The last days of a person’s life are often spent in a single room. A room where farewells are said, where memories are shared, and where closeness matters. The Roparun Foundation is now focusing on precisely that space with the introduction of Roparun rooms for hospices: fully furnished guest rooms in hospices, focused on comfort, peace, and quality of life.
With a new hospice policy, the foundation is making a clear choice. It focuses on what guests and their loved ones truly feel. The hospice room itself.
Roparun has supported virtually all hospices in the Netherlands for 35 years. But due to growing demand, the increasing number of hospices, and significant differences in requests, it was time for a focus. No more scattered investments, but targeted support where it can make the greatest difference: in the room where someone spends their final days or weeks.
The new Roparun rooms are guest rooms fully furnished with support from the foundation. Think comfortable (couple) beds, comfortable chairs, warm lighting, furniture, and details that contribute to a sense of peace and security. No construction projects, no technical interventions, just a tangible difference for the guest.
Palliative care under pressure
The Netherlands now has over 200 hospices and near-home homes, largely run by volunteers. The need for palliative care is growing rapidly. In 2023, 7,500 people who wanted to die in a hospice were unable to find one. In 2024, over 12,000 people spent their final years in a hospice, an 11% increase compared to the previous year. Due to an aging population and longer illnesses, this pressure will only increase in the coming years.
It is precisely in this reality that Roparun wants to contribute where it really counts: to the daily well-being of the guest.
The guest room central
The core of the new policy is clear and humane. The foundation will now primarily focus on furnishing guest rooms. For near-home hospices, this means a contribution of up to €17,500 per room, with a provisional maximum of six rooms per hospice. High-care hospices and palliative care units can apply for supplements to existing basic facilities, for example, for additional comfort furniture.
Common areas, structural modifications, and labor costs are not covered by the policy. The focus is entirely on that one room where farewell, closeness, and tranquility converge.
With fixed maximum amounts and a national benchmark for products, Roparun ensures greater equality and predictability.
Hospice rooms furnished with the organization’s support will also feature a recognizable Roparun logo. This will make it clear where the Roparun proceeds are spent and will continue to highlight the importance of palliative care.
Lesly Wolters, director of the Roparun: “In the final stages of someone’s life, comfort shouldn’t be a luxury or a coincidence. The hospice room is the place where people say goodbye to life, together with their loved ones. You want to feel warmth there. Peace. Dignity.
With the Roparun rooms, we’re making a very conscious choice: our support should be as directly tangible as possible for the guest. By establishing clear guidelines, we can contribute more honestly and effectively and ensure that more people can live out their final years with dignity.
Future
With this policy, the organization aims to support all near-home homes in the Netherlands with newly furnished guest rooms over the coming decades. This way, the foundation will continue to contribute structurally to warm, humane palliative care, now and in the future.
About Roparun
Roparun has been committed to palliative care for people with cancer for 35 years. The foundation supports hospices, wish ambulances, hairpieces, and vacations for people with cancer and their loved ones, among other things. Proceeds are raised during the annual Roparun over Pentecost weekend, when thousands of participants walk and cycle from France and the Netherlands to Rotterdam. In 2025, the Roparun raised more than €4.7 million.