Case Studies
HelpAge International
Global communications manager [2022]
I implemented a communications strategy to profile the discrimination of older people in the humanitarian crisis and to support both advocacy and fundraising objectives during the first year of the war.
Working with communications colleagues and teams in both Ukraine and Moldova, I created multi-channel communications plans for key moments and commissioned two content-gathering trips so assets were available for use across all channels. Global media coverage included NBC, Al Jazeera and Newsweek, bolstered with quality national coverage in the UK, Italy, Germany and the US as a result of working with members of the HelpAge global network.
I wrote a series of blogs on issues including mental health and support for older displaced people and refugees, and shared some of the personal stories of colleagues in Ukraine. I also recruited for a permanent communications role in Ukraine.
Duke of Edinburgh’s Award
Media lead [2021]
In what was The Duke of Edinburgh’s centenary year, I set up a new media operation for the organisation to support a brand re-launch.
This included recruiting and leading a media and PR team, setting up a media monitoring service, building a contacts database, developing key messages, and liaising with news producers on possible stories.
To showcase the impact of the Award and the diversity of participants, I helped identify stories and interviewed young people about the impact the award had on them, including youth offenders who were re-shaping their lives. This all helped prepare the organisation for the sad passing of the Duke, where we secured an unprecedented volume of broadcast, print and online coverage in the UK and internationally.
Adoption UK
Media consultant [2024 & 2025]
I led the media launch of the organisation’s sixth and seventh annual surveys showing the state of adoption in the UK.
I developed media strategies and developed compelling media hooks to share the survey findings and help raise awareness of the support needed for adoptive families and adoptees. Telling the human story was key. I helped people with lived experience tell their stories safely and secured targeted coverage. This included an interview from an adoptive mother on LBC and a hard-hitting package on ITV Evening News in 2024. A package on Radio 4’s Today, where adopted teenagers shared the challenges they face and the need for better support, was amongst national, local and sector coverage a year later.
Tanya’s Dream Fund
Strategic Communications Consultant [July 2024–Sept 2025]
I represented Tanya’s Dream Fund to help them develop of a five-year communications strategy to end family separation in Bulgaria. The strategy needed to address the long-standing legacy of family separation practices from the Soviet era, as well as ongoing discrimination and a lack of understanding that have led to families facing poverty, disability and exclusion – including Roma families – being affected more often. At the same time, the strategy had to respond to a context of national political instability, while remaining practical and realistic for partners to implement.
Previous analysis showed that changing attitudes and beliefs and building capacity among partners should be at the heart of our strategic thinking. I worked with Sofia-based communications agency Fine Acts, which carried out extensive political and media analysis, and identified partner capacity and engagement before building a comprehensive strategy. I represented the organisation in the strategy’s development, offering advice and liaising between Fine Acts, the fund’s management team and their board. I also developed the content gathering guidelines and supported plans for a two-day workshop in Sofia, where we presented and fine-tuned the strategy to partners
To chat through how I might be able to help you
Lucy brought clarity, strategic rigour, deep expertise and professionalism to complex and sensitive communications work. She quickly understood the wider system context we were operating in and brought invaluable insights that strengthened our thinking and decision making. Her advice was thoughtful, well-judged and consistently focused on impact. I would be very happy to work with her again and recommend her to organisations navigating complexity or change.
Delia Pop, Director, Tanya’s Dream Fund
