ISLE OF MAN RESIDENT DONATES £1 MILLION TO HOSPICE

Hospice Isle of Man is thrilled to have been gifted £1 million by a donor in response to the current challenges around the charity’s financial position.

Ivan Soulsbury, a retired Isle of Man entrepreneur became aware of the need for support upon reading the reports in late December 2022 which described the financial challenges that Hospice was facing, Ivan decided that he had to act and do something proactive to help. After a number of meetings with Hospice leaders, and much consideration, he has made an extraordinary and immensely generous gift of £1 million.

Ivan’s plea now is to other independently wealthy individuals on Island and to all corporate organisations to rally behind the hospice as it recovers from a very challenging period.

Hospice has only recently released its financial results for 2022, stating a £3.16 million loss. This figure has been generated by an almost perfect storm of circumstances, many of which are out of the direct control of the organisation. Legacy income was down against budget by some £1.2 million, the unmaterialized loss on investments was in excess of £673,000 whilst at the same time Hospice was subject to significant increases in running costs, primarily due to increases in demand for services, salary increases and the impact of inflation on key operational costs including energy.

2023 marks Hospice Isle of Man’s 40th anniversary, a time during which the charity has provided excellence in palliative and end of life care to the Island’s community continuously since it first opened its doors. Currently the annual cost of sustaining services is some £6.1 million per year. Significantly, Hospice services are directly involved in 46% of all deaths on the Island. Whilst funding of £1.2 million is gratefully received from Manx Care, this leaves in excess of £4.9 million for the charity to self-generate each year from voluntary donations as well as its fundraising and commercial activities.

Mr Soulsbury commented;

“I recognised that Hospice is in need of urgent and immediate funding to help secure its future and ensure our Island continues to benefit from a world class organisation that provides such a range of services to patients and families not only at end of life but also from the point of a terminal diagnosis. We are truly fortunate as a small community to have a resource such as Hospice Isle of Man”

Mr Soulsbury has made his donation and is happy to have his funds used to match suitable and targeted contributions from others. An example might be a corporate organisation choosing to fund the cost of a nurse for one year, which would then be immediately doubled to fund two.

John Knight, CEO of Hospice said;

“Whilst this is clearly an incredibly generous gift it is also an opportunity to extend its impact even further as Ivan is open minded about his funds being matched by others. Whilst we are marking 40 years of palliative care provided to the community, we are also striving to map out the coming 40 years and ensure Hospice remains the core provider of palliative and end of life care on Island.

I would appeal to anyone interested in matching even a part of Ivan’s gift, to get in touch and discuss how they can help the ongoing recovery of Hospice care for the Island’s community”.