How We Spend Our Funds
At St Barnabas Hospice, we believe in being open and transparent about how every pound is used. Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, we can provide care, comfort and dignity for people across Lincolnshire who are living with a life-limiting or terminal illness.
Around 44% of our funding comes from the government, but this only covers part of the cost. We rely on the kindness and generosity of our community to bridge the gap and ensure we can continue to deliver our vital services. Your donations make this possible, and we want you to see exactly how.
Our impact in Lincolnshire
Between 2024 – 2025, St Barnabas Hospice invested more than £10.5 million to deliver vital services across Lincolnshire. In the most recent financial year, we supported:
- 246 patients in our Inpatient Unit hospice beds in Lincoln
- 147 patients in our Hospice in the Hospital in Grantham
- 3,100 patients in the community
- 282 patients through our Community Clinical Nurse Specialists
- 889 clients through our Counselling & Bereavement services
- 874 patients through Occupational Therapy and 594 patients through Physiotherapy
- 3,459 welfare referrals in receiving an estimated £8,115,513 worth of benefits
3,100
patients cared for in their own homes
3,459
referrals received financial support and guidance
889
people received counselling and bereavement support
Breaking down the costs
We are proud to operate responsibly, efficiently, and with accountability. Each year our accounts are audited, and we publish our Annual Report so supporters can see exactly how money is spent. To give you an idea of scale, it costs:
- £14.8 million to run our services every year
- £1.2 million every month
- £285,000 every week
- £40,600 every day
- £1,695 every hour
- £28.22 every minute
- 47p every second
For every £1 we raise, 74p goes directly into delivering and improving patient care – from nursing and physical therapies to counselling and welfare advice. The remaining 26p is invested in generating future income – through fundraising, awareness campaigns, and initiatives that ensure we can continue to provide care for years to come.
View Our Impact Report
Common Questions
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Lincolnshire is the second largest county in England, covering a vast rural area. We are also one of the largest charities in the county, providing vital care to people in towns, villages and remote communities.
Our specialist nursing team delivers outstanding end-of-life care wherever patients need us. To do this safely, we must comply with strict clinical governance and Care Quality Commission standards to ensure the highest quality, regulated care for every patient, every time.
In addition, because less than half of our funding comes from the government, we must generate significant additional income. This means running a professional Fundraising & Marketing team and Retail department, which together raise millions each year to keep our services available.
If we relied only on statutory funding, we could only run our Lincoln Inpatient Unit. Instead, thanks to community support, 86% of our care is delivered through our Hospice at Home service, reaching people in their own homes across Lincolnshire.
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The level of statutory funding varies between hospices, depending on the size and scope of services. St Barnabas receives around 44% of its funding from the NHS and local government because:
- Lincolnshire is one of the largest counties, meaning our teams must travel further to reach patients.
- We operate multiple sites across the county, including Inpatient Units in Lincoln and Grantham, and Wellbeing Hubs in Lincoln, Louth, Grantham and Boston.
- We provide both specialist Inpatient care and extensive Hospice at Home services, supporting thousands of people every year.
- We deliver complex and specialist services that require trained staff, which is why the Care Quality Commission has rated us Outstanding.
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Hospice UK successfully campaigned for hospices across the country to receive a one-off government grant to support long-term sustainability and infrastructure needs. These funds are restricted to capital expenditure – such as building maintenance (which benefits patients and staff by keeping our facilities safe and modern), technology upgrades (to reduce risks such as cyber crime), and income-generation projects like a new website and new shops.
By law, this grant cannot be used to pay salaries or fund frontline services. It is designed to strengthen our foundations so we can continue providing care well into the future.
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We are experiencing an increasingly challenging and uncertain time. Rising running costs of over £40,000 per day, combined with recent National Insurance and National Living Wage increases, have further impacted our position. An emerging trend of current and recurring operational deficits is not financially sustainable.
St Barnabas Hospice is not alone in facing this. Many hospices and charities across the UK are experiencing the same pressures, with some services being cut sector-wide. As responsible custodians of the charity, we are taking early, transparent steps to protect our services and sustainability – so that patients and families can continue to depend on us long into the future.
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While government funding and current donations cover part of our costs, they are not enough to guarantee long-term sustainability. By investing in fundraising, awareness campaigns, retail, and digital infrastructure, we are able to:
- Secure income for future years so that services remain available to everyone who needs them.
- Adapt to increasing demand for end-of-life care as our population grows and ages.
- Protect the charity against rising costs and uncertain economic conditions.
This investment ensures that St Barnabas will still be here tomorrow, next year, and for decades to come, supporting families when it matters most.
