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Luen’s blog: The wider impact of the cost of living crisis

Right now, no one is thinking about much except the cost of living crisis. Here at Forget Me Not, it’s exercising our minds too.

Our biggest cost is also our biggest asset – our people. The people who care for our families at the hospice, people who work in the community, people who help raise the money that pays for the services we deliver, people who ensure our buildings are safe, people who raise awareness of what we do, people who run our shops, people who recruit, induct, train and support our staff and volunteers.

We can’t be much help to the families who need us without the commitment of our staff. But they’re also affected by this crisis. 

So of course, we want to continue to ensure our pay and benefits are competitive and that the rewards of work are tangible. We know that our people are proud of what they do and the difference they make, but we also know that you can’t feed your family on pride! 

But we don’t just rely on our employees. For every paid member of staff we employ, we have three volunteers bringing their skills, time, good will and energy to what we do. We want to ensure that the cost of volunteering doesn’t outweigh the benefits people gain, so we’re encouraging people to claim expenses to cover any costs they incur (even though many would never have dreamed of doing so before now). But even so, more and more of our volunteers are reducing their hours to put the needs of their own families first, and who can argue with that when times are so tough?

We are trying to manage these demands at a time when the families we work with are also struggling with rising costs. Many are just starting to return to some form of normality after the pandemic, but are now faced with increasing bills while the support around them is shrinking. It’s a horrible situation to face at a time when they are most vulnerable.

We need to protect the services we offer and support our staff and volunteers so that we can continue to be here for the local families who really need our help.

I know I have said before that we need your support now more than ever, but it’s true. You can help us in a myriad of ways – by giving us your time, by donating money or stuff, or by fundraising. All are equally helpful and really make a difference.

Find out more here and if you can help us in any way at this time, please get in touch, we’d love to hear from you.