Following a Crisis Appeal launched by Birmingham Hospice, the UK’s leading retirement property developer, McCarthy Stone has donated £2,000 to help fund its palliative and end-of-life care services.
The Midlands-based charity shared that it needs to raise over £6.5 million in 2024 – up from £5.5 million last year - to help fund its vital services which include supporting people to access their choice of care at the end of their life. Due to insufficient funding, hospices across the UK are facing an estimated £77 million collective deficit this year, with the cost-of-living crisis and fewer donations exacerbating the problem.
Spotting an opportunity to help, McCarthy Stone stepped in and donated £2,000 to support its hospices in Selly Park and Erdington, highlighting the retirement housebuilder’s commitment to create a positive legacy in the community. Luke Manley, Corporate Fundraising Manager for Birmingham Hospice, comments: “Hospices across the UK are under increasing pressure, with rising costs, government cuts, and an ageing population. As a result, many are having to consider making cuts to their services, which will have devastating consequences for patients, their families, hospice staff, the NHS, and local communities.
“At Birmingham Hospice, a lot of our funding comes from fundraising and charitable donations. For every £1 raised, 89p is spent on clinical and support services, allowing us to continue providing specialist palliative and end-of-life care for local people. Therefore, we want to say a huge thank you to McCarthy Stone for their generosity.”
Declan Fishwick, Business Development Manager at McCarthy Stone, comments: “An important part of what we do here at McCarthy Stone is support local activities and initiatives in the towns and communities in which we build to help create a lasting, positive legacy.
“Therefore, we’re incredibly proud to support Birmingham Hospice and the outstanding contribution they make to the local community in providing specialist care and support to those with life-limiting illnesses.” McCarthy Stone, the UK’s leading developer and manager of retirement communities, has a number of retirement living developments throughout the West Midlands, including Wheatley Place in Solihull, Knox Court in Rugby, Ryland Place in Edgbaston and Stowe Place in Lichfield.
The finishing touches are being made to Romeo Place in Stratford-upon-Avon and Powell House in Sutton Coldfield, while construction work is about to begin to transform the site at Orphanage Road in Erdington. Helping to make ‘rightsizing’ more affordable for thousands more retirees living in the area, the retirement housebuilder has introduced a Shared Ownership scheme across a number of its Midlands developments, in partnership with Homes England, providing greater choice and flexibility.
The scheme is designed to reduce the upfront purchase cost of a retirement property by providing a choice of home ownership options up to 75%. Those who own 75% do not pay rent on the remaining share, while those who buy under 75%of the value of the property through Shared Ownership pay rent on the outstanding share.
McCarthy Stone is the UK’s leading developer and manager of retirement communities. Its customers maintain their independence within a beautiful, secure, contemporary private home, while enjoying the peace of mind that help and care is on hand if needed. Its communities make a positive difference to the lives of its customers and the organisation is focused on supporting and championing the role, wellbeing and happiness of older people in society.
McCarthy Stone has two main product ranges – Retirement Living, and Retirement Living PLUS. Retirement Living developments provide independence in private apartments designed specifically for the over-60s, as well as facilities such as communal lounges and guest suites that support companionship.
Retirement Living PLUS developments, which are a form of Extra Care housing, are designed specifically for the over-70s, offer all of this plus more on-site facilities such as restaurants, well-being suites and function rooms. Importantly, they also provide on-site CQC-regulated care and support packages to assist those needing additional help.
All developments built since 2010 are managed by the company’s in-house management services team, providing peace of mind that it will look after customers and their properties for the long term. As of November 2023, McCarthy Stone operates 521 developments across the UK for more than 21,500 people.
McCarthy Stone’s commitment to quality and customer service continues to be recognised by residents. In March 2024, the Group received the full five-star rating for customer satisfaction from the Home Builders Federation once again – making it the only UK developer, of any size or type, to achieve this accolade since the survey launched.
