money from the NHS. But that’s not the case, and we really only exist thanks to the support of our local community.”

The hospice has been providing specialist palliative care services to people living in the borough for 40 years, as well as support for their friends and relatives.

It costs £18,500 a day to run the hospice – approximately one-third of that comes from the NHS but the rest must come through fund-raising, including donations raised through events and left in wills.

Every donation received goes towards covering the cost of the support the hospice provides to patients and their loved ones.