A Coventry hospice unable to run fundraising events due to the Covid-19 outbreak has received a donation from the Heart of England Co-operative.
The society donated £36,000 to its charity partner Zoë’s Place Baby Hospice in Coventry, which provides palliative, respite and end-of-life care to babies and infants. The hospice is run by Zoë’s Place Trust, which operates three facilities in Coventry, Liverpool and Middlesbrough.
The Covid-19 outbreak meant that the hospices had to close until further notice. The trust made its buildings and staff who want to provide support, available to the NHS.
Furthermore, all fundraising events between now and the end of June have been postponed, including an annual ball, which over the past four years has raised a total £245,000 towards running costs.
Ali Kurji, chief executive of Heart of England, is calling on other local businesses and individuals to help plug the funding gap for the hospice.
“We have enjoyed a successful relationship with Zoë’s Place Baby Hospice since long before it opened its doors in 2011 when we gave our first donation of £2,000 towards its Quiet Room.
“Everyone at Zoë’s Place works hard day in, day out, to ensure the best level of care for each and every child and to make sure that the hospice has enough money to keep its service going.
“The team do not have the easiest jobs at the best of times but Covid-19 has made their jobs so much more difficult – putting paid to their fundraising efforts over the coming weeks, if not months. It is up to each and every one of us to make sure Zoë’s Place continues to receive much-needed funds.”
The hospice became Heart of England’s nominated charity in 2018. Since then Heart of England members and colleagues have been fundraising within the society’s network of 35 food stores and 14 Funeral homes as well as its Coventry head office.
Peter Jarvis, national patron of Zoë’s Place Trust said: “Zoë’s Place is a fantastic and unique facility and one which needs the on-going support of everyone in Coventry and Warwickshire during these unprecedented times.
“There is no other hospice in the UK which gives the same level of dedicated care to babies and children under six. But the service is almost wholly reliant on donations from the community.
“Although we cannot hold our usual events right now we can all continue to do our bit. If we all donated just a few pounds every month collectively we could make a massive difference to the hospice, enabling it to continue to provide vital support to local children and their families.”
