Budget prompts hospice's urgent funding appeal

Sean Collins' wife Felicity died at St Giles Hospice last year

A struggling hospice has launched an urgent appeal for funding, following the rise in national insurance announced in the Budget.

St Giles Hospice in Lichfield, Staffordshire, announced redundancies and bed closures last month due to a £1.5m deficit.

It now faces having to find an additional £200,000 to cover increased national insurance contributions.

The hospice's CEO, Elinor Eustace, said they had done "everything we can" and were now urging the government to intervene.

Ms Eustace called on the government to "make some decisions on hospice funding fairly quickly, in order for the hospices who have done things like we have to make ourselves sustainable to continue to be sustainable.

"We do not want to cut any further services, we do not want to cut any further staff."

Sean Collins, whose wife Felicity died at the hospice last year, started fundraising for the charity after he discovered how heavily the service relies on public donations, with only 18% of its funding coming from the NHS.

He said: "They need to fully funded because you never know when your loved one might need one."

Talking about the care his wife received, Mr Collins said: "I truly believe she didn't die in pain and that bit alone I will always be thankful for".

"You wouldn't get that in a hospital".

"Hospices are here to stay, people will always need them."

Reduced footfall at the charity's shop in Tamworth is creating further financial challenges

Construction work near the St Giles shop in Tamworth has placed the charity under even more financial pressure, as reduced footfall has seen the store lose £300 each day.

Ms Eustace told the BBC that loss equated to half a day of patient care.

Tamworth Borough Council have apologised for disruption to retailers.

Ms Eustace added that any further cuts to the service would be "detrimental to our population and the NHS".