“We are so happy with how Vardeep helped us - she has brought the brand to life.”  

‍The Branding Fox’s approach: I offered ‘The Branding Creation’ package, which guides you through defining your brand’s purpose to its personality, covers brand strategy, naming, visual identity and includes a full set of brand guidelines. 

‍Here’s what happened… Established in 1890, The Gurney Fund is a charity named after its founder Catherine Gurney. The charity, which supports children of police officers, felt it was time to rebrand as donations were dropping but the need for help is increasing. 

Sherral says: “The original branding was blue like most police charities, making it difficult to stand out. Our name didn’t highlight that we are predominantly a children’s charity and so we had a lack of identity. Our main donors are serving police officers and yet they had no awareness of the charity or what we do. We desperately needed a complete overhaul of our brand.” 

Following a discovery call with The Branding Fox, Sherral felt an instant connection with Vardeep. “Branding is completely new to me. I’ve never been involved in anything like this before,”explains Sherral. “But, Vardeep soon put me at ease.”  

The rebranding process began with a one-day workshop for the trustees, some of whom are serving officers, to give their opinions on the charity’s identity, goals and mission. After this, Vardeep began intensively researching and analysing the existing brand and what they wanted to achieve with a rebuild. This information combined with a closer look at the audience, formed the foundation for Vardeep’s creative approach. 

Sherral recalls: “We gave Vardeep lots of warm and fluffy words to describe the brand, but the reality is we are a grant-giving organisation. While we don’t give actual care, we support impacted families during the most difficult times. Our brand needed to show our caring side, as this is what connects us with our audience, as well as demonstrating the transactional value of what we do.” 

Vardeep redefined the brand based on feedback and research. This ensured she created a strong foundation for a new name, visual identity and communications strategy.  

Sherral says: “We are so happy with how Vardeep helped us - she has brought the brand to life. We agreed upon the new name ‘Police Children’s Fund’, which sets out the charity’s aims with clarity.” The new branding, accompanied by a set of illustrations for the website, which Vardeep sourced, commissioned and briefed, has transformed the charity’s image. It has also had a major impact on the internal team, transforming them into more confident and proud ambassadors, eager to show off their new brand. The team has a renewed sense of purpose and the tools to help them communicate the charity’s mission and values to a broader audience, thanks to a new range of marketing assets, aligned with the new brand, created by Vardeep. 

“We’re a complex charity to understand but once Vardeep grasped what we do, she was able to effectively capture it in our rebrand and subsequent marketing materials.” Sherral thoroughly enjoyed working with Vardeep and would recommend her to anyone who needed branding support. “As soon as we met Vardeep, we felt comfortable with her. She’s great to work with and she cares about her clients.” 

‍The Branding Fox’s reflections: Collaborating withPolice Children’s Fund team was a rewarding experience. Transforming their brand from a traditional, outdated, blue, police-themed identity, which had little chance of standing out, into a more warm, accessible and supportive one that reflects the charity’s mission, was a thoroughly interesting project to be involved in. The result is instantly recognisable and now aligns with the charity’s goals.