The chair of trustees at East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH) has called for more “continuity and consistency” in terms of government funding.

Brad McLean spoke on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, in response to an interview with Home Secretary Victoria Atkins.

Ms Atkins was challenged on hospice funding but while adult centres receive a third of their income from statutory sources, organisations like EACH rely on just 15%.

“Children’s hospices don’t seem to make it into the conversation as much as they should,” Brad told presenter Amol Rajan.

“We receive even less funding and the rest has to come from voluntary income.

“Adult hospices are dramatically underfunded but children’s hospices are even more so.

“Ultimately, we need more money but we also need continuity and consistency within the funding model, so we know what we’re going to receive.

“We need more security, so we can plan our services, and, in terms of statutory funding, we simply don’t have that.

“At the moment, we don’t even know what the next year or so looks like because it’s dependent on funding applications.

“We go to the five care boards that we deal with and apply for funding on a yearly basis, but there’s no model from the government.”

EACH, which has bases in Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, needs to raise £6.7 million a year from fundraising and £7.8 million a year in retail income, from its 47 shops.

This year, it only received 15% of its total income from statutory sources, including the Government, County Councils and Integrated Care Boards.

“I don’t know why children’s hospices receive less than adult hospices,” added Brad. “It’s an excellent question.

“We’re constantly asking for more funding.

“However, unfortunately, those conversations don’t get a lot of traction.

“Instead, we rely heavily on fundraising and our shops and that’s what we continue to focus on.

“For us, that’s £12 million a year and if that dries up we’re in a lot of trouble.

“Not being able to rely on a good chunk of your income from central government puts a huge amount of pressure on the services we offer.

“It’s very difficult to look two, three or four years into the future.”