Disability charity Livability has changed its name to Shaftesbury in an aim to highlight its heritage in its 180th year.
The charity began using the name Livability more than 15 years ago, but now wants to draw on the history of one of its founding organisations, the Shaftesbury Society.
It also wants to be linked to its founder, the seventh Earl of Shaftesbury and his work on social reform.
Transformation plan
The charity, which recorded an income of £49.8m in the year to March 2023, said renaming as Shaftesbury was part of the charity’s “far-reaching growth and transformation plan”.
Shaftesbury said it consulted widely because “we recognise that the people we support, our staff and key stakeholders are the experts when it comes to our brand and charity”.
Those who took part included people it supports, families, parents and carers, staff representatives and donors.
New name introduced gradually
The charity did not share the cost of the changes with Civil Society, but said it had “been able to do much of the work ourselves, keeping the process as cost-efficient as possible”.
It will be introducing the new name gradually, and said its board is confident that the re-name will improve the charity’s potential for growth.
Eventually its services will have the word Shaftesbury as a prefix: for example, Shaftesbury Dolphin Court. This process is being managed in conjunction with the regulators in each region.
Though its name and logo will change, services, staff and executive team remain the same.
The charity also said its “look” remains the same.
“Most importantly, this change lets us tap into our rich heritage and history, helping us become better known,” it said on its website.
“We believe this will attract more supporters like you so that we can reach and support more people living with disabilities.
“We kept our brand because it continues to depict so well what the charity does. Only our name changes.”
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