Stephen Fry video sparks £1m gift to our appeal!

We are thrilled to announce that we have received a £1 million donation thanks to the video Stephen Fry kindly recorded for us! In case you missed it, you can watch it here.

Our campaign to build a £12.5m specialist hospice in Norfolk has received a significant boost following the donation from the John Pearce Foundation. We are now very pleased to share that our current fundraising total is £8.4m.

We received the funding after our ‘£3 to Break Ground‘ campaign received local and national publicity from Norfolk-born Stephen Fry, whose video to promote the campaign was seen by the foundation.

This large donation, together with a number of other private commitments and the success of our £3 to Break Ground campaign, means the appeal has raised an additional £1.7m over the last six months. We now plan to break ground on the project later this year.

Mr Fry said: “In October, I recorded a short video for Priscilla Bacon Hospice to launch their £3 to Break Ground campaign. I urged you to help support this wonderful campaign to break ground and build the new hospice. So many of you have been so generous and donated to the appeal, but I am stunned that the video encouraged a remarkable donation of £1 million! This means that they can start to build this summer!”

Set up in 2018, the John Pearce Foundation represents part of the legacy of the late John Pearce, a talented businessman and investor noted for his generosity and lifelong passion for thoroughbreds. Initially focused on the support of animals and people within the racing and breeding industry, the Foundation’s scope was expanded to include palliative care charities in 2020.

Rupert Bentley, the Foundation’s Chairman of Trustees, said: “The Covid-19 pandemic has only served to highlight the need for flexible, community-oriented palliative care and we are confident the hospice’s new state-of-the-art facility will be able to provide just that. We are especially pleased to have been able to help the charity get to their ‘break ground’ threshold and look forward to seeing the building works progress over the coming weeks and months.”

Robert Carter, Chairman of Trustees for Priscilla Bacon Hospice, said: “We are indebted to everyone for supporting our campaign and especially the generosity of the John Pearce Foundation. Alongside a number of significant personal contributions, what has been particularly pleasing has been how individuals like Stephen Fry have very successfully encouraged everyone to support this essential initiative.”

The new Priscilla Bacon Hospice will be built next to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and will replace the 40-year-old Priscilla Bacon Lodge on Unthank Road, Norwich. It will contain 24 beds, as well as day patient and outreach facilities, and a coordination centre for the community nursing team, who deliver end-of-life care in the home. It will also be a platform for education and research into palliative and end-of-life care, supporting improvements in provision locally and nationally.

We launched the appeal in 2019 and it remains ongoing as we aim to raise the £12.5 million necessary to complete the building project. Please help if you can by donating at the link below!