🎲 Keech Hospice Care

Keech Hospice Care is a UK charitable hospice organisation that operates a society lottery to raise funds for its care services. It holds an active licence from the Gambling Commission and runs its lottery as a non-commercial fundraising activity rather than as a commercial gambling business. The hospice was founded in the late 1980s and adopted the name Keech Hospice Care in 2009.

The organisation originated from a local initiative led by Dr Wink White and supporters in Bedfordshire. A bank account for the hospice project was opened in March 1987 and a trust deed was established on 7 July 1987, naming initial trustees including Dr Wink White, John Every, Betty Robinson, Geoffrey Squires and Ron Upton. Land donated by Betty Robinson enabled the opening of an adult hospice in 1991, initially known as Luton and South Bedfordshire Hospice/The Pasque Adult Hospice. A children’s hospice, Keech Cottage, opened in 2000 following a major donation from Dennis Keech. The adult hospice was opened by HRH The Duchess of Gloucester, and the children’s hospice by HRH The Princess Royal. The organisation consolidated its identity under the name Keech Hospice Care in October 2009.

Keech Hospice Care is registered as a charity and appears in UK public registers, including Companies House (for corporate filings) and the Charity Commission (for charity regulation). It reports that a substantial proportion of its income is generated through voluntary fundraising, including a hospice lottery, charity shops, and events, with additional contributions from NHS and local authorities. Its clinical services are regulated by the Care Quality Commission, which rated its services “good” in an inspection completed in November 2024 and reported in March 2024.

Licensing and Operations

Keech Hospice Care holds an operating licence from the Gambling Commission as a non-commercial society lottery operator. The licence is active and covers society lottery activity. The licence authorises the organisation to promote and operate a lottery for the purpose of raising funds for its charitable objectives, rather than for private profit.

The hospice runs the Keech Hospice Lottery as its main gambling product. This is a fundraising lottery in which proceeds support the hospice’s adult and children’s palliative and end-of-life care services. The activity is classified as a society lottery under UK gambling law, and the hospice is listed as the lottery promoter. The licence is non-remote, meaning it authorises land-based or offline lottery operations; there is no evidence in the available material of a separate remote gambling licence.

The Gambling Commission’s public register lists the organisation’s trading names associated with its lottery activity and confirms the current status of the operating licence as active. The hospice identifies Rob Davies as the Responsible Person for the purposes of its society lottery licence.

Regulatory History

In the available sources, there is no record of enforcement action, financial penalties or regulatory sanctions taken against the organisation by the Gambling Commission in relation to its society lottery licence. Its care services are separately regulated by the Care Quality Commission, which has published inspection reports and ratings, including a “good” overall rating in the most recent inspection noted. No specific sanctions by other regulators were identified in the referenced material.