A health and wellbeing charity with an annual income of more than £20m has changed its name for the first time in its 30-year history.
The Westminster Drug Project (WDP) today announced that it has changed its name to Via after consulting its service users, staff, volunteers and commissioners.
Stakeholders wanted a name change, the charity said, to something that was “more discreet, simple, clear and not tied to any particular geography or substance”.
The charity said its new name Via “reflects that we’re part of a journey, that everyone’s journey is different, and that we offer consistent expertise to work with people along their individual route”.
Via worked with Asha & Co on the rebrand over 18 months and paid the creative agency £65,000.
Its new black and white logo, which is designed to be “clear, simple and easy to recognise in its different forms”, was donated.
The charity told Civil Society there was no direct cost to its services, as it paid for the rebrand through its development fund.
‘The right time for a new name’
The charity, which recorded an income of £22.6m in the year to March 2022, began as a drugs project in Westminster in 1993.
In 2013, it announced that fellow London-based charity the Seventy4 Foundation had merged into it.
In its rebrand announcement, the charity said it had outgrown its original name, which it said “no longer speaks to who we are now, what we do or our ambitions for the future”.
Anna Whitton, chief executive of Via said: “This year we turn 30 and it is the right time for a new name that reflects our journey and responds to important feedback from the people we work with.
“Thank you to everyone who has helped us to make this decision and to deliver and launch an exciting new brand.”
Yasmin Batliwala, the charity’s chair, said: “WDP has grown and developed over the last 30 years as has its reputation for quality and client focused care.
“The change of name to ‘Via’ will enable us to embrace our determination to be the best provider of drug and alcohol services in the UK.”
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