Rebranding a much-loved local institution.

Founded in 1971 as ‘St Ann’s Hospice’, the organisation supports patients and families across Greater Manchester living with life-limiting illness. 50 years on, the hospice has two centres in Greater Manchester, numerous community outreach services and a new state-of-the-art centre in progress on the existing site.

Although named simply after the street its original site resides on, the name ‘St Ann’s Hospice’ has led to misconceptions as a religious charity linked to Christianity. As diversity has shifted in communities across Greater Manchester, St Ann’s recognised that the brand needed to evolve with this, so that people of other faiths and cultural beliefs would begin accessing its care.

When looking to rename the hospice, we realised the importance of looking to the past to inspire St Ann’s future – more specifically, its founder.

Dr Mary Patricia ‘Moya’ Cole OBE was a trailblazer in science, obtaining her master’s degree in Physics in 1940, going on to become a Doctor in the late 1940s. Later working at the Christie, Dr Moya Cole led the trials for Tamoxifen, the global drug now used to treat breast cancer patients. In 1971, after months of lobbying for support from local businesses and the public, Dr Cole and the Bishop of Manchester, Rt Rev Dr William Greer, worked together to open the hospice on St Ann’s Road in Heald Green, Stockport.

Dr Moya Cole’s compassion, forward-thinking and influential research has saved millions of lives worldwide, and it was this legacy that we aimed to celebrate in the new brand.