ICAS’s top Scottish accountants under 35 in profile – Colleen Welsh CA, Consilium Chartered Accountants

Thirteen Scottish-based accountants have been named among ICAS’s 35 Chartered Accountants (CAs) under 35 for 2017.

For 13 days Scottish Financial News will be profiling each of the Scottish representatives.

Today we profile: Colleen Welsh CA, 25, Accounts Senior, Consilium Chartered Accountants, Glasgow.

Colleen left school in 2010 with four unconditional offers for university. It was during her gap year that she applied for a job at RSM Tenon (now Baker Tilly) as an accounts assistant, becoming AAT qualified in 2013. She started the CA qualification at the same time RSM Tenon was taken over by Baker Tilly, and after completing TC, Colleen moved to Consilium, to reunite with the old partners of RSM Tenon. She is very passionate about mental health and reducing the stigma surrounding it, and has encouraged her firm to become a more open, honest and approachable environment.

She is also set to become a mentor for Career Ready later this year, which provides guidance and support for S5 & S6 students at school, to help them get ready for the working world.

“I have always believed that charity work is important, even from a very young age. I am the charity fundraiser/organiser in our office, and have managed to get all our partners and staff on board with having more regular fundraising events in the office. This year, I organised an office wide vote to choose a couple of charities for us to raise money for. Although we may not raise thousands of pounds, we still manage to make generous donations for our chosen charities. I have organised bake sales (and baked lots of cakes for them), sweepstakes and other fun activities to raise money.

I am very passionate about mental health and reducing the stigma surrounding it, and last year I reached out to the partners to encourage them to make our office a more open, honest and approachable place for anyone who struggles with mental health issues. Mental ill health affects more than 1 in 4 people so it is bound to happen in an office of our size. The partners took my thoughts on board and we now have a great policy in place.

I have also attended the Scottish Mental Health First Aid Course, and am trained in assisting people who are having a mental health crisis. I felt this subject needed to be approached for a number of reasons, one being that sometimes being a CA can be stressful. Stress can bring on a number of mental health issues if not dealt with properly. I am keen to attend more courses like this, if I am able to.

My passion for mental health and my passion for charity work will be intertwined this year, as one of our chosen charities to fundraise for is the Scottish Association of Mental Health. I am really looking forward to making a difference for this charity.

I am signed up to be a mentor for Career Ready after the summer too, which provides guidance and support for S5 & S6 students at school, to help them get ready for the working world. I try to support the CA trainees in my office with their studies and exams, and catch up with them regularly to make sure they’re not struggling too much or becoming too stressed”

“I want people to know that we are not just ‘bean counters’ or ‘number crunchers’ we are good people with good hearts too (although I do love number crunching). I want to use my place in the profession, and in the world, to do good things and to help people”.