Frequently Asked Questions on the Capital Fundraising Campaign

After over 20 years in an extended family home with limited space for our growing services and no room on the current site for the necessary expansion, we urgently need to develop a purpose-built facility on a new site to deliver high-quality palliative care and support for the 21st century.

Frequently asked questions
What is the Norfolk Hospice Campaign?
The Norfolk Hospice Campaign is the title of the capital fundraising appeal established to support our development plans.

Why a Capital Fundraising Campaign?
The Norfolk Hospice currently raises sufficient funds to pay for the running costs of its current services including items such as salaries and maintenance of the premises. There are no additional funds available to pay for new buildings and capital developments.

Why do we need a new Hospice?
West and North Norfolk is the largest area in the UK without a full service hospice. Whilst we have been providing services for many years, there are many other people whose needs are not fully met and a growing population requiring care. The converted premises we work from, whilst pleasant, limit what we can offer.

We believe that everyone living with life-limiting illnesses, or those at the end of life and their family and friends, should have access to high-quality responsive care, support and information. All of our services need to grow and we need to include inpatient hospice beds as there are none in the county outside Norwich.

What will the new hospice provide?
The Hospice will be the hub of a range of specialist palliative services, serving a constituency of over 250,000 people. Care will be provided at the Hospice, in people’s homes and in collaboration with others, nearer to people’s homes and in a range of settings. We plan to include:

• Therapeutic day-care to enable a more flexible service.
• An outpatient and treatment suite for individual sessions.
• A base for the home care service.
• Meeting room(s) for group discussions, carer and bereavement support and education sessions
• A drop-in and information area to facilitate informal and initial contact.
• 10 individual fully equipped bedrooms with en-suite facilities for symptom control, respite and end of life care including 2 suitable for young adults.  (Provision will be made to extend in future to 16 beds dependent on need).
• Family facilities for children to visit and close family members to stay overnight when needed.
• A special equipped area for our work with children, who are losing a parent, or other loved one, during and after the death.
• Individual treatment and therapy rooms.
• Peaceful gardens for relaxation and contemplation.
• A quiet chapel/sanctuary.

The external appearance will be attractive and sympathetic to its rural setting.

What will it cost?
It is estimated that the entire project will cost in the region of £7.5 million. This includes construction of the building, professional fees, fitting it out to hospice and Healthcare Commission standards, hard and soft landscaping and commissioning the building and services. This is based on the preliminary Quantity Surveyor assessment of our outline plans. It will enable us to put in place the infrastructure for all services, including a 10-bedded inpatient unit with the capacity to increase provision to 16 beds.
We plan to recognise our earlier benefactors by using the asset of the current hospice towards an endowment fund, which will support the inherent highs and lows of future running costs

It is a lot of money for 10 beds and will that be enough?
As we have described, the Hospice is a centre for a range of services. The Hospice services are much more than beds. The inpatient unit will however provide additional help for people whose care cannot be managed at home, whether for pain and symptom management, respite or end of life care. The average stay in a hospice in the UK is 13.5 days. In the first year we would anticipate welcoming between 200-300 patients and their family and friends to our inpatient unit.

It seems expensive, how has the cost been calculated?
We have undertaken a detailed cost analysis and visited hospices across the UK to confirm this. We are confident that the costs for the project are well researched and in accordance with similar projects. Further details are available from the Campaign Office or the CEO.

Where will the money come from?
Following extensive research and advice from capital fundraising specialists, we estimate that the funds will come from the following key sources:

• High net-worth individuals and families
• Targeted grant-making trusts
• Company donations, social responsibility, marketing/promotional funding
• Community based organisations with grant-making powers
• Smaller gifts from grassroots community/media appeal
• Gifts and services ‘in kind’

What is being asked of the local community?
We value the support and interest of the local community. We will be grateful for each donation to the Capital Campaign large or small, but we recognise that the target will not be reached solely by appeal to the immediate community. We also recognise the support that we receive year in year out to support running costs.

Good, so it’s not all down to us?
That’s right, but we also know that amongst the local community there are a number of high net-worth donors and people who are involved with or have knowledge of grant-making Trusts, major businesses and enterprises. We will be grateful for any introductions that you can help with. We are also being offered a number of 'gifts in kind' in terms of services, goods and advice, which will be acknowledged as part of the campaign and will help to keep the overall cost down.

Will the current economic situation affect the project?
Capital fundraising is possible, even in this economic climate and important community projects still need to go ahead. Some forms of giving, like gifts of shares, may be affected until the market recovers. Donors will still give, but it may take longer to complete the campaign as they spread their gifts over time or cut back on the number of charities they support.

Some fundraising analysts anticipate that those in receipt of exceptional remuneration bonuses will be more encouraged to share their good fortune with compelling good causes, such as The Norfolk Hospice.

The Norfolk Hospice is a 'must have' project and will make a major difference to the people of the region. We ask you to make the Norfolk Hospice one of your charitable priorities over the next 3-5 years.

Should the NHS pay for it all?
Perhaps it should, but it will not do so any time soon. Voluntary adult hospices currently receive on average 33% of their running costs from the NHS. The region has needed a full-service hospice for over 20 years. Our community has urgent and pressing needs, we can no longer afford to wait and we have the team to get the job done. The Department of Health (DoH) has committed £500,000 and we will be working hard to get the maximum possible contribution from the PCT (Primary Care Trust) for our annual operational costs. In addition, for each donor who Gift Aids their contribution extra money flows into the project from the Chancellor. We will also be approaching local government and quasi-statutory bodies to consider funding proposals and gifts-in-kind. In the meantime, we need your leadership and support.

What about the increased revenue? 
Increasing the services and numbers of people we care for will require more funds to cover day-to-day running costs. In preparation for this expansion, over the last two years we have developed our fundraising operation. We have seen voluntary income increase year on year and the increased awareness about the Hospice within the community is also having a positive impact. We are in discussions with the local PCTs and other funding bodies regarding increased statutory income, aiming to become more aligned to the national average (circa 33% rather than close to around 11%). Our plans also complement the new national and Norfolk NHS End of Life Strategies, which will bring new opportunities.

What if you don't raise all the funds?
If funds are slow to come in for the Capital Campaign, the project could be phased. It will be most cost effective to complete the project in one phase but our fall-back plan would permit us to put in place all the infrastructure for the whole scheme, enable the current services to be relocated to the new site and if necessary, completion and commissioning of the beds would follow at a later date.

When will the Hospice building commence?
The Board of Trustees requires the majority of the necessary funds (region of 80%) to be ‘in the bank’ before construction commences. Whilst Capital fundraising is progressing well, at this stage we are not in a position to confirm the timetable for the new Hospice development. We will however have everything in place for an early start once this has been achieved.

A number of our approaches for funds, to date, have been conditional on us achieving planning permission and we are now in a position to proceed with these as well as attracting new benefactors

Who is involved in the Campaign?
A voluntary Capital Campaign Fundraising Committee has been established to work with Trustees, Senior Management, supporters, benefactors and friends of the organisation. Lady Jane Dawnay is our President and Patrons include Richard Jewson, J.P., HM Lord-Lieutenant of Norfolk, the Bishop of Norwich and the Bishop of East Anglia. We will shortly be in a position to announce the appointment of our new Chairman of Capital Fundraising, who has extensive experience of capital appeals, to lead the Campaign. Furthermore, there is a developing team of valued campaign volunteers who will meet with colleagues, friends and associates face-to-face, talk to them about the Campaign and invite them to make gifts. Overall responsibility for the Campaign rests with the Board of Trustees.

For further information on how you can help us, or to receive updates or additional details about our project please contact:

Marc Stowell, Capital Campaign Fundraising Director
  Email: marc.stowell@norfolkhospice.org.uk
  Office: 01485 543 163
  Mobile: 07811 446 287
Janet Doyle, CEO
  Email: janet.doyle@norfolkhospice.org.uk.
  Office: 01485 543 163

Thank you

'Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world.  Indeed it’s the only thing that ever does.'
Margaret Mead