A CHARITY which supports families of youngsters with life-threatening conditions has called for urgent public support amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The East Anglia's Children's Hospices (EACH) is urging people to donate online or get creative while stuck inside to help them fundraise.

Nationally, charities are expected to lose out on billions of pounds over the coming weeks as people are forced to stay at home.

The Government is said to be preparing a support package to help the charitable sector in the coming days, but specifics are yet to be announced by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.

EACH acting chief executive Tracey Rennie said the virus had put a huge blackhole in their funding and meant some activities have had to be shelved.

“What we are all facing is unprecedented," she said.

"We know this is a very challenging and uncertain time for everyone, and for EACH the financial impact is overwhelming.

"Financial forecasts based on what we know and the rapidly changing situation are extremely concerning, and are likely to get worse.

“We are not alone. Nearly every children’s hospice in the UK is in the same position. Unlike hospitals, we all rely on the generosity of our donors to fund our services. We receive a tiny amount from the NHS.

“It is essential we all work together to slow down the spread of the virus and protect and shield the most vulnerable, which includes the children who use our services.

"This, along with the predicted impact on our workforce as the virus takes hold, has meant that we have suspended our planned care activities in the hospice such as short breaks and wellbeing therapies, wellbeing groups and events, face-to-face counselling, care of the child’s body after they have died as well as our Help at Home volunteering service.

“However, our care service must continue.

"At the moment, our focus is on providing end-of-life care and bereavement support, and working closely with the NHS to provide capacity to care for the sickest children, and responding to urgent requests for care and support as best we can.

"But we also need to be able to start offering our services to all of the other families as soon as it is safe to do so. We need the help of the public to make that happen.

“We are experiencing a devastating drop in income from donations and the vast majority of our supporters’ fundraising activities, and our own events, have had to be cancelled or postponed.

“The financial impact on our shops is, without exaggeration, huge. Our 43 shops and eBay and Amazon operations are now closed. We normally take £100,000 of income each week – this is now down to zero – this week, next week and who knows how many weeks after that.

“We are hopeful there will be additional funding support from the government and recognise they are taking vital and unprecedented steps to support business and their employees, but this alone won’t be enough and we need help now to bridge that gap.

“We have always received such fantastic backing from communities right across East Anglia and we are now calling on our amazing supporters to donate what they can or get creative with their ‘at-home’ fundraising ideas, by visiting each.org.uk.

"Our fundraising teams are still working hard from home and would love to hear from you."