Fernox in Sheerwater has given £10,000 to Woking Hospice: about 380 hours of care at a charity that outspent its income by £1.1m last year.

A Woking manufacturer has given £10,000 to the town’s hospice, enough to pay for roughly 380 hours of in-patient care.

Fernox, the heating chemicals company based at Genesis Business Park on Albert Drive in Sheerwater, made the donation through the ESI Foundation, the charitable arm of its parent group. Staff added a further £700 raised through a raffle (Fernox).

Charel Marais, general manager at Fernox, said the company was “thrilled to support the Woking & Sam Beare Hospice with this donation”. It was “impossible to put into words what an important role the hospice and its team play for individuals and their families”, he said.

Lucy McNally, income generation manager at the hospice, said the money “will enable patients and their loved ones to receive end-of-life care as well as support through the challenges of illness, loss, and bereavement”.

Fernox is one of the borough’s longer-standing employers. Fernox Limited has been on the Companies House register since 1 September 1925, and its registered office is in Sheerwater (Companies House, company 00208173).

Why £10,000 goes further than it sounds

The hospice is a charity, not an NHS service, and its own filed accounts show how much ground that leaves to make up.

Woking Hospice, registered charity number 1082798 and based at the Goldsworth Park Centre, reported the following for the year to 31 March 2025 (Charity Commission):

  • Total income: £9,332,529
  • Total expenditure: £10,463,579, so it spent £1,131,050 more than it received
  • Of that income, £2,809,848 came from three government contracts
  • The income split was £3.96m from other trading activities, which includes the charity shops, £3.23m from charitable activities, £2.05m from donations and legacies, and £96,730 from investments
  • £7.14m of the spending went on charitable activities, and £3.32m on raising funds
Bar chart of Woking Hospice income and expenditure for the year to 31 March 2025: income £9.33m against expenditure £10.46m
Chart by Woking Online.

Put next to those numbers, a single £10,000 cheque is a rounding error in the accounts. It is not a rounding error in the ward. The hospice’s costing, quoted by Fernox, works out at about £26 an hour of in-patient care, which is why 380 hours is the meaningful figure rather than the pound sign.

What it means for you

Woking Hospice covers north west Surrey from the Goldsworth Park Centre, and takes donations, legacies, volunteers and shop stock. Details of every route are on the hospice’s own site at wsbh.org.uk.

If you are checking any charity before giving, the Charity Commission register is free and public. It shows income, spending, whether the accounts were filed on time, and who the trustees are. Search by name or number at register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk.

The hospice kitchen at Goldsworth Park was itself rated 5 for food hygiene in July this year, one of a run of top marks across the borough. See our latest figures on Woking food hygiene ratings.

Sources