AN urgent fund raising appeal has been launched by Windsor's Thames Hospice as it faces the loss of over £1million worth of income over the next few months.

The hospice in Hatch Lane is currently supporting local NHS trusts by caring for vulnerable Covid-19 patients on its Inpatient Unit.

It means looking after people with the virus who are now in need of end of life care. It desperately needs money for extra equipment to care for them - but with its shops closed and fund raising activities on hold because of the lock down income has been badly hit.

Lisa Church, Director of Nursing and Family Services at Thames Hospice, says: “We are facing a double whammy at the hospice right now. Our income has been hugely impacted by the crisis, with the postponement of key fundraising events such as LakeFest, loss of income from community fundraising and the closure of our shops. However, the increased demand for our community and inpatient services has meant that we have had to significantly increase capacity to support some of the most vulnerable patients with Covid-19 on our Inpatient Unit.

“We don't have any extra funding to do this right now, but it is the right thing to do for our community and to support our local NHS trusts.”

The Thames Hospice team is asking the community to contribute towards some of the items it urgently needs to fight back against the threat of coronavirus: £20 could pay for personal protective equipment for a nurse or doctor, £50 could pay for a day’s cleaning supplies while £100 could pay for 12 hours of pain relief for a patient with Covid-19.

Lisa continued: “Given the complex medical needs of our patients, Thames Hospice is the best place to treat them. We don’t have funding in place for this but it’s what we need to do, and we must step up. By donating today you will help Thames Hospice give life-changing care to the most vulnerable people in our community.”

To donate visit https://www.thameshospice.org.uk/emergency-covid-19-appeal