Charity trustees, local mayors and councillors have launched an appeal by pushing a hospice bed from Myton Hospice in Warwick to the town's Market Square to highlight the urgent need for funding to open more hospice beds.

Myton Hospices launched the appeal to raise £327,000, which could fund three more Myton beds for 12 months, so more local people and their families can receive the specialist hospice care they require.

The Myton team, including Chair of Trustees Sarah Faulkner and CEO Ruth Freeman, was joined by local mayors and councillors, as well as staff from local businesses Cadent and Squab Removals.

To launch the appeal, they pushed a hospice bed from Warwick Myton Hospice to Warwick Market Square, highlighting the urgent need for funding to open more hospice beds.

Ruth Freeman, CEO of The Myton Hospices, said, "Everyone at the end of their life deserves excellent care. They should have access to the very best pain management and symptom control, which is provided by Myton's specialist teams. We have beds standing empty because we don't have the funding to open them, yet we have waiting lists every day.

"No one should have to spend their final days in A&E, on a trolley in a hospital corridor, or on a waiting list for a hospice bed when, with more funding, we could provide the specialist support they need. £327,000 could fund three Myton beds for 12 months, helping us make specialist hospice care available to more people and their families across Coventry and Warwickshire. You can help by donating today so that we can continue our fight to open more beds and support more people when they need us the most."

Myton Hospices launched the appeal to raise £327,000, which could fund three more Myton beds for 12 months, so more local people and their families can receive the specialist hospice care they require (image supplied)

The Myton Hospices is the only hospice in Coventry and Warwickshire providing specialist palliative and end-of-life care, and the only local hospice with inpatient beds. Myton has 36 beds, but can currently only afford to keep 25 open.

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The charity reports that every year, around 200 local people die or become too unwell to move while waiting for a hospice bed at Myton to become available. That's almost four people a week. Yet hospice beds remain closed because there isn't enough funding to open them.

Kat, whose husband Dan was cared for at Warwick Myton Hospice before he died aged just 38, shared: "Typical visions of a hospice can be quite negative, but I was astounded at how different Myton was. The staff were so welcoming and present – it was mind-blowing. It was the little things.

"We could bring in anything we wanted for his room, I could stay overnight with him in his room, and we could even get takeaways. It was the freedom we had to spend our time however we wanted. And the level of care was incredible."

To find out more and to donate now, visit here.

The charity reports that every year, around 200 local people die or become too unwell to move while waiting for a hospice bed at Myton to become available. That's almost four people a week. Yet hospice beds remain closed because there isn't enough funding to open them (image supplied)