NHS Highland Charity

The challenge

Highland Health Board Endowment Fund had an important role, but very little visibility.

As the official charity supporting NHS Highland, it existed to raise and manage charitable funds that improve experiences for patients, families and staff across the Highlands and Argyll & Bute. But its name and communications made that role difficult to understand. The organisation felt more like an internal administrative function than a public-facing charity people could recognise, support and feel proud of.

Research showed that many staff, donors and communities were unclear about what the charity funded, how it related to NHS Highland, and why charitable support was needed alongside a publicly funded health system – a tension we encounter regularly with our work with NHS charities. The word ‘Endowment’ added to the confusion, creating distance where the brand needed warmth, clarity and trust.

The challenge was to reposition the organisation as a confident, credible and people-led charity, without losing the reassurance of its NHS connection. The new brand needed to explain additionality clearly: donations fund the things that go beyond core NHS provision, improving comfort, wellbeing and experience for people across local communities.

It also needed to reflect the particular character of the region. NHS Highland covers a vast and varied geography, including rural, remote, island and coastal communities. The brand had to feel rooted in place, inclusive of Argyll & Bute, and relevant to people who often want to see support benefit care close to home.

The process

We began by building a clear picture of the charity’s current position, its audiences and the barriers affecting understanding and support.

This included stakeholder interviews, a staff survey, a review of existing materials, audience mapping and a sector audit of NHS charities and relevant local organisations. We looked at how other charities balance NHS credibility with public-facing warmth, and how naming, tone, colour and storytelling can help build trust.

The insight pointed to a clear strategic need: this was not a brand that needed to be more complex or more clever. It needed to be easier to understand.

A clear name supported by a more emotive strapline became the strongest route. NHS Highland Charity gave the organisation immediate legitimacy and purpose, while the strapline “Helping health and care thrive in every community” introduced warmth, ambition and a broader sense of impact.

From there, we developed the proposition around local kindness, resilience and community spirit. This helped move the charity away from passive fund management and towards a more active role: connecting generosity with practical improvements in care.

Tone of voice was a central part of the work. The charity needed to sound human and welcoming, but also careful, accountable and appropriate to the healthcare context. We developed four voice principles: warm, human and people-led; clear, open and accountable; proudly local, inclusive and rooted in place; and confident, hopeful and forward-looking.

These principles were then translated into practical messaging for key moments: donating, applying for funds, thanking supporters, reporting back on impact and introducing the charity to people who had never heard of it before.