Huddersfield children’s hospice faces “impossible choices” as urgent appeal launched
Forget Me Not children’s hospice says it faces a £1m budget gap
Last updated 9th Dec 2024
The future of a Huddersfield children’s hospice is under threat, with an urgent appeal launched in a desperate bid to raise funds.
Forget Me Not children’s hospice provides expert support to babies and children with life-shortening conditions and their families across West Yorkshire. The charity has announced it faces a £1m funding gap and needs to permanently cut costs by £12% which equates to around £750,000 per year.
To do so, Forget Me Not is looking at making up to 16 members of staff redundant and changing the way care is delivered. CEO Gareth Pierce described this as a “difficult decision” but stressed that swift action must be taken to protect the service for years to come. He highlighted rising staff and energy costs, uncertainty over future statutory funding and a tough year for fundraising and the charity’s shops as factors contributing to the shortfall.
Mr Pierce continued: “As always, the children and families we care for are at the heart of everything we do and we will do whatever we can to minimise the impact on them. And we will continue to fight and campaign for increased and recurrent statutory funding so that we can build a sustainable future for our children’s hospice and the vital services we provide to the local community. But right now, we face some impossible choices – and if we don’t act now, we face an even bleaker future.
“That’s why we’re making this urgent appeal to the public – please make a donation today. Your generosity will help children and families going through the darkest of times to continue to receive the high quality, expert care they need and deserve, that they simply can’t get anywhere else.”
Jeremy Cross, Chair of Trustees at Forget Me Not, said: “It is with deep regret that we now face the prospect of making highly qualified and caring professionals redundant and we’re doing everything we can to support everyone who’s affected by this.
“By doing all that we can to make up the shortfall in our finances now, we’re making sure we can be here for families, today, tomorrow and in the years to come. The truth is that even though we provide essential support to children and families across West Yorkshire, support they can’t get anywhere else, we’re not underwritten by the government or the NHS. Simply put, if we run out of funds, our children’s hospice won’t be here anymore.”
Leading UK-wide children’s palliative care charity Together for Short Lives is deeply worried by the challenges facing Forget Me Not and have expressed concern about the way children’s hospices are being funded by the government. The Huddersfield children’s hospice currently relies on community fundraising for around 90% of its income.
In 2023/24, children’s hospices in England received, on average, over a third (31%) less funding from local NHS bodies when compared to 2021/22. Over the same period, their charitable expenditure has increased by 15%, due in part to the spiralling cost of recruiting and retaining staff with the specialist skills and experience needed to care for seriously ill children.
MP for Huddersfield, Harpreet Uppal, has continued to advocate for the hospice in Parliament, bringing the matter to the attention of Health Secretary, Wes Streeting and urging him to take steps to secure sustainable funding.
Nick Carroll, Chief Executive Officer of Together for Short Lives said children’s hospices were facing a “perfect storm” even prior to the government’s recent budget. He added: “The rise in employer National Insurance contributions will pile even greater pressure on to children’s hospices. This will put services at risk, leaving more families feeling isolated and overwhelmed, and loading even more demand on to already overstretched NHS services.
“With an announcement on the future of the £25m NHS England Children’s Hospice Grant expected soon, we urge the government to commit to delivering it as a centrally-distributed, ringfenced grant and increase it to reflect inflation. Ministers must also reimburse children’s hospices for the increase in National Insurance in full.”
Toby Porter, CEO of Hospice UK, said: “It is so sad and utterly damning that a children’s hospice providing such critical services to children and their families has been put in this position. I am thinking today of the staff and volunteers at Forget Me Not, and of course of the families they so brilliantly support.
“We have been warning for months of the financial fragility of the hospice sector. We need more than warm words. We need immediate and significant financial investment into palliative care services for children. We need the Children’s Hospice Grant confirmed and efficiently distributed as a matter of urgency. We need local health boards to properly commission and fund these services. And we need central government to give them the resources and support to do so.
“The consequences of further cuts of this nature are just so sad for us as a society. Let’s not let that happen.”
Mr Pierce added: “We’re incredibly grateful and proud of the support we receive from our local community – individuals, groups, businesses and organisations – without whom we simply wouldn’t be here. We’re hoping they will once again rise to the challenge and support us in whatever way they can.”
Donations to the charity’s urgent appeal can be made by visiting www.forgetmenotchild.co.uk/donate . Other ways to help and more details on the financial crisis that Forget Me Not faces can be found at www.forgetmenotchild.co.uk .