This Is Hospice Care: 143 hospices join forces for national campaign

Hospices are at the very heart of communities, offering compassionate care and support when we need it most. For many of us, a hospice will touch our lives, whether for ourselves, a loved one, or a friend, providing comfort, dignity, and expert care through life's most challenging times.

But just as this incredible support wouldn't exist without hospices across the UK, hospice care wouldn't exist without you. They rely heavily on charitable donations to keep our doors open.

Data from Hospice UK has shown that without Gifts in Wills, 30,000 people per year wouldn’t receive hospice care, highlighting how vital this income stream is to ensuring people get the care and support they need at the end of life.

Yet despite over a third of the public (37%) saying that they’d like to donate to their local hospice in the future, only 27% have considered gifting to a charity in their Will.

That's why we've come together to shine a light on the essential role hospices play in our communities and protect our futures. The campaign will raise awareness of the vital role hospices play in communities and shift public perceptions of hospice care.

We're asking everyone to consider leaving a Gift in their Will to a hospice close to their heart. By doing so, you can help us continue to provide this vital care, ensuring that everyone has the support they need for generations to come.

The demand for hospice care is on the rise. Today, as many as 90% of people who die in the UK could benefit from receiving palliative care. And by 2040, around 130,000 more people in the UK will die each year than in 2023.

As legacy giving grows across the charity sector, legacy market share for hospices is declining. There’s an urgent need to futureproof this vital source of income, to ensure hospices can continue to be there for everyone who needs them. 

As a result, hospices have joined together to form a united campaign, investing for the first time in unified messaging and material to encourage increased awareness of and engagement with the sector.

At the campaign’s heart is a powerful collection of real-life stories that challenge misconceptions about hospices, showing the breadth of care and support they provide and highlighting their place at the heart of local communities. 

Catherine Bosworth, Director of Income Generation at Hospice UK says: "Hospices support people at the most vulnerable time of their lives, easing the physical and emotional pain of death and dying, letting people focus on living right until the end. They provide choice, dignity, and help families create lasting memories. They make life’s most difficult moments less scary – but they can only do this with enough funding. We’re delighted to bring together 143 of the UK’s local hospices to highlight the breadth of hospice care and the important role they place in local communities. Leaving a gift in your Will is a powerful and heartfelt way to recognise your chosen hospice for all that they do."

Together, we can make sure that hospice care lives on for all, for now, forever.