The hospice needs £2m more for its £10.3m Woodside Avenue rebuild. Inpatient beds are at Edgware Community Hospital until the new unit opens in August 2027.
North London Hospice is asking its community for the final £2 million of a £10.3 million rebuild of its inpatient ward in Finchley.
The unit at 47 Woodside Avenue, N12, closed to the public on 1 July 2026. Its inpatient beds moved that day to Jade Ward at Edgware Community Hospital, and they will stay there for up to a year while the Finchley building comes down and goes back up.
The charity said in June that it would launch a public appeal in the autumn. That appeal, Building for Tomorrow, is now live, carrying a film about why the ward has to be replaced.
Why the ward is being rebuilt
The Woodside Avenue building opened in 1992 and the hospice says the unit has not been significantly altered for 30 years. In its own words, the care is world class but the facilities are not. Its brochure sets out the specific problems: bedrooms too small for staff to bring equipment to the bedside, bathrooms that are not wheelchair friendly, no air conditioning, heating that is either on or off, and no private entrance, so patients arrive through a reception full of visitors.
What the rebuild buys, from the same document:
- 15 bedrooms of equal size, some fitted with ceiling-mounted hoists
- a separate, accessible entrance directly into the Inpatient Unit
- en-suite shower rooms reconfigured for full wheelchair access, with built-in shower seats
- space in each room for family to stay overnight and eat together
- solar panels, LED lighting and a new ventilation system
- a staff hub with private space for confidential conversations
Neilcott Construction Ltd was appointed as contractor after a competitive tender. The hospice announced that in June and said work would start in August 2026 and take about 12 months. The new unit is anticipated to open in August 2027.
The money, and why the published figures differ
The appeal page puts the project at £10.3 million, says just over £8 million has been raised through major donors, trusts, private sponsors and government funding, and asks the community for the final £2 million. A second page on the same site, Building for Tomorrow: our plans, gives the total as £10.4 million and the amount raised as £8 million.
The detailed breakdown in the brochure, dated May 2026, is the most precise version. It totals £10.331 million:
| Cost | £000s |
|---|---|
| Construction | 6,641 |
| Continuation of service at another location | 1,400 |
| Fees and project costs | 1,210 |
| Contingency | 725 |
| Furniture, fittings and medical equipment | 355 |
| Total | 10,331 |
Against that, the brochure listed £3.453 million of gifts secured, £2.963 million of the hospice’s own allocated reserves, £735,000 of historical endowments and a £710,000 capital grant from the Department of Health and Social Care, leaving £2.47 million still to be raised at that date. Named major funders include the Peabody Community Foundation, the Pears Foundation and the Wolfson Foundation.
The two ways of counting explain the gap between “over £5 million secured” in May and “just over £8 million raised” now. The larger figure includes the charity’s own reserves.
Where inpatient care is until 2027
Jade Ward is at Edgware Community Hospital, HA8 9BA, in Barnet’s Burnt Oak ward. The hospice can admit up to 12 inpatients there.
The practical points it has published:
- referrals are for adults aged 18 and over with an advanced, progressive, life-limiting illness
- referrals must meet the criteria for specialist palliative care
- the referral process itself is unchanged, through a GP or another healthcare professional
- there is no parallel service, so inpatient care is at Edgware only, not Finchley
- patients whose symptoms improve may be discharged and can be re-referred at any time
- community, overnight and Living Well services carry on as before
Both addresses are in Barnet. Woodside Avenue sits in Totteridge and Woodside ward and Jade Ward in Burnt Oak. The hospice itself is not a Barnet-only service: its trustees’ report says it covers Barnet, Enfield, Haringey, Camden and Islington. If you are travelling to Edgware, check our Barnet roadworks and travel page first.
What the hospice’s own accounts show
The charity published its 2025/26 impact report and audited accounts on 1 September, for the year to 31 March 2026. It is not a comfortable set of numbers.
The hospice recorded a net operating deficit of £1.3 million, which it met by drawing on reserves. An investment gain of £1.1 million substantially reduced that position. It spent over £12 million on hospice services, with £3 in every £4 going on staff costs. Trustees say they are working towards a balanced budget by 2028/29.
On the income side, NHS money rose to around £6 million and a further £1 million of government capital funding came in. Fundraising brought in over £2.8 million and the 21 charity shops and trading arm over £4 million. Legacies were £0.5 million, which the report calls substantially lower than both the prior year and the ten-year average. The asset base is around £27 million, 80% of it in long-term assets.
What that money delivered in the year:
- 285 inpatient admissions, at 91% occupancy
- 91% of inpatients achieved their preferred place of death
- 3,078 referrals to community palliative care, with 90% achieving their preferred place of death
- 5,834 calls answered by the overnight advice team between 5pm and 8am
- around 600 volunteers
Chief executive Declan Carroll said the year had brought “real financial pressures, growing demand and the complexity of delivering care in an increasingly constrained system”.
What it means for you
Hospice care here is free at the point of use. On the charity’s own figures, NHS income of around £6 million covers about half of the £12 million-plus it spends on hospice services, and charitable money covers the rest. That is the case the appeal rests on.
If you or a relative may need inpatient palliative care in the next year, it will be at Edgware, not Finchley, and there are 12 places. Ask your GP or hospital team about a referral in the usual way. General questions about the building work go to BuildingForTomorrow@northlondonhospice.co.uk, and clinical questions to the hospice’s secure NHS address, nlondonhospice.ccc@nhs.net.
If you want to give, the donation route is on the appeal page. The hospice also runs a lottery, 21 shops and a furniture collection service, all of which fund the same services.
North London Hospice is registered charity 285300.
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