“Hope isn’t a strategy”: Lessons from Hospice UK’s turnaround toolkit for the wider charity sector

While developed specifically for the hospice sector, the toolkit offers valuable insights and lessons for charities more broadly facing financial difficulty or seeking to strengthen their financial resilience.

For the last few years, the hospice sector has been facing a period of unprecedented financial pressure. Nearly six in ten hospices have recently made, or are considering, cuts to services.

Whilst campaigning work to revisit the wider public funding settlement continues, there has been an increasing recognition for a practical resource that hospices can use if they need to enter a period of financial turnaround.

Following a successful session at the Annual Conference in November 2025, Craig Duncan and the team from Hospice UK instigated the publication of a toolkit that could be used across the sector. The team recognised early on that this would need to draw from both sector-specific knowledge as well as turnaround experience. As a result, the work was commissioned from David Burland, who is a longstanding hospice expert and leader, and Simon Hopkins, who has many years of charity turnaround experience and has campaigned for greater turnaround bench strength in the sector for some years.

The resulting toolkit was published in June 2026.

From the outset, we wanted a resource that was highly participative in nature. So, the toolkit deliberately combines a series of prompts and recommendations for each stage of turnaround with a series of carefully curated case studies from hospices who have recent direct experience of this kind of change.

We also took an overt decision to build an initial resource and publish quickly, given the urgency of the issue. The publication is therefore set up to allow for regular and easy iteration as more members reflect and contribute their own experiences and observations.

Similarly, we recognise the opportunity to use this not just as a resource in its own right, but also as a deliberate catalyst to more dialogue on the subject. We know that we don’t have all the answers – the more diverse voices we can invite to take part, the better we will be at creating a true community of practice, where familiarity with turnaround grows organically.

Here are some observations we are drawing from this work, both for hospices and for finance professionals.

Demand for the toolkit

The work on the toolkit reinforces findings from recent campaigning work, not least that there is a real demand for this type of resource. Our launch event was attended by over 120 hospice professionals – that is a significant element of the whole sector.

Value of convening power

Using Hospice UK’s convening power has also been key. Umbrella and membership bodies have a unique opportunity to spread best practice quickly and widely. The level of interest (above) shows the considerable value of convening wider professional communities.

Sector-wide relevance

Much of the toolkit’s content has relevance beyond the hospice world and into the wider charity sector. Areas like effective communication, great financial modelling and identifying the right skills are applicable to any charity in turnaround.

Importance of a proactive approach

Getting on top of the issue early and decisively is key. As one participant pointed out: ‘hope is not a strategy’. A number of participants also reinforced the advice in the toolkit to enter into turnaround mode as a formal board decision.

Organisational culture

Culture, capability and communications are every bit as important as the technical aspects of turnaround. Again, this was emphasised by a number of participating hospices. Not surprisingly, therefore, the section of the toolkit that deals with these areas is the longest.

Role of trustees

The role of trustees is also key. The toolkit is not explicitly written for trustees but rather anyone who needs to lead through turnaround, albeit there are sections targeted at them. That said, trustees are key in identifying the need for turnaround, putting in place effective governance over the change, and asking the difficult questions that management might not ask.

Role of finance leaders

Finally, the role of finance leaders is critical. One of the classic ‘7 hats of the FD’ is the so-called rescue service, and turnaround situations can require finance leaders to step beyond their traditional role to provide clear leadership through a period of significant change.

The question for ICAEW members is: would you be ready to lead in these circumstances?

Craig Duncan is COO of Hospice UK. He led Hospice UK's work to introduce the VAT refund scheme for hospices in 2015, and more recently managed the DHSC Capital Grants Funding of £125m.

David Burland is a freelance consultant working with hospices and other charities. He is a former hospice CEO and has 35 years’ experience in the voluntary sector. He has set up innovative new programmes, such as the virtual hospice CEO and FD groups.

Simon Hopkins is a fellow of the ICAEW and a freelance/interim charity specialist. He works with charities on subjects ranging from turnaround to financial strategy and is the original author of CFG’s development tool The Finance Journey.

^{* The views expressed are the authors’ and not ICAEW's.}