Cherwell Collective CIC
Creating change through community connection.
Helping Cherwell Collective find one clear, consistent voice for everything it does.
The challenge
Cherwell Collective is a women-run, grassroots CIC reducing Oxfordshire's carbon footprint by creating infrastructure for a circular economy. From a community larder and café to repair workshops and a library of things, its work reaches a wide range of people.
That breadth is a real strength, but it made the story hard to tell. With many different workstreams and audiences, the messaging risked becoming fragmented, and it was hard to keep a consistent tone across staff and volunteers.
The solution
Emily worked with the team to refine their overall messaging and map out the different audience priorities, so they could engage effectively with a variety of stakeholders while keeping a consistent tone.
Listen. A deep-dive questionnaire and conversations with the volunteers and team to understand their work, their audiences and where the gaps were.
Refine. Overall messaging built around one unifying idea, community connection, focusing on action and empowerment rather than problems.
Equip. Messaging for each stakeholder group, tone of voice guidelines for staff and volunteers, and tools to run further focus groups.
The results
Cherwell Collective now speaks with one voice. Its updated messaging works for the organisation as a whole and for each of its stakeholders, and the team has a much clearer view of its strengths and gaps.
That clarity is already showing up in practice, with a revamped website and customer journeys, new messaging and tone of voice guidelines for staff and volunteers, and increased engagement on social media. And with the tools and frameworks to run their own focus groups, they can keep refining their story as they grow.
“It’s such a simple process but it’s genius. It’s got everybody fired up and excited… and improving our messaging will allow us to bring in more money from fundraising.”
Maisie Wilson, Head of Marketing
