A Partner specialising in not-for-profit and charity sector work at UK top 10 accountancy firm Azets has been appointed as honorary treasurer at a hospice in north Kent.

Siobhan Holmes, based in Azets’ Sidcup office, is the new Treasurer and Chair of the Finance and Investment Committees at the Community Hospice, previously known as Greenwich and Bexley Hospice.

For Siobhan, who has been with Azets for almost a year after 13 years with HaysMac in London, it is a labour of love as she lives in the Borough of Bexley and is a lifelong supporter of the hospice. She said:

“I was honoured to have been appointed to this important role. The Community Hospice does an incredible job and with increasing funding pressures and rising costs, it is essential that trustees provide both support and constructive challenge to ensure the charity remains forward thinking and continues to lead the way in delivering palliative care."

“This trusteeship is particularly close to my heart as I have been a loyal supporter for many years and during my earlier professional role, when I was part of the audit team looking after the hospice, it ignited my passion for specialising in the charity sector. It’s a real pleasure to have come full circle.”

Siobhan, who was named as one of influential publication Accountancy Age’s ‘35 Under 35’ winners in 2024, has for more than a decade specialised in the NFP and charity sector. She was awarded the Diploma in Charity Accounting in 2015.

She has extensive experience of working with a broad range of clients such as grant makers and benevolent funds, fundraising charities, arts and culture, membership charities, independent schools and academies.

Although her work at Azets focuses on statutory audits and independent examinations, Siobhan also enjoys advising clients beyond complex audit and accounting issues and goes the extra mile for them.

The hospice, in Bostall Hill, Abbey Wood, first opened its doors in February 1994 after a long fundraising campaign launched by friends Pat Jeavons and Don Sturrock, who were living with cancer.

In 2010 services were expanded to support people in hospital, in care homes and in their own homes. Today, the hospice strives to ensure that everyone who is in need of palliative or terminal care in Greenwich and Bexley gets the support and care that they need to make their last days count.

At any one time, the hospice is caring for around 750 people in the community who are living with a life-limiting illness – at home, in hospital or in a hospice bed, as well as supporting families to have those tough conversations, make difficult decisions, navigate reams of paperwork, and help manage physical and emotional pain.

Photo: Hospice Role - Siobhan Holmes, Partner specialising in charities and not-for-profit organisations at UK top 10 accountancy firm Azets, has been appointed to the role of Treasurer and Chair of the Finance and Investment Committees at the Community Hospice covering Greenwich and Bexley in north Kent