Wellbeing Care is a family-run provider offering high-quality, person-centred care across Suffolk and Northamptonshire. From two idyllic homes and a supported living facility, it delivers residential, nursing, dementia, respite and day care, as well as supported living to ensure independence and dignity in a welcoming environment. Wellbeing came to us to help raise the profile of its home to help generate enquiries. This saw us structure a campaign to be delivered across a 12 month period.
The primary goal of the campaign was to highlight the individuality, the wisdom, the wonderful life experience and the contributions of care home residents, with a view to reinforcing Wellbeing Care’s commitment to person-centred care. As part of this, we aimed to:
To achieve this, we developed three core PR initiatives, each linked to the theme of "Memories" – whether shared, celebrated or cherished.
At the heart of this campaign was the recognition that every resident has a story to tell. Whether drawing from their past to guide others, reflecting on their role in historical events or preserving the legacy of a loved one, their memories became the foundation of our storytelling approach.
We structured the campaign around key moments throughout the year, ensuring each initiative was timely, relevant and resonant with both media and the public. These were:
1) Valentine’s agony aunt – Love lessons from a lifetime
Love is universal and experience is its greatest teacher. With this in mind, we launched an Agony Aunt initiative at The Dell care home in Lowestoft, inviting the public to submit relationship dilemmas ahead of Valentine's Day. In response, three residents – Malcolm (71), Elizabeth (83), and Joan (94) – offered advice drawn from decades of personal experience, covering everything from first dates to lifelong commitment.
The initiative was designed to showcase the wisdom of older generations in a light-hearted, engaging way, while providing an opportunity for community interaction by inviting the public to engage with care home residents. Furthermore, it challenged misconceptions about life in care, demonstrating that residents are active, insightful and full of personality.
2) International Women’s Day – Honouring a Land Girl’s legacy
For International Women’s Day, we celebrated the life of Mabel Bright, a 100-year-old resident at Meadow View who was once a member of the Women’s Land Army.Mabel’s story was a powerful reminder of how the contributions of older women have shaped the world we live in today. Having worked on farms and driven tractors to play a vital role in Britain’s wartime food production, Mabel’s experiences highlighted both the resilience and significance of women’s work during WWII.
This aspect of the campaign aimed to celebrate female empowerment across generations, linking Mabel’s experiences to modern conversations about women’s roles in society, while also encouraging reminiscence among residents, as sharing personal stories has been shown to enhance wellbeing and cognitive function. As part of this, we sought to engage the local and national press, using Mabel’s story as a hook to highlight care homes as places rich with history and character.
3) Commemorating a carer’s legacy – A community comes together
Not all memories are joyful, but they remain just as important. In August, Wellbeing Care supported residents and staff in honouring Carl Andrews, a beloved carer at Dell View who tragically passed away from cancer.
Recognising the impact Carl had on the lives of those he cared for, the community came together to organise a 200-mile charity walk to be undertaken by residents within the home. This would raise funds for a memorial garden at Dell View to provide residents with a dedicated space to reflect and remember, as well as contributing funds to Beccles and District War Memorial Hospital, which supported Carl in his final days.
The chosen distance – from Leeds to Lowestoft – was inspired by Carl’s love for Emmerdale, a small but touching detail that made the challenge even more meaningful.
This initiative was particularly significant because it showed the depth of relationships formed in care homes, where staff often become extended family. It also helped residents and colleagues navigate their grief, offering a positive outlet for remembrance. Finally, it demonstrated the role of care homes in supporting emotional wellbeing, beyond just physical care.
What set this three-tiered campaign apart was its resident-led storytelling approach. Rather than focusing on traditional corporate messaging, we placed real people at the heart of the narrative, making it more relatable and engaging to maximise its impact.
By aligning each initiative with national awareness events, we ensured our stories were both timely and relevant – increasing their likelihood of media pickup.
Our mix of press releases, video content and social media engagement allowed for a multi-platform campaign, reaching audiences across different demographics.
All three initiatives within the campaign achieved significant press coverage.
The Valentine’s Day agony aunt initiative secured features in key local press outlets, the Eastern Daily Press, the Lowestoft Journal and East Anglian Times, which served to generate strong regional engagement. The cream of the crop though was a 10-minute segment on BBC Radio 4, which included a BBC journalist visiting the home to pose relationship questions – something that elevated the campaign to a national audience. This caused a surge in public engagement, with more relationship queries rolling in. The BBC were keen to do a follow-up piece – but this activity was sadly scuppered by an unfortunately timed Covid outbreak at the home.
Despite this, the initiative served to position care home residents as trusted voices on love and relationships, and not only created positive PR but also fostered meaningful connections between generations.
The focus on Mabel’s Land Girl experiences for International Women’s Day also featured in the Northamptonshire Telegraph and key care sector publications, helping to ensure strong regional and industry recognition, while the main coverage highlight saw the story appear as an article on BBC News online.
For the efforts to commemorate Carl’s legacy, we managed to achieve widespread coverage in local press via the likes of the East Anglian Daily Times, the Lowestoft Journal and Suffolk News, as well as care trade press, which celebrated the incredible bond between staff and residents. It also saw a member of the care team interviewed by Pick Me Up magazine in print, giving the fundraising initiative an even broader reach.
The story resonated beyond the care sector, highlighting the compassion and community spirit within care homes – while also helping to raise more than £2,700 for the home’s chosen causes. This far surpassed the initial target of £1,000 – with the team shocked and delighted by the amount they’d managed to raise, supported by our PR activity. The fundraising total gave us another excuse to approach press, helping to secure further coverage in their key regional publications via likes of the East Anglian Daily Times, the Lowestoft Journal again, as well as fundraising press like the Philanthropy News Digest.
At its core, this initiative was about preserving Carl’s legacy and ensuring his memory continued to inspire those he had cared for – with the undertaking leaving a lasting impression on residents looking to process their grief in a meaningful way.
Combined then, these three initiatives, supplemented by other PR activities, really served to elevate awareness of Wellbeing Care’s positive culture. Securing 56 pieces of press coverage in 2024, it helped to drive new enquiries, with 2024 proving a record year for occupancy, while also it also generated waiting lists for the homes. On top of this, and one of its central benefits, was the fact it created positive experiences for residents, which were all centred around the important memories generated throughout their lives.
The success of the campaign was recognised in the Care Home Awards 2025, which saw it win in the category of Best Care Home Marketing, Advertising or PR activities.
Find out more about our extensive work in the health and social care sectors.
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