Stories that bring the ABOAB community together
A Bit of a Break is a small Ilkley-based charity founded in 2016 by Ange Sturgeon after she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. It gifts short breaks to people living in the north of England and north Wales with a palliative diagnosis, giving them and their loved ones much needed respite from the mental, physical and emotional load that comes with a palliative diagnosis.
Since Ange’s death in 2017 friends and family have worked hard to keep Ange’s vision for ABOAB alive, and as a result of this hard work in 2025 the charity recorded its most successful year yet with a record breaking number of breaks gifted.
Each break reminds the community that’s grown around the charity of its importance and the positive impact it has on people when they need it most.
Keeping the conversation alive
The charity exists on the kindness and generosity of people, whether that’s a property partner offering to donate time in their holiday home or a supporter coming up with another fundraising challenge. The Trustees wanted a simple and effective way to keep in touch with the community, share news and stories and keep ABOAB in their minds.
I worked with the Trustees Paula Hunt and Helen Pilling to develop a messaging and email newsletter strategy that would do this and support ABOAB’s goal to increase the number of breaks gifted. Key to this was using the newsletter to nurture relationships and bring the ABOAB ethos and purpose to life in the charity’s trademark warm, human, friendly tone of voice.
First we launched a twice-yearly email newsletter for the whole ABOAB community of Fundraisers and Supporters, Referrers (the health and social care professionals who refer people to the charity) ,and Property Partners (who donate time in their holiday homes) leading with patient and fundraising stories, testimonials, news and photos.
We then introduced twice-yearly email newsletter for Referrers and Property Partner email newsletters to recognise the vital yet different roles these audiences play in the ongoing success of the charity, shaping the content and tone to reflect this whilst keeping the underlying warmth ABOAB is known for.
As the email newsletter plan evolved, it became clear that the messages and tone of voice on the website were being left behind. In October 2025 we refreshed the copy reflecting the core messages and tone of voice in the email newsletters, updated the About Us page and introduced more testimonials from guests, referrers, property partners and supporters ahead of a fuller website rebuild in 2026.
“Harriet brings so much more than her writing to our communications. As a small charity we wanted someone who would truly understand us to the core, and Harriet has helped us to position our messages thoughtfully yet with precision and flair. Harriet is a joy to work with. Her intuitive, reflective style and creative talent entwined with strategic planning and sharp focus mean we now deliver beautifully crafted newsletters and always to deadline! Thank you, Harriet.”
Paula, Trustee, A Bit of a Break