FINAL - JDDK Millmount News Summer Edition 2025 DIGITAL - Flipbook - Page 14
THE DESIGN
Making the most of the
government’s £100m
hospice funding boost
By Mura Mullan,
Director at JDDK Architects
The recent announcement of £100 million in
government funding for hospice upgrades and
refurbishments is welcome news for the sector.
For charitable hospices across the UK, this
investment presents an opportunity to improve
the environments in which people receive care.
However, the challenge lies in making these
relatively modest pots of money stretch far enough
to deliver meaningful impact.
At JDDK, our approach has always been grounded in the
belief that small changes can make a big difference. It was
the message we took to Hospice UK last year – “small change,
big difference” – and it remains a guiding principle in how we
work with hospices across the country. With this latest round
of funding, this ethos has never felt more relevant.
Start with a strategy
Hospices that will bene昀椀t most from this funding are those
with a long-term strategy already in place. When a pot of
money becomes available, whether it’s big or small, having a
masterplan allows for quick, effective decision-making that
aligns with wider goals rather than reacting to immediate
needs without considering the bigger picture.
For example, we’ve worked with St. Oswald’s for decades to
establish a clear strategy for their facility developments. This
allows the hospice to make informed choices about how to
use the funding as it becomes available, rather than letting
short-term pressures dictate priorities. That means when
money comes in, it’s not just about 昀椀xing old spaces – it’s
about contributing to a wider transformation of the hospice
environment.
14 Millmount. Summer 2025.
Marie Curie Hospice, Glasgow
The bigger impact of smaller changes
While £100 million sounds signi昀椀cant, when divided among
the UK’s many charitable hospices, the available grants can
be relatively limited – sometimes as little as £60,000 per
organisation. That doesn’t mean the impact has to be limited.
We’ve seen 昀椀rst-hand how small-scale refurbishments can
have a profound effect on both patient and staff experience.
In 2006, we worked with Marie Curie in Glasgow as part of
the Kings Fund Enhancing the Healing Environment pilot
programme. The hospice had a £40,000 grant to refurbish a
single visitors’ room. Using off-the-shelf 昀椀ttings and a simple
recon昀椀guration of the space, the result was a transformed room
that signi昀椀cantly improved the experience for families. It was a
modest intervention in 昀椀nancial terms, but had lasting value to
those who used it.