Cerebral Palsy Cymru is a charity grounded in family and connection. In the mid 1980s, two sets of parents made a pledge to open a specialist centre in Wales for both their own children with CP and other families in a similar position to receive treatment. Alongside a larger group of founder parents, the Bobath Children’s Therapy Centre Wales charity officially opened in 1992, initially beginning with just four therapists.
Almost three decades later, the long-established charity now provides specialist therapy via a dedicated team of physiotherapists, occupational therapists and speech and language therapists, alongside an encouraging and empowering family support service.
Bobath Children’s Therapy Centre Wales was well-regarded and respected for its specialist knowledge and supportive approach. Yet with the charity’s growth arose the growing realisation that the brand needed to evolve to fully realise its vision of repositioning as a cerebral palsy centre of excellence, building on Bobath’s very strong foundations.
The charity’s leadership team made the decision to set out on a digital transformation project with Rednine and partners Digital Wonderlab (formerly OJO Solutions): a creative journey that would fully encapsulate the charity’s trans-disciplinary work and collaborative positioning while planting the seeds for future growth.
Our creative challenge, and opportunity, was to evolve the brand’s identity in a way that would put children at the core of the brand proposition while maintaining the charity’s heritage.
Close family connections and support networks lie at the charity’s very roots, and we wanted to make sure that the new brand concept fully conveyed the kindness, warmth and care that’s abundant across the organisation.
To fully understand the brand and envision its future, we carried out a series of interviews with therapists, families, trustees, patrons and the charity’s senior team. These brand exploration sessions allowed us to fully grasp the facets that were essential to keep – and learn how we could comfortably progress the brand while being sensitive to the deep personal connection that it holds to so many families.
A truly collaborative process – mirroring the approach we took when working with another purpose-driven charity, the Charlie Waller Trust – we presented our brand findings in workshops with all stakeholders, taking everyone through the creative journey and our recommendations for the future.
Collectively, we agreed that the charity would position itself as Cerebral Palsy Cymru – a brand viewed through the lens of parenthood and grounded in the caring principles of health and protection.
With therapy at the charity’s core, we identified that the new brand identity needed to be positive and empowering, conveying joy and a family-centric ethos.
We also needed to make sure that a clearer understanding of the charity’s purpose came through in communications – in a bright, fun, engaging and inclusive way.
The new Cerebral Palsy Cymru brand identity pays homage to a long-standing legacy while making the charity relevant and appealing to modern families and their needs.
The new branding is heavily influenced by the ‘tangram’ – a seven-sided puzzle where all parts come together to make one singular whole. This relevant and engaging creative mechanism culminates in a heart, coloured with a warm palette, with one part knocked out of kilter: amplifying the imperfections in life which is, in fact, what makes it perfect.
Strong and bold typography was carefully balanced with a softness that allows the brand to sit comfortably within the charity arena, with purple tones setting Cerebral Palsy Cymru apart from many other child-focused organisations of a similar ilk.
The highly flexible brand works at both an emotional and personal level, while also being vibrant and powerful when used within academic environments. Since its launch, the tangram device has proved highly versatile in terms of both iconography and for social media use: it’s playful, gender and age neutral and bolstered by a flexible colour palette, and has been a central part of the charity’s ‘The 7 Challenge’ which has raised vital funds from supporters.
Working with Cerebral Palsy Cymru has been a privilege and highly fulfilling as a creative project.
Developed during the backdrop of Covid-19, which has had a devastating impact on third sector revenues, we were fortunate to be able to secure and pass on a small business rate relief grant, allowing us to still successfully launch the forward-focused brand in the face of highly difficult times for all.
Beginning with a creative mission to make the brand more recognisable, understandable and relatable, Cerebral Palsy Cymru was unveiled at a time when hope and life changing support for children and families is needed more than ever before.
