Hospice's desperate plea as funding crisis deepens

A children's hospice charity supporting some of Bath's most vulnerable families is facing a critical £300,000 shortfall putting the future of its at-home nursing care for seriously ill children at risk.

- Lewis Clarke

Jessie May, which has operated in Bath, East Somerset and surrounding areas for nearly three decades, has launched an emergency "Your Community Needs You" appeal amid what it calls the worst funding crisis the hospice sector has ever seen.

The charity is currently providing care to 17 children in the Bath and East Somerset area, and 196 across the wider South West.

It offers specialist nursing support from the point of diagnosis through end-of-life care and bereavement, allowing families to receive crucial help in the comfort of their homes.

The appeal follows a sharp rise in care costs from £1.7 million last year to an estimated £2 million this year while government funding remains minimal.

Jessie May receives just 18% of its funding from public sources, with 82% reliant on donations from local communities.