Background ‘The Hospice’ has been engrained in people’s vocabulary for over three decades. Yet today, more of our services are delivered outside of our hospice building. Whilst services had rocketed forward with new innovations, our brand was pinning us down to an old style of hospice care.

Aim

• To tell our new story

• To better explain where people’s fundraising goes

• To be bolder about our fundraising ask.

Methods We were incredibly fortunate that an award-winning national brand agency donated their time and skills to create our new brand. An additional £10 000 individual donation was given specifically for new signs and vehicle livery. With no further funding, our staff and volunteers were our biggest communications resource and we ensured they thoroughly understood the reasons for rebranding. We developed a strong story for them to tell, alongside answers to some anticipated questions. We held 12 open meetings, followed up with an information pack and a separate briefing was held for media and stakeholders.

A ‘Letter to the Editor’, embargoed press release and interviews with our CEO, additional social media and video content consolidated our key messages at no extra cost to our charity. Importantly, we retained the word ‘hospice’ to describe our building but in the context of our wider umbrella name.

Results

• Our retail department feeling much more ‘part of the team’

• No negative coverage in local media

• Less than £10,000 (donated) spend

• Implemented within one month.

ResultsMost importantly, we had a golden opportunity to tell our new story – one that people are starting to repeat back to us.

Conclusions Whilst a name change may seem peripheral to delivering hospice care, it has been fundamental to opening up services by helping people better understand how we support them and how they support us.