LOCAL people are being urged to leave money in their wills to help finance the area’s three children’s hospices which cost more than £4 million a year to run.

The hospice charity said legacies were now ‘the lifeline keeping the hospices open’.

A total of 400,000 nights of hospice care are paid for by generous legacies according to Children’s Hospice South West (CHSW).

It is one of 127 hospices supporting 310,000 people every year which have launched a ‘This is Hospice Care’ campaign to underline the vital importance gifts in wills play in providing life-changing care for future generations.

A spokesperson said: “CHSW supports more than 500 babies, children, young people, and their families in three children’s hospices which each cost around £4 million a year to run.

“With only a small percentage guaranteed by Government, the charity relies heavily on the generosity of the local community to raise the £12 million a year needed, and gifts left in wills are vital for this.

CHSW fund-raising director Paul Courtney said: “One in four of the children we support at CHSW are able to be cared for due to the generosity of local people choosing to leave a gift in their will to CHSW.”

Hospice UK income generation and grants director Catherine Bosworth said: “Gifts in wills are the lifeline keeping our hospices open.

“Every single hour, somebody receives care that would not exist without the generosity of people who choose to support hospice care in their will.

“That is the reality we are working with and it is becoming increasingly fragile, as funding pressures threaten hospice services, right when demand is rising.”

More information about ‘This is Hospice Care’ and how to support CHSW can be found on its website or by calling legacy fund-raiser Kerri Beaumont on 01275 866600.