Keech Hospice Care
Keech Hospice Care is a UK charity providing free specialist palliative and end-of-life care to adults and children across Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, and Milton Keynes, funded primarily through donations, charity retail, and lottery income, with an annual operating need of £9.4 million.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1991
- HeadquartersLuton, United Kingdom
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Keech Hospice Care does
Keech Hospice Care is a UK-registered charitable hospice (Registered Charity Number 1035089) founded in 1991 and headquartered in Luton, providing free specialist palliative and end-of-life care to adults and children across Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, and Milton Keynes. The organisation operates an all-age model, one of only a handful in the UK, delivering care through an Adult Inpatient Unit (8 ensuite rooms), a Children's Inpatient Unit, community home care teams, the Wellbeing Centre in Luton (with purpose-built hydrotherapy pool heated to 35°C), the Living Well Centre in Bedford (added via the 2023 merger with Bedford Daycare Hospice), and 24-hour telephone advice lines integrated with NHS 111 option 4. Multi-disciplinary clinical teams (nurses, therapists, counsellors, doctors, social workers) deliver symptom management, rehabilitation, complementary therapies, family and bereavement support, and a Compassionate Neighbours befriending programme; in the last year the organisation cared for 2,242 people including 1,482 adults and 386 children, delivered 1,601 rehabilitation sessions, made 3,695 home visits, and answered 5,077 advice-line calls.
The underlying technology is a human-delivered, multi-modal care delivery platform rather than a software product; supporting infrastructure comprises an online referral portal, donation processing via Stripe, an education and training programme aligned with the NHS England framework, and a partnership with the University of Bedfordshire that conferred University Hospice status in January 2026. Core technology differentiators include the Compassionate Neighbours community volunteer model, the Bedfordshire Palliative Coordination Service integration with NHS triage, and purpose-built hydrotherapy facilities with sensory equipment.
The business model is non-profit and donor-dependent: services are provided entirely free of charge to patients and families, with ~70% of funding coming from supporters (individual donations, charity retail, weekly lottery and raffles, legacies via the Octopus Legacy partnership, and community fundraising events) and the remainder from NHS and statutory grants. The organisation reports that 89p of every £1 donated goes directly to care, £26k per day is required to support local patients, services save the NHS an estimated £6.5m annually, and ~£9.4m is needed annually to deliver care. Headcount sits in the 101-250 range; leadership comprises CEO Liz Searle, Clinical Director and Deputy CEO Elaine Tolliday, and Head of Learning Development & Research Tracy Plunkett. The organisation holds a CQC 'Good' rating (August 2024), the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service, Hospice UK Inclusivity Award (2024), and Best Companies 'Outstanding' workplace recognition (2025).
Keech Hospice Care firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Keech Hospice Care
- Legal name
- Keech Hospice Care
- Website
- https://keech.org.uk
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1991
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- Keech Hospice Care is a UK charity providing free specialist palliative and end-of-life care to adults and children across Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, and Milton Keynes, funded primarily through donations, charity retail, and lottery income, with an annual operating need of £9.4 million.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Keech Hospice Care industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Hospice and Palliative Care Services
- NAICS
- Services for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities (624120), Other Residential Care Facilities (62399), Other Individual and Family Services (624190)
- SIC
- Services-Nursing & Personal Care Facilities (8050), Services-Home Health Care Services (8082)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Palliative Care, Hospice & Serious Illness Support (BPAGACAK)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Routine In-Home Hospice Care (HSABAFAA), Pediatric Hospice & Palliative Care (HLADAHAI), Bereavement, Grief & Family Support Services (Hospice-Linked) (HLAFAEAO), In-Home Hospice Physician / Nurse Practitioner Visits (HSABAFAM)
Keywords
Where Keech Hospice Care is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Luton
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices2 records
Markets served
Keech Hospice Care business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others
Revenue model
- Donations and Fundraising: Majority of funding (70%) comes from supporters through donations, fundraising events, challenges, gifts, celebrations and remembrance activities.
- Charity Retail Shops: Revenue from charity shops selling donated goods. 70% of funding comes from supporters including shop purchases.
- Lottery and Raffles: Weekly lottery and raffle programmes providing regular donations from supporters.
- NHS and Government Funding: Services save NHS £6.5 million per year. Receives partial statutory funding.
- Legacies and Wills: Gifts left in wills and partnership with Octopus Legacy for free will writing service.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Free Care Services |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels6 records
Marketing channels7 records
Keech Hospice Care product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Keech Hospice Care provides free specialist palliative and end-of-life care to adults and children with life-limiting conditions across Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, and Milton Keynes. Services are delivered through inpatient units, home care, wellbeing centres, bereavement support, a Compassionate Neighbours befriending programme, and education/training for healthcare professionals. All services are provided free of charge to patients and families, funded primarily through donations, fundraising, charity retail, lottery, and partial NHS statutory funding.
Product overview
Keech Hospice Care is an all-age hospice offering a unified portfolio of free specialist palliative and end-of-life care services. The organization provides adult care services (inpatient unit, care at home, wellbeing centre) and children's services (inpatient unit, care at home, therapy and play services) across Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, and Milton Keynes. Core supporting services include bereavement support, family and carer support, therapy and wellbeing services, and a Compassionate Neighbours befriending programme. As a teaching hospice, education and training is a key offering alongside charitable retail operations.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Adult Inpatient Unit (Staying at Keech)
Quantifiable outcome
- £6.5 million annual savings to NHS
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Keech Hospice Care
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Keech Hospice Care technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Keech Hospice Care partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.
- University of BedfordshirecoreEducational partnership for research, student placements and academic collaboration. Keech Hospice became a University Hospice in January 2026, hosting clinical student placements and collaborating on research projects.
- NHScoreWorks alongside NHS services including GPs, hospital teams and community providers. Bedfordshire Palliative Coordination Service integrates with NHS 111 service. Services save NHS £6.5 million annually.
- Octopus LegacysupportingPartnership to provide free will writing service to supporters, helping with estate planning while generating legacy donations.
- St. Joseph's HospicesupportingSource organization for Compassionate Neighbours programme, a social movement founded in 2014 to build compassionate communities.
- Hospice UKcoreNational hospice charity providing postcode care finder, advocacy and awards. Keech won Hospice UK Inclusivity Award 2024.
- Bedford Daycare HospicecoreMerged with Keech Hospice Care in June 2023, expanding services in Bedford area under Living Well Centre brand.
Scale indicators11 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Keech Hospice Care competitors and assessment
Company assessmentOthers
- Hospice UK: National membership and advocacy body for the UK hospice sector. Not a direct care provider but the awarding body for Keech's Hospice UK Inclusivity Award and a key sector ecosystem participant influencing funding and policy.
Direct peers
- Noah's Ark Children's Hospice: North London/Hertfordshire-based children's hospice providing specialist paediatric palliative care, respite and family support. Direct peer to Keech's children's service line and overlapping catchment in Hertfordshire.
- Isabel Hospice: Hertfordshire-based hospice providing adult palliative care across home, community and inpatient settings. Geographic overlap with Keech and a closely matched referral base make it a strong direct peer in the same catchment.
- Rennie Grove Hospice Care: Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire hospice providing 24/7 responsive palliative care at home and in hospice beds. Formed via a hospice merger similar to Keech's Bedford Daycare integration, with a comparable home-care-led operating model.
- St. Joseph's Hospice: East London hospice providing specialist palliative and end-of-life care for adults, and the originator of the Compassionate Neighbours programme that Keech has adopted. Directly comparable in service scope, volunteer-led community model and charitable funding structure.
- East Anglia's Children's Hospices (EACH): Regional children's hospice charity operating across East Anglia with inpatient, home care and bereavement services. Direct peer to Keech's children's palliative care service line and a useful comparator on family support model.
Regional players
- Thames Hospice: Berkshire-based hospice providing adult inpatient and community palliative care with similar multi-disciplinary team structure. Comparable operating model and funding mix, though serving a different region.
- Arthur Rank Hospice Charity: Cambridgeshire hospice delivering adult inpatient, day therapy and community palliative care with similar charitable funding mix. Comparable operating model in an adjacent East of England region.
Broad incumbents
- Marie Curie: UK-wide charity operating the Marie Curie Hospice network and a national community nursing service for terminally ill people. Larger and more diversified than Keech but overlapping on hospice delivery, home nursing and end-of-life support.
- Sue Ryder: National healthcare charity running hospices, neurological care centres and bereavement support across the UK. Comparable on hospice palliative services and bereavement programme delivery, but at materially greater scale.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Keech Hospice Care social profiles
Digital presenceKeech Hospice Care compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance5 records
Keech Hospice Care financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Keech Hospice Care leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
Keech Hospice Care funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Keech Hospice Care M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Keech Hospice Care
What does Keech Hospice Care do?
Keech Hospice Care provides free specialist palliative and end-of-life care to adults and children with life-limiting conditions across Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, and Milton Keynes. Services are delivered through inpatient units, home care, wellbeing centres, bereavement support, a Compassionate Neighbours befriending programme, and education/training for healthcare professionals. All services are provided free of charge to patients and families, funded primarily through donations, fundraising, charity retail, lottery, and partial NHS statutory funding.
Is Keech Hospice Care a public or private company?
Keech Hospice Care is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Keech Hospice Care founded?
Keech Hospice Care was founded in 1991. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is Keech Hospice Care based?
Keech Hospice Care is headquartered in Luton, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Keech Hospice Care make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Donations and Fundraising is the primary driver. The others are charity Retail Shops, lottery and Raffles, NHS and Government Funding and legacies and Wills.
Who are Keech Hospice Care's main competitors?
Hospice UK is listed as an others. Direct peers are Noah's Ark Children's Hospice, Isabel Hospice, Rennie Grove Hospice Care, St. Joseph's Hospice and East Anglia's Children's Hospices (EACH). Regional players are Thames Hospice and Arthur Rank Hospice Charity. Broad incumbents are Marie Curie and Sue Ryder.
Does Keech Hospice Care have an API?
No public API is recorded for Keech Hospice Care.
What industry is Keech Hospice Care in?
Keech Hospice Care's product category is Hospice and Palliative Care Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAGACAK, Palliative Care, Hospice & Serious Illness Support, with a secondary code of HSABAFAA, Routine In-Home Hospice Care. Its NAICS code is 624120 and its SIC code is 8050.