St Catherine’s Hospice: Our 2026 Charity of the Year

Proudly supporting exceptional care when local families need it most

You’ve almost certainly heard of St Catherine’s Hospice. Perhaps you or someone close to you has experienced their care first-hand. Maybe you’ve spotted their charity shops, noticed their fundraising events, or heard their name mentioned in conversation.

Here’s the thing about St Catherine’s: those who have experienced their care directly, speak about them with genuine warmth and gratitude. But if you haven’t needed them yet (and let’s be honest, most of us hope we won’t for a long time), there’s a tendency to keep hospice care at arm’s length. It feels sad, final, something we’d rather not think about.

The reality? It’s so much more positive than that. And this year, RH Uncovered has chosen St Catherine’s as our Charity of the Year because we want to celebrate everything they do and help more people get involved – whether that’s through fundraising, volunteering, or simply understanding what they’re really about.

What hospice care actually looks like

If you’ve not experienced hospice care personally, you might think it’s all about those final days. It’s not.

Most of the 2,000 people St Catherine’s supports each year are living with terminal or life-limiting conditions, yes, but the hospice is there to help people to live fully, with dignity and comfort, until the end.

The care happens in three main ways. There’s the hospice itself in Pease Pottage, with two wards providing round-the-clock compassionate care in what’s genuinely more like a calm home, complete with beautiful outside spaces. Then there’s the community team – specialist doctors and nurses who visit people in their own homes or local care homes across West Sussex and East Surrey. And finally, there’s the wellbeing support: everything from breathlessness management to exercise sessions, bereavement support to simply helping people live as well as they can.

One person who received care put it perfectly: “Every single person at St Catherine’s, from the doctors, the nursing staff, receptionists and community team were just brilliant. The care and compassion they all gave to me showed no bounds. Whenever I walked into St Catherine’s it was like receiving the biggest hug on earth.”

That’s what makes St Catherine’s so loved by those who know them – the ongoing support, the practical help, the difference between managing at home and not managing at all. It’s about quality of life, not just end of life.