In her latest blog, our CEO counts the cost of a looming funding crisis as demand for our services continues to rise.
Recently I marked my two year anniversary at Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice. During this time and together with a great team of passionate people, we have been able to turn the fortunes of this charity round from making significant losses into a more stable situation. And this has been important because the latest research suggests that over the last 20 years, the number of children born and living with a life-limiting condition has doubled. In some areas that number is significantly higher, with parts of West Yorkshire being amongst the highest in the country.
Sadly, whilst the number of families who need our services has grown, the money we have been able to raise to support them has not. The sums just don’t add up. And that was before Covid hit us. So now, we are facing yet another looming crisis of growing demand and insufficient resources to support the needs of our local families. In the background, our NHS is struggling to cope and families are finding it difficult to access the support they need. For many families, it’s Forget Me Not or nothing.
As we approach the hospice’s 10th birthday next year, we want to use 2021 as a way to alert the great people of West Yorkshire to the crisis on their own doorstep. We know that everyone has been affected by the pandemic in so many ways – while some may be immune from the infection, no one, it seems, is immune from the consequences. We are asking you to consider how you would feel, on Russell House’s 10th birthday, if one of those consequences was the loss of our children’s hospice. At a time where it is never more needed.
So when you are doing your sums, could you spare a little for your local children’s hospice? Could you help us to make our sums add up? Could you help us ensure we can be here for the next 10 years?