12th September: Last night, at the Kent Charity Awards, Heart of Kent Hospice was named the overall Charity of the Year winner for 2025. In addition to the exclusive accolade the Hospice’s head of family Support Services Lyndsey Stukalov-Stone received a Judges Special Recognition Award for Ingenuity in the Charity sector for her book ‘Precious Times’ which was written to support children and families who have a loved-one approaching the end of their life.
The hospice also received a certificate for being a finalist in the Large Charity category at the awards.
The Kent Charity Awards was celebrating its 10th year and 80 charities from right across the county entered. The awards showcase the hard work and perseverance that charities in Kent undertake to make the lives of others better.
Ann-Marie Kelly Chief Executive of Heart of Kent Hospice said
“This award means so much. It recognises the hard work and commitment of our compassionate and skilled colleagues and volunteers.
It provides confidence to our supporters that every pound they donate to Heart of Kent Hospice matters and we make it work hard. And it acknowledges that thriving communities need to be able to care for terminally ill people so they can die in comfort, with dignity and respect.
Hospice care is for everyone and none of us know who may need it; your friends, neighbours, loved-ones, colleagues, even you.
“Thank you to the Kent Charity Awards for recognising our work alongside the many other worthy causes supporting the Kent community. For us, this is an opportunity to help more people understand hospice care and the wide range of services our teams provide.
We strive to help terminally ill people to live comfortably at home for as long as they wish to, support their carers, and offer specialist support for families with young children. We help manage symptoms, control pain and our pre and post bereavement support is not only for patients but their loved-ones too.
We are a vital support network for so many in our community. As more people understand the breadth and impact of hospice care in Maidstone, we hope that more people will also choose to support and donate to us.
“We’re excited for the next year and the new opportunities it will bring.”
For more information about supporting and donating to the Hospice visit www.hokh.org
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Heart of Kent Hospice has been providing free, compassionate, end-of-life care to people living with a terminal illness and their loved ones in Maidstone, Aylesford, Tonbridge and Malling and the surrounding towns and villages for the past 34 years.
The hospice has built an excellent reputation within the local community for the quality of its care, which has been further endorsed by the Care Quality Commission who awarded them an overall rating of ‘Outstanding’ following an inspection in February 2017.
Their vision is for everyone living with a terminal illness in our community to achieve the best quality of life. They are committed to achieving this by enabling patients to live in comfort, with independence and dignity to the end of their lives, and to support those closest to them.
Last year the hospice cared for over 2,000 patients and their families in their own homes or at our Aylesford-based hospice. The charity needs to raise £7.4 million to deliver all the hospices services, and depends heavily on its loyal community of supporters, whose generous donations and fundraising activities raise money for the charity every year.
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