David Burrell, CEO of Primrose Hospice, tonight thanked Chancellor Rishi Sunak for announcing funding and paying tribute to charities during tonight’s Government briefing.

Hospice UK announced that the Government is providing £200m of funding per quarter to hospices to help support the NHS and to respond to the Coronavirus emergency.

“We would like to thank the Chancellor and Hospice UK for tonight’s announcement which is a step in the right direction to support charities during this crisis.

“It was great to hear Rishi praising our ‘unsung heroes’ and even repeating Primrose’s strapline ‘care, compassion, community’ though not in the same order!

“Thank you to Hospice UK for leading these negotiations and allowing input from Primrose and 200 other hospices across the country.

“Like a lot of organisations, we have seen funds decrease and had to temporarily close our charity shops while at the same time experiencing a surge in demand for our care and support.

“We predict this surge in demand will only increase further over the coming months.

“While this announcement is great news, we must stress that we are unsure how much of these funds will be available to Primrose at the moment.

“We must also stress the Chancellor’s point that the Government will not be able to match every pound of funding we were set to receive this year.

“We still need our community to get behind Primrose so that together we can provide care and support to people with life-limiting conditions, their families as well as bereaved adults and children during this crucial time.”