Rotherham Hospice launches urgent appeal

Repeated break-ins and theft in just three months prompt early launch of the £750,000 Wishes House Appeal, with £15,000 urgently needed to strengthen security at the hospice grounds.

Rotherham Hospice is asking its community to stand with it after masked intruders broke into the grounds of the hospice itself, the latest in a succession of incidents targeting the charity in just three months.

Its Donation Centre was broken into twice by the same person in one evening. Its Parkgate Superstore then suffered a separate theft. Now the hospice’s Broom Road grounds have been entered twice in a week, with the latest intrusion happening in broad daylight despite the charity having repaired and strengthened its fencing after the first.

The repeated targeting has prompted the charity to bring forward the public launch of its £750,000 Wishes House Appeal. Its immediate priority is to raise £15,000 for security works, alongside the wider ambition to create a dedicated bereavement centre, therapeutic woodland and better access for local families.

A second intrusion despite strengthened fencing

Temporary fencing was put up around the land approximately a week ago, but it was broken open and the land entered on the first night. The hospice re-erected and strengthened the fencing. Despite those steps, two masked men pulled down sections and entered the Broom Road grounds at around 5pm on Wednesday 7 October 2026.

They moved through the woodland and planned car park extension, then into the existing car park, walking around cars belonging to staff and visitors and heading towards outdoor storage units. The hospice believes they were looking for tools or other items to steal.

A neighbour spotted the men and shouted, disturbing them before they ran away. The hospice has thanked the neighbour for their vigilance. Over the past three months, the charity has also suffered two break-ins at its Donation Centre by the same person in one evening, and a separate theft at its Parkgate Superstore.

Mat Cottle-Shaw, Chief Executive of Rotherham Hospice, said:

“First our Donation Centre was broken into twice in one evening. Then our Parkgate Superstore suffered a theft. Now intruders have entered the grounds of the hospice itself, where people come for care and families spend precious time with someone they love.

“All of this has happened in just three months. It is deeply upsetting that a charity dedicated to caring for Rotherham keeps being targeted in this way.

“We repaired and strengthened the fencing after the first intrusion at the hospice, but it has happened again. We now need to move faster. That is why we are launching our Wishes House Appeal early and asking our community to help us secure the site and build something better for the families who need us.”

Wishes House: a dedicated home for support after loss

The £750,000 appeal will help meet the costs of purchasing, renovating and equipping 83 Broom Road, the house next door but one to the hospice, alongside the woodland, security, parking and accessibility improvements that make the wider project possible.

Wishes House will become Rotherham’s first dedicated bereavement centre, bringing counselling, bereavement and family support together in a calm, welcoming setting away from the clinical Inpatient Unit.

WISHES HOUSE NOW	INSIDE THE HOUSE NOW
83 Broom Road, photographed in September 2026, before its transformation into Wishes House.	An existing room inside the property before refurbishment. September 2026 project photograph.

At present, counselling and bereavement support takes place in rooms shared with other hospice services. For some families, seeking support means returning to the same building where they said their last goodbye. Group sessions are limited by room size, while children and young people’s support relies on garden rooms and shared spaces.

The new centre will provide private counselling rooms, space for whole families, a larger home for grief groups and creative sessions, and dedicated indoor spaces for Sunbeams children’s bereavement support and teenagers.

In 2025/26, the hospice recorded 354 counselling referrals and 234 bereavement referrals. Its counselling service provided 1,571 face-to-face contacts and 529 telephone contacts: 2,100 counselling contacts in one year.

Demand for emotional and bereavement support has grown by more than 30%. Wishes House is expected to increase capacity to support bereaved adults, children and families by approximately 40%. Moving these services will also release rooms within the main hospice for the continued development of clinical and community services.

What Rotherham’s support will help create

PROPOSED GROUP SUPPORT SPACE	PROPOSED CHILDREN’S SPACE
Illustrative concept for a group support room. Not completed works or a final construction design.	Illustrative concept for children’s bereavement support. Not completed works or a final construction design.

A place to walk, talk and remember

The therapeutic Woodland Walk will turn previously inaccessible land into a peaceful place to walk, talk, reflect and remember. Plans include accessible routes, places to sit and opportunities for counselling outdoors, alongside nature-based activities for bereaved children and young people.

The wider project also includes expanded parking, accessible bays and improved access to Wishes House. For a family arriving at a difficult moment, finding a space and getting safely to the door should not be another worry.

Wishes House, the increased parking and outdoor therapeutic space received planning permission from Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council on 29 July 2026. The appeal will help turn those approved plans into spaces local families can use.

New before-and-after illustrations on the following image pages show how existing rooms could become welcoming places for children, teenagers and grief groups. These are illustrative proposals, not photographs of completed works or final construction designs.

A charity built by Rotherham, asking Rotherham to stand with it

Rotherham Hospice’s care is free to the people who need it, but it is not free to provide. Less than 40% of its £10m+ annual running costs come from government funding. Community giving and the income the charity raises remain essential.

Mat added:

“Please look beyond the collapsed fencing and see what this space can become: somewhere a grieving child feels safe, a family finds support and someone can sit quietly among the trees and remember.

“We cannot undo what has happened, but together we can decide what happens next. Please give whatever you can. Help us secure the site, open the doors to Wishes House and support more local families through some of the hardest days of their lives.”

People can donate, give in memory of someone or organise a fundraiser at home, school or work. Businesses can help through donations, staff fundraising, or offers of materials, equipment, trades and professional services.

Donate to the Wishes House Appeal:

justgiving.com/campaign/wishes-house

Anyone who witnessed the incident or has information about the intruders, including CCTV or dashcam footage, is asked to call South Yorkshire Police, quoting crime reference number 14/177477/26.