Katharine House has joined forces with 127 hospices across the country to take part in a nationwide TV and radio campaign encouraging people to leave a gift in their will to their local hospice.
Launched on 16 February, the ‘This is Hospice Care’ campaign aims to raise awareness about the vital role hospices play in communities and to shift public perceptions of hospice care. The week-long campaign facilitated by Hospice UK, which represents all hospices in England, Scotland and Wales, aims to encourage people to leave a gift in their will in aid of their local hospice.
As with all hospices, Katharine House is feeling immense pressure from ever growing costs, increasing demand for services and a challenging fundraising environment. Gifts in wills are a vital source of income to ensure the sustainability of the hospice for years to come.
Data from Hospice UK showed that a majority of the public (59%) aren’t aware that hospices provide their services for free and over a quarter (26%) still assumed that hospice care on an inpatient ward would be their only option for palliative care.
Stephanie Lawless, Director of Fundraising & Marketing at Katharine House, said: “As a charity we always depend on the generosity of our supporters, including the gifts people choose to leave in their wills. In fact, one in ten people we care for is supported because someone before them decided to leave a legacy gift.
“Whilst we receive some statutory funding, we still need to raise around 60% of our core costs from fundraising to enable us to continue to provide our specialist, palliative care for free, both at the hospice and out in the community. It costs more than £5.9m each year to run every aspect of Katharine House and so without support from our community, we simply couldn’t reach as many people. Legacy gifts, however small or large, help us continue to be there when it matters most.”
For more information on leaving a gift in you will, visit www.khh.org.uk/wills
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About Katharine House Hospice
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Katharine House Hospice is an adult hospice which opened in 1991 and provides personalised, specialist
palliative care, free of charge, to adults and their families who are dealing with a life-limiting illness. -
The hospice considers the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of its patients, operating a range of holistic services including inpatient care, community care, wellbeing services, social care, physiotherapy and lymphoedema services, helping people make the most of the time they have left with their loved ones.
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The hospice cares for around 1,200 each year from north Oxfordshire and south Northamptonshire. Main areas supported by Katharine House include areas and villages around Banbury, Bicester, Brackley, Byfield, Chipping Norton, Priors Marston, Shipston-on-Stour, Woodford Halse.
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Katharine House, working in partnership with Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, cares for people at the hospice, in their own homes, in care homes and in hospital.
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The hospice relies heavily on raising funds to keep offering services for free to patients and their families. In total, it costs more than £5.9m per year to run every element of Katharine House Hospice.
About Hospice UK’s research
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Hospice UK champions more than 200 hospices across the UK, ensuring they can continue delivering compassionate, personalised care to those who need it most.
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Data calculated by Hospice UK using figures from annual hospice accounts reports and activity surveys conducted by Hospice UK.
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Data taken from a consumer research poll commissioned by independent research agency Opinium in January 2026 of 2,000 UK adults asking their thoughts on legacy giving and charitable donations.
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