Katharine House Joins National Hospice Legacy Campaign

Katharine House Hospice has joined more than 120 hospices across the UK in a national campaign encouraging people to leave a gift in their will to support local hospice care.

The ‘This is Hospice Care’ campaign, launched on 16 February and facilitated by Hospice UK, aims to raise awareness of the role hospices play in communities and challenge common misconceptions about end-of-life care.

According to Hospice UK, 59% of people are unaware that hospice services are provided free of charge, while 26% believe inpatient wards are the only option for palliative care.

Katharine House, like many hospices, faces increasing demand, rising costs and a challenging fundraising environment. Gifts left in wills form an important part of its income and help ensure services remain sustainable.

Stephanie Lawless, Director of Fundraising & Marketing at Katharine House, said: “As a charity we always depend on the generosity of our supporters, including the gifts people choose to leave in their wills. In fact, one in ten people we care for is supported because someone before them decided to leave a legacy gift.

“Whilst we receive some statutory funding, we still need to raise around 60% of our core costs from fundraising to enable us to continue to provide our specialist, palliative care for free, both at the hospice and out in the community. It costs more than £5.9m each year to run every aspect of Katharine House and so without support from our community, we simply couldn’t reach as many people. Legacy gifts, however small or large, help us continue to be there when it matters most.”

The week-long campaign is running across television and radio nationwide.