Worrying time for Wigan and Leigh Hospice as cost-of-living crisis hits bills and donations

Around £10,000 a day is needed to keep services running at Wigan and Leigh Hospice, which includes providing palliative care on its inpatient unit, for day patients and in people’s homes.

Around two-thirds of that funding comes from charitable giving, including donations, fund-raising and legacies.

But the Hindley-based charity is seeing donations of all kinds drop as people across the borough struggle with the rising cost of living and make cutbacks.

It is also being hit by rising costs associated with running its services, including wages for staff and food for patients.

Jo Carby, the hospice’s chief executive, said: “The cost-of-living crisis is affecting Wigan and Leigh Hospice as it is affecting everyone. We are experiencing a rise in food costs, in staffing costs and other price increases.

“People are struggling which means we are receiving fewer donations than this time last year and the income of our charity shops has not returned to pre-pandemic levels. Some are choosing to reduce the amount they spend on our weekly lottery or cancelling their subscriptions altogether.

“The hospice is a charity and has to raise around £10,000 every day in order to keep all of our services running and provide care for over 1,200 patients every year. This is very difficult in the current financial climate.”

While the hospice already has a range of income streams, from its charity shops and lottery to legacies and sponsored events, it is now looking for new ways to raise money to keep its services running and people across the borough are being encouraged to help where they can.

Bosses are also looking at ways of reducing the cost of running the charity to help balance the books.

Ms Carby said: “We are exploring new ways of generating additional income and reducing our costs. Our community can help by fund-raising, joining our weekly lottery, visiting our shops and using Gift Aid to make donations go further.”

To find out more about Wigan and Leigh Hospice and how to support it, visit www.wlh.org.uk