The hospice needs to raise £850,000 every month just to keep its services operating and their dedicated care teams are still out there working 24/7 in their hospices and local community to look after some of the most vulnerable patients.

Launching ‘Katie’s Appeal’, Katie Taroni, Clinical Director at St Giles Hospice, said: “This is an extremely worrying time for everyone, especially our patients and their families who are living with a terminal or incurable illness.

Katie added: “We recognise the incredible change that this pandemic is having on all of our lives and, for our patients and families, the added fear and anxiety that they are already experiencing.

“We’re extremely worried about the impact the coronavirus outbreak will have on our hospice’s future. Our shops have had to close, our events are being cancelled and our income has almost dried up meaning that we are now reliant on donations to continue our work.

“We’ve always said that it takes a community to make a hospice and our message to local people is that we’ve never needed you more than we need you today.

“This coupled with the ever growing need for palliative care at this time, whilst we help ease the burden on the NHS, means our service has never been needed more than it is today.”

As only around a third of its funding comes from Government, the hospice relies upon donations and fundraising to finance the £10m it needs each year for its care services. Katie’s Appeal aims to raise public awareness of the major challenges that St Giles is facing over coming months due to the disruption to regular fundraising activities and increased demand for its services.

Katie said: “Please donate to Katie’s Appeal today to keep our hospice open and our key workers working during these extremely uncertain times. If your donations stop, we stop, and any donation you can make will make a massive difference to our patients at a time when they need us most.”

People are being asked to help fund the work of the hospice by making either a one-off gift or a regular donation.

A gift of £5 could pay for meals for a patient at the end of their life, £10 could pay for an hour of housekeeping work to keep the hospice infection-free, £28 could fund an hour of one-to-one nursing care for a patient and £676 could fund 24 hours of hospice care for a patient at the end of their life.

Katie said: “The sooner people are able to make a donation to Katie’s Appeal the sooner we will be able to put that money to good use in the ever-changing environment we all now find ourselves in.

“We promise you that the money raised by the appeal will be used to support our vital work for patients at a time when there is a continuing and ever-growing need for our services.”

People can donate to Katie’s Appeal by making a one-off or regular monthly donation online at www.stgileshospice.com/katiesappeal or by calling 1543 432538, or by sending a cheque made payable to ‘St Giles Hospice’ to Katie’s Appeal, St Giles Hospice, Fisherwick Road, Whittington, Lichfield WS14 9LH.

For more information about St Giles Hospice and the expert care we provide, please visit www.stgileshospice.com