More families are being left in poverty after losing a loved one, a bleak reality of the cost of living crisis.

Dorothy House Hospice, a palliative care charity based in Winsley, has today launched an appeal to raise awareness of the impact the cost-of-living crisis is having on those diagnosed with a life-limiting illness.

The current spiralling cost of living means that 1 in 4 working age people diagnosed with a life-limiting illness are dying in poverty in the UK.

Pensions are typically accessed as financial support at the end of our lives. However, for those faced with a life limiting diagnosis you're severely at risk. As even if you've paid into the system your whole life, you can't access your pension before the age of 65.

"When you're living with a life-limiting illness, and no longer able to work, you shouldn't feel your only option is to go without warmth and food and the most basic home comforts just to make ends meet. But, uncertain about the help you're entitled to, and left to navigate a benefits system that all too frequently displays a lack of compassion, too many people end up like this. An already cruel situation becomes a full-blown crisis." said Philly Gaisford, Individual Giving Fundraiser at Dorothy House.

"The spiralling cost of living means that more patients than ever are turning to us for advice and support" she continues. "Whether parents in young families or pensioners living alone, people with life-limiting illnesses are enduring immense financial pressures. No one in our community deserves to feel anxious about how their family will make ends meet without them."

Dorothy House contributes to the provision of a welfare rights advice service in the area. Over 750 people are referred to this service each year. The team are there when patients and their families need advice and help to access financial and other support they may be entitled to. It's your donations to Dorothy House that help fund this role. This service means that patients and their families can focus on treatment and care.

Every £1 you donate could result in £19 of vital income for a patient and their family because of advice we're able to give to those most in need.

https://www.dorothyhouse.org.uk/poverty/

Dorothy House Hospice Care provides free, palliative and end of life care across 700 square miles, serving a population of 550,000 people in Bath & North East Somerset, and parts of Somerset and Wiltshire.