A NURSE has issued a desperate plea for help as her hospice faces the “biggest challenge in its history”.

Ward nurse Claire Birnage has called for support for St Peter and St James Hospice in North Chailey, which faces a £1.3 million shortfall amid the coronavirus lockdown.

The restrictions have seen charity shops close and fundraising events cancelled across the country. Smaller charities, like the hospice, are at particular risk.

The crisis is set to cause it an estimated minimum loss of £1.35 million over the coming months.

The hospice urgently needs donations to look after the 1,000 terminally ill residents it cares for each year.

Last week, the Government pledged a £750 million package for struggling charities.

Despite this, the hospice is still facing a significant shortfall and said it needs the community to stand by it.

Claire said: “This pandemic is affecting all of us, but for vulnerable local people with terminal illness, those who love them, and for our charity as a whole, this is an extremely worrying time.

“I never imagined I would be nursing under these circumstances, but my colleagues and I will continue to provide the expert and compassionate care we are so proud of.

“Sadly there are going to be many occasions where families cannot be together over the coming weeks.

“We will do our very best to facilitate connection between families and friends in other ways, and will bring everyone we look after as much love, comfort, joy and reassurance as we possibly can during the unsettling days ahead.

‘I am incredibly proud to be on the front line during this effort, and to be easing the pressure on our local hospitals. But to put it simply, we cannot do this alone.

“We rely on our generous community to cover more than 80 per cent of the hospice’s running costs and now more than ever, as we find ourselves in this extraordinary state of emergency, I need them to stand by us and give generously.”

It costs £8,000 a day to run the services the hospice provides for people in Haywards Heath, Burgess Hill, Lewes, Uckfield, and the surrounding towns and villages. The charity receives limited government funding, but all hospice care is free of charge.

As well as continuing to care for its own patients, the hospice’s staff will be supporting the wider nursing effort in Sussex, stepping in to look after vulnerable people transferred to the hospice from other hospitals.

You can support the hospice’s Covid-19 Emergency Appeal by donating online at stpjhospice.org/donate.

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