Royal Free Charity defends £2K logo - Bosses hope to "generate more income" for struggling hospital

Published: 31 March 2011
by TOM FOOT

BOSSES of a charity set up to handle well-wishers’ donations to the Royal Free Hospital have spent thousands of pounds on a new logo.

The Royal Free Charity unveiled its new brand with a photo-shoot and balloon release on Monday.

The compass-style, four-pointed arrow emblem was designed to represent the charity as an “external-facing organisation”.

 It is expected to “generate more income” for the hospital – which is struggling with a £40million “black hole” in its budget – and to “improve the patient experience”.

Chris Burghes, chief executive of the charity, said: “For us the change is more than just a new logo but the next step in transforming the charity and making it more relevant for a changing health service and, more importantly, a changing hospital.

“We needed a new brand so the charity could differentiate itself for what it stood for. 

“It cost around £2,000 to design so there has not been much more cost than that. We are obviously very conscious of every penny.”

He said the last charity he worked for trebled income to £9million after introducing a new logo.

The charity is raising funds for the Institute of Immunology and Transplantation this year, and has plans to fund an interactive hospital map, which patients can download on their iPhone.

The Royal Free charity came under fire last year after it agreed to pay £80,000 for four desks, dubbed the “diamond desks”, in the hospital’s reception.

John McCarthy became its new fundraising manager in December when he announced that his goal was “to double the size of the charity from an annual turnover of £4million to £8million”.