ONE of the most renowned hospices in Sussex has run into financial trouble for the first time in its history.

The Martlets Hospice in Hove, which provides specialist nursing care for the terminally ill and their families, has recorded a deficit of more than £43,000.

Fund-raisers called for help from the community, saying they had not raised enough money to meet its expenditure for the year.

The hospice has cared for hundreds of people since it opened in 1997.

An array of stars have helped raise money for its work, including Sir Alex Ferguson and his Manchester United team, players from Brighton and Hove Albion and Australian actor Mark Little.

However, it costs more than £3.5 million a year to keep the hospice going and about £2.75 million comes from fund-raising.

The hospice provides vital care but is not part of the NHS so does not automatically get enough money from the Government to run all its services.

The bulk of its money comes from legacies but income from these is starting to drop.

It has had to join other charities in the hunt for donations, grants and support just to make sure it gives its patients the help and treatment they need.

Fund-raiser Gary Moyle said: We have developed a legacy pack which gives people information about how they can include the hospice in their will.

You dont have to be rich to leave us a gift. It is the accumulation of hundreds of small donations which provides the bulk of our income and pays for our services. So every pound counts.

The shortfall total of £43,000 could have been used to care for more than 15 in-patients for a week.

It costs the hospice £365 a day to look after one person in the in-patient unit, or £2,554 a week.

It costs £117 per day, or £467 per week at The Martlets day centre and £141 per day or £987 per week to care for a patient under the Martlets@Home scheme, which provides specialist care for people who prefer to spend their last days at home.

The hospice also looks after patients families, partners and carers as they go through a difficult time and provides a bereavement support service.

In the hospices annual review, fund-raising manager Robert Griffiths said he was extremely grateful for the help and support the hospice received from the community.

He wrote: Our thanks go to every single individual, who, in some way contributed to raising this sum.

We know many people are proud of the hospice and the work it does but we need that pride converted into positive action for the future security of the Martlets to be assured.

We also need people from all over the area to ensure our national and local politicians are fully aware of the work of the hospice movement and the need for greater funding.

Although we raised more than £3.526,114 over the year, there was a shortfall of £43,421 against our expenditure.

This may indicate we are reaching a fund-raising limit that we can achieve each year but every effort will be made to recover this shortfall in the coming year.

Fund-raiser Antonia Shepherd said: The hospice is an important and vital part of the community and it needs the communitys help and support.

We are working hard to find new ways to raise the money we need.

Many people may one day need our help and support either for themselves or for a family or friend. We are asking for their help and support now.

The hospices fund-raising team gives advice to families, schools, businesses and organisations about holding sponsored events.

Mr Moyle said: We are trying to work towards a diverse income base where money is coming in from several sources so we are not overreliant on one source or another.

This is not a crisis or a panic but we do not want to repeat this again next year.

For more details about how to help, or to get information about legacy donations, call 01273 747455 or log on to www.themartlets.org