Changing your charity's name is never just a logo refresh. On this episode of The Charity Show, Tim Beynon and Piers Townley are joined by Zoe Conn (Fundraising and Development Director) and Keira Park (Marketing and Comms Manager) from Alongside, formerly Julian House, to unpack how the Bath-based charity rebuilt its identity from the ground up after a legal dispute forced a name change.

From stakeholder research to donor retention, this is a masterclass in how to lead a rebrand from inside a small charity team, without a big agency and without losing the trust you've spent decades building.

In this episode:

• Why Alongside chose to treat a legally forced name change as a strategic opportunity, not just a compliance problem
• How the team ran stakeholder consultation with donors, staff and trustees at every stage of the naming and design process, checking back in repeatedly rather than asking once and moving on
• Why they decided to lead the rebrand in-house, using targeted external support from a specialist agency rather than a full-service consultancy
• The practical challenges of a charity rebrand rollout: budgeting, running down old stock, IT systems, and keeping "formerly Julian House" visible during the transition
• How the comms and fundraising teams managed donor anxiety around the change, including direct debit continuity and stewardship of long-standing supporters
• Advice for any charity considering a rebrand: do the brief work before you touch a single name, and be ready to article your due diligence to a nervous board

Learn more about Alongside's work supporting people facing social exclusion across the South West of England, and follow their journey as the new brand continues to roll out.

If you're leading, or thinking about leading, a charity rebrand of your own, we'd love to hear from you. Get in touch at thecharityshowpod@gmail.com.

Know a small charity doing brilliant work that deserves a shout out on the show? Drop us a line at the same address, we'd love to feature them.

If you enjoy the show, please follow, rate and review us wherever you get your podcasts. It really does help other charity people find us.

Guest links:

• Alongside: alongsidecharity.org.uk/
• DCHS: boost-dchs.org
• Alex, The Leukodystrophy Charity: alextlc.org/

Get involved:

• Listen to The Charity Show on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your favourite platform
• Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠thecharityshowpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• Send a voice message to TheCharityShow
• Find every link you need: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/thecharityshow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Enjoyed the episode? Leave a five-star review and follow/subscribe to support the show!

💡 If you enjoyed this episode, hit follow or subscribe on your podcast app, and please leave us a five-star rating — it helps more people find conversations with real charity experts across the UK.

This episode is produced by The Good Studio – Creating great content for good causes. From podcasts and campaigns to film and copywriting, The Good Studio helps charities tell powerful stories that make people care.👉 Find out more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.thegoodstudio.co.uk⁠⁠⁠

One in three charity comms professionals is currently burnt out, and an equal number are planning to leave the sector altogether.

In their landmark 50th episode, Tim Beynon and Piers Townley are joined by returning guest Adeela Warley, Chief Executive of CharityComms, to unpack what her organisation's latest Salary and Organisational Culture Survey reveals about burnout across charity communications teams, and why the values-driven nature of our sector makes it so hard for people to say no.

In this episode:

• Why 33% of charity comms professionals are experiencing burnout, and what's driving middle managers to feel the squeeze hardest
• How values-driven work in the charity sector can tip commitment into overwork and self-sacrifice, and the warning signs to watch for
• Why burnout isn't confined to senior leaders, and how junior and entry-level comms staff are equally at risk
• Practical first steps for CEOs and senior teams wanting to build a burnout-resistant organisational culture
• Advice for small charities working with limited resources and no dedicated HR function
• Sector news: the proposed under-16 social media ban and its implications for charity communicators, plus new Charity Commission findings on threats and intimidation faced by charity staff and trustees

Guest links and resources:

• Adeela Warley LinkedIn
• CharityComms: charitycomms.org.uk
• CharityComms Salary and Organisational Culture Survey: charitycomms.org.uk/salary-and-organisational-culture-survey-2025
• CharityComms Wellbeing Guide for communicators: charitycomms.org.uk/wellbeing-guide
• CharityComms "signal template" resource: charitycomms.org.uk/the-signal-framework
• Bank The Food (app connecting food donors to local food banks): bankthefood.com/
• Slade Gardens Community Play Association, Stockwell and Lambeth: sladeadventure.co.uk/

Get involved:

• Listen to The Charity Show on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your favourite platform
• Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠thecharityshowpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• Send a voice message to TheCharityShow
• Find every link you need: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/thecharityshow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Enjoyed the episode? Leave a five-star review and follow/subscribe to support the show!

💡 If you enjoyed this episode, hit follow or subscribe on your podcast app, and please leave us a five-star rating — it helps more people find conversations with real charity experts across the UK.

This episode is produced by The Good Studio – Creating great content for good causes. From podcasts and campaigns to film and copywriting, The Good Studio helps charities tell powerful stories that make people care.👉 Find out more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.thegoodstudio.co.uk⁠⁠⁠

Sally Williams returns to The Charity Show to talk governance, not philanthropy this time. As chair of trustees at Veterans With Dogs, she's spent two and a half years learning what it really takes to lead a small charity through a founder-to-CEO transition, all while holding down her day job as Head of Philanthropy at the Royal College of Physicians.

Tim and Piers dig into the realities of trusteeship, the impact of assistance dogs on veterans living with PTSD and other trauma-related conditions, and why being small doesn't mean being unambitious.

What's in this episode:

• Sally's 24 years in the British Army and how that experience shaped her move into charity governance
• The origin story of Veterans With Dogs, founded after one veteran noticed his own assistance dog helping an entire support group
• What it's really like governing a small charity through a leadership transition, including stepping into operational gaps without a CEO in place
• How the charity balances demonstrating impact for funders with protecting the privacy and dignity of veterans and their dogs
• The "magic formula" for building an effective board of trustees, and why lived experience matters as much as governance experience
• Third sector news: the London Marathon's move to a two-day event in 2027, and the Big Give's Summer Campaign for Small Charity Week

Plus the usual small charity shoutouts, this week featuring Roundabout Drama Therapy and MK Cat Rescue.

Useful links:

• Veterans With Dogs: veteranswithdogs.org.uk/
• Roundabout Dramatherapy: roundaboutdramatherapy.org.uk/
• MK Cat rescue: mk-cat-rescue.org/

Get involved:

• Listen to The Charity Show on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your favourite platform
• Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠thecharityshowpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• Send a voice message to TheCharityShow
• Find every link you need: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/thecharityshow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Enjoyed the episode? Leave a five-star review and follow/subscribe to support the show!

💡 If you enjoyed this episode, hit follow or subscribe on your podcast app, and please leave us a five-star rating — it helps more people find conversations with real charity experts across the UK.

This episode is produced by The Good Studio – Creating great content for good causes. From podcasts and campaigns to film and copywriting, The Good Studio helps charities tell powerful stories that make people care.👉 Find out more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.thegoodstudio.co.uk⁠⁠⁠