The Sue Ryder charity which runs the Sue Ryder Leckhampton Court Hospice is launching its second urgent fundraising appeal of the year.

The charity is experiencing a £2million a month shortfall, whilst its doctors and nurses continue to play a vital part in the coronavirus effort.

Sue Ryder is appealing to local residents to support its urgent fundraising campaign ‘We can’t stop’ so that Sue Ryder Leckhampton Court Hospice can continue to provide end of life care.

Hospice director for Sue Ryder Leckhampton Court Hospice, Elise Hoadley, said: “Coronavirus has hit us hard.

"We received a wonderful response from our supporters to our emergency appeal earlier in the year.

"This, paired with the emergency funding that we received from the government, covered our funding shortfall until the end of June 2020.

“Unfortunately however, our struggle continues. Our fundraising events remain cancelled for the rest of this year and our high street shops have now closed for a second time.

“As we head into the winter months and coronavirus cases continue to rise we are expecting an increase in people needing end of life care.

“None of us expected this pandemic to go on for so long and clearly a monthly shortfall of £2 million is unsustainable for any charity, which is why we need to ask the public to help us.

“Sue Ryder Leckhampton Court Hospice is playing a vital part in the coronavirus effort – all of the staff here want to use their skills, expertise and experience to help patients and their families in the months ahead as well continue to relieve the pressure on the NHS.

"However, in order to keep our services running through the winter and beyond we urgently need to secure more funding now.

“We know that times are tough for everybody at the moment, so please be reassured that every bit really does help and thank you very much from all of us.”

To support Sue Ryder visit: sueryder.org/winterappeal20