A Woodford Green charity is looking to rally fundraising momentum so it can rebuild after the Covid pandemic.
That's according to interim chief executive of Haven House Children's Hospice, Richard Penney, who told the Recorder it had faced an estimated £500,000 income shortfall in the coronavirus emergency.
Haven House cares for children with life-limiting illnesses and their families.
Richard, who is usually director of finance but has been standing in as the charity's boss since July, said: "The challenge we have now is we're coming out of that position and need to rebuild.
"We've pulled a lot of things back and we need to invest more in our fundraising and try and bring that back up.
"We're starting to have some event activity, we're starting to have our families back on site but we can't at the moment have the type of fundraising events we had.
"The challenge now is making sure we keep momentum up to be able to invest back up. We're conscious while this has all been happening there are more children and families who need our support."
The last year had been a rollercoaster for the hospice, he said.
"Income just wasn't coming in and it was a really big issue."
The charity had to furlough staff and make a small number of redundancies, Richard said.
But it supported the NHS by taking on children where they required the capacity.
The charity's care team was highly commended at the Royal College of Nursing Awards for its efforts to support families during the pandemic.
"We managed to provide over 30,000 hours of care in the last year, which was pretty amazing," Richard said.
"I'm proud of what we've achieved from a care perspective. At the end of the day, if you can't deliver the best quality care, then you've lost your way. That's the heart of what we're all about."
Recruitment is also an area that the charity is prioritising, "making sure we're able to continue to attract the best possible people", Richard added.
Sian Wicks will take over as the charity's chief executive early next month.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here