Major Gifts and Grants

Giving a major gift to St Margaret’s – how you can make a difference

St Margaret’s Hospice Care has been an integral part of the Somerset community for over four decades, offering compassionate, specialised palliative and end-of-life care, free of charge, to patients and their families when it matters most. Our services are available to approximately 520,000 people, and we believe that everyone within our community deserves tailored and dignified care so they can focus on living well until the end.  

To us, hospice care is about taking the time to get to know our patients and tailoring a personalised approach. This means combining excellent medical and nursing care with holistic support that recognises everyone’s practical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs. Our values reflect this and underpin all we do, weaving through every aspect of our care and service provision.  

Our services are free to anyone, regardless of their background, faith, culture, personal identity, or location within the county. We firmly believe that compassionate hospice care should be accessible to all, and we strive to ensure that our support reaches every individual and family who can benefit from it. Crucially, we also recognise that this means looking after those closest to them – the husbands, wives, life partners, children, and carers of our patients, both before, during and after death.   

While we are committed to delivering the best possible care to our patients and their families, this care does come at a cost.   

The cost of running St Margaret’s and providing hospice care in Somerset every year is close to £15m. While we receive some funding from the NHS (£2.9m), it is not sufficient to cover the full range of services provided each year. Therefore, we rely heavily on the generosity of our community and alternative fundraising methods to meet our remaining financial needs. 

This includes those individuals, Trusts, and Foundations that are keen to work in partnership with us and donate a major gift or grant (a donation of £1,000 or more). While a donation of any size is appreciated, a major gift would help us to accelerate our care and provide security to the hospice at a time when we are facing an increase in costs.  

Working together to achieve more 

Building long-term partnerships is important to us, as it provides us with sustainable income, but at the same time allows you to really understand the impact of your gift.

In return, we can provide you with tailored updates on the outcomes of your support and connect you with the areas of our work that you are most passionate about, ensuring your donation is spent in accordance with your wishes. When appropriate, we would also like to invite you to meet with the team and see first-hand how your support is making an impact.