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Impact Report 2024/25: Support Life

The Kirkwood provides specialist palliative and end of life care across Kirklees in West Yorkshire, doubling its reach over the past decade to support 2,037 patients in 2024/25. Their impact report covers a decade of growth alongside an honest account of a financial tipping point reached in 2024/25 — driven by rising costs and chronic NHS underfunding — requiring a significant service restructure. Despite this, community fundraising grew 75% and The Kirkwood remains committed to being a go-to palliative care charity for Kirklees.

Report snapshot
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About

Inpatient unit (Dalton, Huddersfield); community palliative care across Kirklees; Hospice at Home; Care Coordination team; Admiral Nursing Service (dementia, 630 people supported since launch); Care Home Clinical Nurse Specialists (817 people supported); Connect with The Kirkwood (access hub); place-based working (diverse community engagement); bereavement support; volunteer programme; charity shops and lottery Custom geography from upload: Kirklees, West Yorkshire

Key Metrics

Key Metric 1 2,037 patients cared for in 2024/25 — up 87% on 2014/15 (1,090); 1,064 people cared for at end of life (up 113% over a decade)
Key Metric 2 1,538 patients supported in the community in 2024/25 (up 137% over a decade); community fundraised income up 75% between 2020/21 and 2024/25
Key Metric 3 Service restructure announced January 2025 — anticipated reduction from 2,100 to around 1,300 people per year as charity refocuses on most complex needs to ensure long-term survival

Key Outcomes

  • Doubled number of people cared for at end of life over a decade (499 in 2014/15 to 1,064 in 2024/25); 4,125 people supported by Care Coordination team since service launched
  • Following January 2025 restructure announcement, community responded with outpouring of support — increased regular donations, MP letters, lottery sign-ups and fundraising — demonstrating deep community ownership of the hospice
  • Long-term trend remains growth despite restructure: even with reduction to ~1,300 per year, The Kirkwood will still be supporting more people than five years ago; active lobbying underway for fairer NHS statutory funding balance

Geography

Yorkshire and the Humber

Impact Snapshot
Key Metric 1
Total income £18,180,000 and total expenditure £18,560,000 (year ended 31 December 2024, charity no. 1084958 England/Wales and SC039654 Scotland); in 2024 spent £3.8m on...
Key Metric 2
700+ members supported through in-person visits and support calls in 2025; 697 support grants allocated in 2025 for essential items including specialist clothing, cooling...
Key Metric 3
Largest global investment in EB research to date: multi-million-pound drug repurposing trial provisionally agreed with LifeArc partner at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation...
£34,000 raised in 2025 winter appeal supporting families like Darcie's with specialist items, emotional support and research; 697 support grants delivered in 2025; first Members Connect event in Northern Ireland; EB Priorities Setting Partnership study completed providing global research roadmap
Impact Snapshot
Key Metric 1
22,507 households helped through RBL casework and specialist support services across 66 countries
Key Metric 2
22,600 grants given to those in need, totalling £11.8 million
Key Metric 3
733 beneficiaries represented at tribunals, resulting in £24.5 million in War Pensions awards
1,548 new families living with dementia supported by RBL Admiral Nurses service
Impact Snapshot
Key Metric 1
3,600 blind veterans received support across the UK; 447 new blind veterans started receiving support in 2024/25
Key Metric 2
1,598 referrals to rehabilitation services completed; 313 veterans received assistive technology training
Key Metric 3
997 volunteers donated 26,824 hours of support; befriending service awarded Quality in Befriending Excellence — one of only 11 organisations in the UK to...
1,831 National Creative Wellbeing Project packs issued to help veterans reconnect with creativity and independence
Impact Snapshot
Key Metric 1
349,000+ people completed the Know Your Risk tool to assess their risk of type 2 diabetes in 2024
Key Metric 2
£4 million invested in 17 new research projects; total active grants portfolio worth over £45 million
Key Metric 3
32% of people completing NHS England's Path to Remission programme — which Diabetes UK campaigned for — put their type 2 diabetes into remission
Type 1 Diabetes Grand Challenge invested over £23 million in 19 projects across 161 experts from 47 institutions in 8 countries since 2022