Leicester manager makes emergency appeal
Howard Lake | 1 March 2020 | News
Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers is spearheading an emergency appeal on behalf of the Northern Ireland Hospice.
In a video message the Leicester manager says ‘vital income Hospice needs has stopped’ because of the COVID-19 crisis. Mr Rodgers has been an ambassador for the Hospice for a number of years.
Northern Ireland Hospice chief executive Heather Weir said the inability to carry out fundraising events due to coronavirus meant the charity is facing a shortfall of up to £10 million by the end of the year. She described the emergency appeal as the “the most important appeal for the Hospice since our formation”.
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The Hospice message accompanying the fundraising video for the ‘Now, More Than Ever’ emergency appeal says: ‘The impact of COVID-19 on Northern Ireland Hospice is also very serious. Our community income has reduced to seriously low levels and if this continues we would not be able to survive as an organisation.’
The Hospice added that their closure would be devastating for thousands of people all across Northern Ireland.
‘We need to be here and within our community to care for the babies, children and adults that depend on us at their time of greatest need,’ the Hospice says.
The online ask is for £50, £100 and £250. The suggested £100 donation is for ‘life saving equipment such as PPE for staff, patients and their families.’
In 2019 the Hospice had an income of £13.6 million, of which £9.3 million came from fundraising and the charity’s retail operations. Community fundraising and events play an important part in the income generation strategy of the Hospice with a number of events such as the Belfast marathon and sponsored walks throughout N Ireland in May now in question.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.