We're Walk Wheel Cycle Trust, formerly known as Sustrans.

We're still the same charity that's been making it possible for everyone to walk, wheel and cycle since 1977.

But our previous brand didn't easily help us showcase the huge impact that our work has on our health, our wellbeing and our world. And our purpose just didn't quite emotionally connect with people the way we knew it could.

That's why we've made changes to our look, how we talk about ourselves, and we've got a new name.

We're excited for you to join us as we take this exciting step into the future. Let's do this. 

Why we've rebranded

We’re not as well-known as we’d like to be and even those who do know about our charity are sometimes confused about what we do and what we're trying to achieve. 

This is about more than a new name or logo. It’s about creating a clearer, stronger identity that amplifies our voice and makes it easier for everyone to understand who we are, what we do and why it matters to them.

A stronger, more emotionally engaging brand as Walk Wheel Cycle Trust will:

• Help us become a great fundraising organisation - diversifying and increasing our income and audiences 
• Make us and our cause more distinct and a higher priority for politicians 
• Give us a better story to tell that engages even more supporters, volunteers, funders and partners 
• Build a better connection between the charity and the National Cycle Network 
• Help make us more accessible and inclusive.

We’re working with an expert branding and creative agency to help us develop our new brand.

There have been and will be more opportunities for our donors and volunteers to be part of the process and share feedback. And we’re also testing concepts with a variety of groups, including internal and external experts and people who aren’t familiar with Walk Wheel Cycle Trust yet. 

This rebrand will help us tell our story clearly, demonstrate how our work is changing lives for the better and inspire even more people to join us.

Thank you for being part of this journey as we take this exciting step forwards together. 

Fresh look, fresh strategy

Our rebrand goes hand in hand with our refreshed strategy - to make it possible for everyone to walk, wheel and cycle.

Over the next five years, we’re focusing on the people-powered activities that will help us make the biggest strides towards our 2050 goals.

This is all part of our strategic framework – a clear plan that outlines what we’re doing in the years ahead to hit our ambitious 2030 targets.

On this page

• Why does Walk Wheel Cycle Trust need to rebrand?
• Why is Walk Wheel Cycle Trust rebranding now?
• What’s being considered as part of this rebrand?
• Will the charity be changing its name?
• How long will the rebrand take?
• What will happen to the old (current) brand?
• Who have you involved in the process?

Why did Walk Wheel Cycle Trust need to rebrand? 

Our research shows that when people understand what we do, they believe in us and want to support the charity (donating, working with us, volunteering, funding us etc). And whilst this is positive, if we want to reach and engage with even more people, we first need a brand that everyone can understand. 

Our branding as Sustrans didn't enable us to clearly explain who we are, what we do and why it matters to people. It also didn't help us effectively inspire as many people as possible to join us and support us, so we can continue to make a positive difference to communities across the UK. 

This rebrand is about more than just a new name or logo. We wanted a clear, exciting and bold brand strategy that resonates with all our key audiences and stakeholders and rallies their support.

We also know that, as Sustrans our branding was very challenging for many people and for many reasons – particularly our visual identity.

We want to create a brand that is accessible to everyone, and that is built on a foundation of accessibility and inclusivity. Not just so more diverse audiences engage with us, but so they can benefit from our work, the expertise we provide and can more easily access the information they need to experience the convenience and joy that walking, wheeling and cycling brings.

Why is Walk Wheel Cycle Trust rebranding now? 

Now more than ever, it is crucial that we diversify our income generation so we can enable even more people to experience the benefits of walking, wheeling and cycling.

This means we need to look at ways we can inspire more people to join us – volunteer with us, donate to Walk Wheel Cycle Trust and fund our work. And a stronger, clearer, emotive and more accessible brand will provide us with the building blocks that we need to achieve this. 

Whilst the rebrand won’t solve all our problems, it will allow us to build the foundations for tackling the challenges that we currently face as a charity. These include: 

• Diversifying and increasing our income and audiences  
• Increasing brand awareness, engagement and propensity to support  
• Building a better connection to the National Cycle Network  
• Making us more distinct and stand out from the crowd 
• Helping us to move on from the current culture wars and conflict surrounding active travel  
• Defining our consultancy vs charity image and what this means to our audiences 
• Improve our accessibility for our audiences and so we can effectively work with public sector funders (who have legal implications if they don’t meet accessibility regulations). 

Our ambitious five-year strategy sets out what we want to achieve over the next few years. But without a clear, fresh new brand to help us, we risk not being able to achieve our organisational goals and deliver the projects that communities need to be able walk, wheel and cycle more.

We need a brand that will enable and empower us to meet what’s set out in our five-year strategy and help us to easily demonstrate our impact, and so that’s why we’re reviewing this now.

What’s being considered as part of this rebrand? 

We’re making changes to our brand so we can inspire even more people to join us in transforming how we travel.  

But this is about more than just a new name or logo. It’s about creating a clearer, stronger identity that amplifies our voice and makes it easier for everyone to understand who we are, what we do and why it matters to them.  

To do this, we’ve developed a new brand strategy. This strategy includes a new name for the charity, a strapline, a fresh personality, an updated purpose (to replace our mission and vision), a definition of what our story is and key messaging we need to amplify.  

We’ve also developed a new tone of voice to help us stand out from the crowd. And a new visual identity including a logo, colours, fonts, imagery and iconography.

Why has the charity's name changed? 

The name ‘Sustrans’ has served us well over the years, but we’ve found that our name was a barrier for many people.

It has different connotations now than it did when it was first created, and many colleagues, supporters and members of the public have questioned our name, what it means and whether it is still appropriate today. And our research shows that a clearer name would help more people understand who we are and what we do. 

The name change process came after lots of research, testing ideas and approaching the decision with care. This included putting a robust plan in place to ensure that we mitigated the risks of renaming the charity and to make certain that everyone knows we’re still the same charity deep down, just with a different name and a fresh new look.
 
We know our name has earned respect from a lot of people who support and work with us and that is why we have engaged our current volunteers and supporters, colleagues, partners and funders as well as new audiences in this process.

We hope you are just as excited as we are about our new brand and name.

Why are you using the word 'wheel' in the charity's name?

We use the term wheeling alongside walking.

While many wheelchair and mobility scooter users identify with the term wheeling, others prefer walking.

Using both terms together allows people to identify with walking or wheeling as they prefer and implicitly includes a wider range of people.

Walk Wheel Cycle Trust want to make walking and cycling accessible and desirable for everyone.

To do this we need to understand the impact of how we communicate and the language we use.

Xavier, our CEO explains how and why we're now using the term wheeling to ensure that wheelchair and mobility scooter users aren't excluded. 

We believe everyone should have the right to walk and wheel, and feel safe, comfortable and welcome while doing so.

Wheels for Wellbeing has its own explanation on the term wheeling.

What will happen to the old brand? 

On our digital channels, like our website, social media, email, and our internal systems we use day-to-day, you will have seen the shift to our new brand.  

However, any changes we make to our materials, clothing and physical items will be introduced gradually to avoid waste wherever possible and to ensure a smooth transition from our current brand to our new one. During this time, you may still see references to our old brand whilst we work to phase this out.

Who have you involved in the process?

We know that our brand is shaped by the people who support, work with, and champion our mission. That’s why we’ve sought input from a wide range of voices, including supporters, volunteers, partners, commercial partners, and Walk Wheel Cycle Trust colleagues.  

We’ve listened to feedback through surveys, chats, and workshops to make sure our rebrand reflects the people who support and work with us. While not everyone could be directly involved, we’ve made sure to hear from a wide mix of voices.