A hospice in Essex has said it is feeling the effects of the economic downturn after a fundraising drive fell £70,000 short of its target.
Fair Havens Hospice had previously warned it could be forced to cut services if more money was not raised.
It aimed to collect £500,000 to cover a projected shortfall in fundraising and, while it has raised enough to prevent cuts, it failed to hit the target.
Chief executive Andy Smith appealed for donations to prevent future cuts.
'Financial challenge'
Mr Smith said: "Havens Hospices has had an extraordinary year, not only facing this financial challenge but celebrating a fantastic milestone of providing 25 years of care through Fair Havens Hospices and 10 years at Little Havens Children's Hospice.
"However, as a charity we are beginning to feel the impact of the downturn in the economy.
"Although this means we fell short of our target, we are out of the crisis we faced last January and have no plans to cut back on our nursing services."
"As a charity we are beginning to feel the impact of the downturn in the economy"
Fair Havens cares for adults living with cancer and other serious illnesses throughout Southend, Castle Point and Rochford.
Havens Hospices says it will cost £2.6m this year to offer the hospice's services.
The Help Our Hospice Appeal was launched in January last year following a 30% slump in donations.
The hospice said if the trend continued there would have been a shortfall of £500,000 and the charity would be running on its reserves, potentially forcing cuts in services.
Fundraisers achieved an initial target of raising £250,000 extra but efforts to match the figure in a second round of fundraising fell short.
Little Havens was not affected by the funding situation.
^ Back to top | BBC Sport Home | BBC Homepage | Contact us | Help | ©
~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~54~RS~)