Hospice: Think of us this Christmas
The Heart of Kent Hospice is making a desperate plea to people over the festive period.
It needs to make savings of £575,000 in the next year, having already made cuts of £420,000 this year.
Cuts have become necessary to keep the Aylesford hospice running. It provides inpatient and outpatient care, as well as community nursing and bereavement support.
Freezes in government funding over the last five years mean the hospice is now reliant on community fundraisers for 84% of its running costs.
The service is now faced with having to make staff redundancies in a further bid to cut costs while maintaining services.
There are currently 128 permanent members of staff, and several volunteers. The organisation is currently in a 90-day consultation about job losses, where 20 or more people could lose roles.
Since being opened in 1992 by Princess Diana, the hospice has helped 10,000 local people. It is now asking them for some help in return.
Last week, The Kent Messenger and Heart of Kent Hospice launched the Get Behind campaign, which aims to raise £600,000 in the next year.
Since then, the hospice has seen great support from members of the public, with donations coming in, and more than 600 people attending the Christmas fair on Saturday.
Staff now hope anyone holding charity or fundraising events in the coming weeks will think of them as a potential beneficiary.
A spokesman said: “If you are meeting friends, planning a raffle at a night out or works Christmas party or a collection at your local church or school please get behind the hospice.
“We appreciate people have already made plans for Christmas but if you are able to include us in your fundraising activity, that would be great.”
See pages 16-17 for picture special on the hospice’s Let it Snow fancy dress run