An end-of-life charity is consulting on redundancies to protect its future amid financial challenges, the charity has said.

St Wilfrid’s Hospice in Eastbourne, East Sussex, said rises in inflation, the cost of living and increased employers’ National Insurance Contributions led to the decision.

The amount of money that St Wilfrid’s has received from legacies over the past two years has been less than was forecast, which the charity said is having a “major” effect.

The charity, which employs about 250 people, said it is undergoing a redundancy consultation process with its staff.

The hospice said it could not confirm how many redundancies would be made until after the consultation ends. It refused to confirm when the consultation would conclude.

Colin Twomey, chief executive of St Wilfrid’s Hospice, said the charity’s circumstances had created a perfect storm.

“To ensure we pay our people fairly and attract and retain good people, we have seen our salaries increase in the past two years,” Twomey said.

“We have also seen the cost of goods and utilities rise and our National Insurance Contributions rise. 

“At the same time, our government funding has remained broadly the same and our income from legacies has reduced.”

According to its latest accounts, St Wilfrid’s recorded an income of £8.5m in the year to the end of March 2024. It recorded expenditure of £10.7m during the same period.

This was a fall from an income of £9.7m and increase from expenditure of £9.4m in the previous year.

“Up until now we have been able to use our reserves to make up the shortfall, but it has become clear that this is no longer sustainable,” Twomey said. “We need to act now to secure the future of the hospice.”

He said reducing the charity’s workforce was a tough decision that the charity had not taken lightly.

“We have been working hard to reduce costs wherever possible and maximise opportunities for income, but we are now at a point where we will have to reduce our staffing costs to bring the deficit in our budget to a manageable level,” Twomey said.

“We are working to identify what this reduction will mean for our staff, patients and wider community.

“I want to emphasise we will do all we can to protect patient services, and I want to reassure those receiving care from St Wilfrid’s that we will continue to provide that care, and we will keep you informed of any future changes.”

In December, the government announced a £100m funding pledge for UK hospices.

“We were grateful for the additional government grant announced in December 2024,” Twomey said.

“However, this funding cannot be used for salaries or running costs and, as a charity providing healthcare, our major cost is our staff.”

Twomey said the charity is “enormously grateful” to its community of supporters.

“Their generosity in trying to reduce our funding gap by donating, fundraising, leaving gifts in wills, playing our lottery and visiting our shops is heartening and awe-inspiring,” Twomey said.

“It is thanks to this support that we have been able to grow our services over the years to meet the needs of our community, and we want to assure our community that we are doing everything in our power to make sure the hospice is here for many years to come.”