St Wilfrid’s Hospice Chichester welcomes MP

Having spent the afternoon meeting St Wilfrid’s employees, volunteers and friends of the Hospice, Mrs Brown-Fuller sat down with Lois Howell, St Wilfrid’s CEO, and Soline Jerram, the Chair of Trustees to discuss the Hospice’s role in the community, as well as a hospice funding.

The MP praised the services St Wilfrid’s provides to local people and recognised the huge operational costs that will be impacted as a result of last week’s budget announcement.

Jess Brown-Fuller went onto say “St Wilfrid’s Hospice provides an invaluable service in our community and I am so grateful for the support they provide, both professionally and personally as I have friends who have been supported by St Wilfrid’s. While St Wilfrid’s is supported by local donations, its operating costs are large and will increase further as a result of the budget, unless an exemption is made for the proposed increase in employer NI contributions. Hospices provide a service that cannot be replicated elsewhere”

Over the last year, St Wilfrid’s Hospice had an average of 343 patients on their case load at any time, and provided 3,453 beds to patients. The Hospice received over 1000 referrals in their last financial year, while at the same time making over 5,000 contacts to patients and loved ones thanks to their Family Services Team.

As an independent charity, the Hospice relies on government grants and funding from the local community to run these vital services. Only 17% of St Wilfrid’s costs are covered by a grant received by the NHS, less than the national average of 30%. The rest of the £9million it takes to run your local charity hospice, needs to be raised by the local community.

With Hospice funding now in crisis, it is important to recognise these services and support St Wilfrid’s today. There are serval ways to get support or donate which can be found online: https://stwh.co.uk/