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Blyth Star

A strategic collaboration helps Blyth Star boost visibility and fundraising

Expanding Awareness for Greater Impact

Blyth, Northumberland

Blyth Star

charitiescommunity carehealth and social caredigital marketingdiversification strategyResearch

Their Challenge

Blyth Star Enterprises is a Northumberland-based charity dedicated to supporting individuals with complex mental health needs and learning disabilities. The Covid pandemic and cost of living crisis has challenged charities across the UK to find innovative approaches to fundraising. Despite operating successfully since 1987, Blyth Star recognised the need to enhance its public presence to expand fundraising opportunities. To refine its approach, the organisation turned to Arrow for research-based marketing insights.

The Challenge: Raising Awareness to Strengthen Fundraising

While providing essential services—including skills training, living support, and community engagement—Blyth Star faced a key obstacle: limited public awareness. With ambitions to grow individual and legacy donations, they sought strategic guidance to enhance their marketing efforts.

As an organisation, Blyth Star can be quite complicated to understand, but I feel like the team I was working with really got a handle quickly on who we are, what we do and where our limits lie, which helped them to deliver a project which had practical outputs which would help make a real difference.
Leanne Tweddle

Philanthropy and Marketing Manager, Blyth Star

Arrow Analyses the Business Challenge

Arrow Expertise in Action

Arrow connected Blyth Star with Dr. Hao (Hugo) Du, a marketing expert from Newcastle University Business School. The project focused on evaluating Blyth Star’s existing marketing efforts, identifying improvement areas, and developing strategies to increase engagement. Arrow’s support included:

  • A detailed assessment of Blyth Star’s current situation, challenges and needs
  • Expert insights on charity stakeholder engagement and donor outreach
  • Literature reviews of business and academic sources highlighting successful fundraising approaches
  • Practical recommendations for optimising social media and digital presence

Real Results: Strengthening Engagement and Fundraising

Following Arrow’s recommendations, Blyth Star took immediate steps to enhance its social media presence, incorporating storytelling and stronger calls to action. The charity also launched its first public-facing fundraising campaign, using video content to connect with potential donors.

‘Using the recommendations from the report, we have taken immediate steps towards ‘shaking up’ our social media content – providing additional narrative to our posts and stronger calls to action for followers. We have also launched our first-ever public-facing fundraising campaign, using video content for the first time to provide context to the campaign and appeal to potential donors’ social conscience.’

Leanne Tweddle, Philanthropy and Marketing Manager, Blyth Star

Looking Ahead

With a clearer strategy and a renewed digital focus, Blyth Star is now exploring innovative ways to engage donors and broaden its fundraising efforts. Arrow’s insights have empowered the charity to diversify its approach and sustain its vital services for the community.

Many charities across the UK are struggling to fundraise and stay afloat. While Blyth Star is not in this situation, the Arrow project has enabled them to diversify their fundraising approaches. This collaboration highlights how expert insight can drive meaningful change, ensuring Blyth Star can continue to thrive and serve those who need them most.

Hear from our university partners

Working with Blyth Star through the Arrow programme showcased how academic marketing expertise could directly benefit a vital community organisation. Our collaboration allowed us to apply evidence-based approaches to help strengthen their public presence and diversify fundraising strategies. This project exemplifies how universities can support the third sector with practical solutions, while also providing valuable real-world context for our research in stakeholder engagement and digital marketing.
Dr Hao Du (Hugo)

Lecturer in Marketing, Newcastle University Business School

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Production Manager, Corehaus

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founder, David Irwin Design

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Read Success Story
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Founder, WindoWeb

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Read Success Story
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Read Success Story
Vahid Walker

Founder, Walker Subsea Engineering

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Leanne Tweddle

Philanthropy and Marketing Manager, Blyth Star

As an organisation, Blyth Star can be quite complicated to understand, but I feel like the team I was working with really got a handle quickly on who we are, what we do and where our limits lie, which helped them to deliver a project which had practical outputs which would help make a real difference.
Read Success Story
James Harriman-Smith

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Dik Barton

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Founder, Yu Cook

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