Hartlepool's Alice House Hospice hopes to get £390,000 from government after income hit by coronavirus

Alice House Hospice in Wells Avenue, Hartlepool.

Tracy Woodall, Chief Executive of Alice House Hospice, welcomed financial support for charities after Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a £75 million package of support to ensure charities like the hospice can survive.

Alice House Hospice has had to close all of its 10 charity shops in Hartlepool and East Durham, which combined raised £15,000 a week, while all of its upcoming fundraising events have been put on hold.

The hospice says the impact on their income has been ‘massive’.

Tracy said: “We are extremely grateful for the financial support offered by the Government to hospices and we hope to receive approximately £390k between April and June.

“Whilst this is a great support it still only covers 60% of the loss of income we are facing. In addition, our front line costs are increasing due to the care we are giving to support the NHS patients.”

Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Matt Hancock said: “Hospices have suffered a huge challenge to their funding due to the outbreak of coronavirus but at the same time continued to play a vital role in delivering compassionate, quality end-of-life care for many people.

“I am delighted that this cash boost will provide further financial stability and support them to increase capacity of NHS Services and provide stability as we manage our response to coronavirus.”

Despite the impact of the lockdown, Tracy said people have continued to fundraise within the restrictions in all sorts of imaginative ways and is encouraging people to continue to do so.

Tracy added: “We are overwhelmed by the public’s generosity at this time and all the amazing fundraising that is happening, we have seen people shaving their hair, running marathons in a month, taking part in virtual quizzes and making donations!”

For ways to get involved, keep an eye on Alice House’s social media pages and website or sign up for their email via the website.

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