WellChild unveils new brand as it begins its next chapter supporting seriously ill children and their families

National children’s charity WellChild has today unveiled a new brand identity, reflecting the charity’s evolving work and its ambition to reach and support more children and families living with complex medical needs across the UK. 

The new brand launches today alongside a new ‘This Is WellChild’ film, reintroducing the charity, its purpose and the people at the heart of its work. 

The refresh of WellChild’s brand comes after more than two decades of foundational work, during which the charity has built a strong understanding of the needs of children with complex medical needs and their families, and the difference the right support can make. Today, WellChild, like many charities, operates in an increasingly crowded charity landscape, at a time when the issues it exists to address are growing in both scale and urgency. The charity believes that, now more than ever, it needs to be clearer about who it is, what it stands for and the change it is creating; and to be louder in making that case, so that more children and families can access the support they need.  

At the heart of WellChild’s work is a vision for a future where children and young people with complex medical needs can receive the right care and support at home, wherever possible, rather than spending unnecessary time in hospital. WellChild works alongside children, families and health professionals to help make that transition from hospital to home possible, and to ensure that children can continue to live well once they are there. As health and care systems increasingly look to provide more complex care in the home environment, WellChild is uniquely placed to help make that ambition a reality for seriously ill children and their families. 
 
WellChild has been evolving alongside the needs of children and families for almost 50 years. Founded as Kidney in 1977, the organisation became Children Nationwide in the 1980s and 1990s before WellChild was born in 2003. Over the years that followed, its work grew to support more children and families living with complex medical needs, while the charity adapted to major changes in the health and care landscape.  

Now, as WellChild enters its next chapter, the charity is drawing on everything it has learned and developed to build a clearer, more confident organisation for the future; one that can reach more families and make sure more children and young people with complex medical needs can live well at home and beyond. 

Matt James, Chief Executive at WellChild, said:

“This is much more than a change to our visual identity. It is about making sure more people understand who we are, what we do and why our work matters. It’s about strengthening WellChild’s voice for the families who need us and helping us build the support we need to reach them.”

The new WellChild brand brings together two defining qualities of WellChild uncovered in sessions with parents, carers, Nurses, partners and other key audience groups: big-heartedness and expertise. It reflects the warmth, humanity and determination at the heart of the charity, alongside the specialist knowledge and experience that underpin its work with seriously ill children and their families.  

Together, these qualities create a brand that is both distinctive and deeply rooted in WellChild’s purpose: helping more children, young people and families to live well. 

The rebrand was developed in partnership with London-based creative agency Red Stone, whose work includes brand transformations for a number of leading charities, including Parkinson’s UK.  

Rich Corr, Associate Creative Strategy Director at Red Stone commented on the project, saying: 

“This brand development from start to finish has been about helping an incredible charity find its authentic voice. From nurses to families to staff, everyone we engaged across the project talked about one thing – the unique feeling of WellChild. Their genuine, big-hearted warmth combined with the expertise and determination to actually make things happen is game changing for children and their families. The refreshed brand wasn’t about inventing a point of difference or forcing a personality, it was about helping them articulate and embody the unique spirit they already have and giving them the tools to share it with the world.”

The launch of the new brand provides the foundation for the next phase of WellChild’s journey as a national charity. With a new organisational strategy on the horizon, and the need for WellChild’s work more pressing than ever, the charity is entering a significant new chapter – with greater clarity about its purpose, a renewed ambition for its future and a determination to reach more children and families who need its support.