Testimonials

Leukaemia UK

I worked with Leukaemia UK to help update some of the content on their website for a brand relaunch after a merger. Find out more about this project here.

Dr Dawn Farrar, Director of Impact for Leukaemia UK, said:

Before we started working with Richard, we had recently gone through a merger, and although we were a small charity, we had big plans to grow. Having funded research into leukaemia for a number of years, we were aware that we needed to do more to showcase the amazing research currently being funded, as well as the impact of historic projects.

A Research Comms Manager was on our ‘wish list’ for new staff members, but we knew this is a specialist skill and may take some time to recruit the right person.

Richard was recommended as the ideal person with the right expertise we urgently needed to fill the gap. The recommendation was that he could easily assess what was needed, and provide research content of high quality to suit our requirements.

During our time working together, he produced high-quality, understandable summaries for our lay audiences that showcased our current research, as well as case studies of impact of previous research.

Richard was accessible, responsive, and quickly interpreted what was required – he was a pleasure to work with.

Dr Dawn Farrar, Director of Impact for Leukaemia UK

University of Manchester

I wrote three impact case studies for the University of Manchester to highlight their work into the “3R’s” of animal research. Find out more about the project here.

Michael Addelman, Media Relations Officer for the University’s Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, said:

“The University invests much time and effort into 3Rs research: replacement, reduction, and refinement of animal research. As part of our agenda to embrace the principles of openness in animal research, we’re keen to illustrate the excellent work that goes on in this important area at Manchester. The European Animal Research Association campaign – called Be Open on Animal Research Day 2022 (#BOARD22) – was a great opportunity to do this. To support the campaign, we commissioned Richard to write case studies highlighting three research projects with 3Rs elements.

“Richard is a talented and reliable writer. His work was to the highest of standards, beautifully written and structured. He worked independently with the minimum of supervision required, and finished on deadline. The project was commended by senior colleagues and had a positive impact on various social media platforms. It was great working with Richard – we would definitely commission him again.”

Michael Addelman, Media Relations Officer for Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester

Medical Research Foundation

I wrote three research impact case studies for the Medical Research Foundation – find out more what this work involved here.

Jack Stonebridge, Senior Communications Manager for Medical Research Foundation, said:

I had a great experience working with Richard on the Medical Research Foundation’s first ever Impact Report – a landmark piece of comms for our charity.

Richard was tasked with writing three research case studies, as well as one piece profiling support we’ve received over the years from the giving public. This involved considerable research and background reading, five interviews, and of course lots of writing and editing.

I was delighted with the resulting case studies. Richard was able to communicate complex research on antimicrobial resistance, rare genetic disorders and ‘in vivo’ imaging, in a clear and engaging way, while staying true to our tone of voice. He provided regular progress updates and met all of our deadlines.

The published Impact Report and case studies provide vital evidence on what our researchers have achieved thanks to donations from the public. We’ve had excellent feedback from supporters, researchers and trustees, and the publication will continue to be a key resource for our communications and fundraising in the future.

I wouldn’t hesitate to work with Richard again, and would definitely recommend him for any research/fundraising comms projects.

Jack Stonebridge, Senior Communications Manager, Medical Research Foundation

Muscular Dystrophy UK

I helped Muscular Dystrophy UK to update information on more than 30 of their research projects – find out more about the work I did with them.

Dr Kate Adcock, Muscular Dystrophy UK’s Director of Research, said:

Before we worked with Richard, we had a backlog of research projects that needed updates writing for our website and we didn’t have the capacity ‘in-house’ to manage this.

Richard not only cleared the backlog, but gave us some really great advice about how we can enhance our research web pages.

Because of his scientific background and great expertise in written communications, he rapidly got to grips with the complex nature of many of our research projects, and brought them to life in ways that are easy for our audiences to understand.

I appreciated his enthusiasm to hear about MDUK and the work that we do. It was also really easy to talk to him about some of the challenges that our community faces, so that the language used was sensitive to these challenges. He also kept me informed of progress and delivered the work in the timeframe that we agreed.

Dr Kate Adcock, Director of Research, Muscular Dystrophy UK

Harry’s HAT

I worked with Harry’s HAT to do a content audit of their information about hydrocephalus, and information for healthcare professionals, before writing new information ahead of a website relaunch. Read more about this project.

“We were really happy with the work that Richard did, and really enjoyed working with him.

“He provided us with the ability to look at our audiences from different perspectives, which will be helpful to us going forward. The information he wrote will make our website much more relevant and useful to our audience – and as a team we already feel more confident in our understanding of hydrocephalus. His work has also helped us to hone our messaging, which has been useful when thinking about how we provide support in a wider context.

Caroline Thwaites, Founder of Harry’s HAT

Tommy’s

I worked with Tommy’s to update information about their research, which aims to make pregnancy and birth safer for all. Lizzie D’Angelo, Tommy’s Research & Policy Director, said:

“Richard got in touch with us at exactly the right time – we were developing our research communications strategy, with a new focus on storytelling and impact. We spoke via email and worked out that Richard would be able to provide valuable support in translating our complex research centre scientific reports into public-facing communications.

“Richard was very proactive, and great at keeping us updated with the project. He was quick to ask questions, but also very comfortable working without close supervision or direction. This was a huge asset within our time-poor team.

“Richard’s work gave us the motivation to audit our research content and is leading into a new approach to how we communicate the impact of Tommy’s ground-breaking research.

“A big thank you for all the work you’ve done!”

Lizzie D’Angelo, Research & Policy Director, Tommy’s

Find out more about this project.

Breast Cancer Now

“Richard has extensive experience in research communications, a deep knowledge in the field of breast cancer research, independence and the ability to lead projects with minimal direction.

“The shopping list is great – people are using it in their comms and I think they are using it more than the old version.

“I can drop Richard a quick email with a task with minimal instructions and know he’ll figure out how to approach it and produce something of good quality.

“He’s very approachable, reliable, easy to talk to and has a ‘can do’ attitude. With Richard, I could feel the project was in safe hands, and he responds very positively to feedback.”

Kotryna Temcinaite, Research Communications Manager, Breast Cancer Now

Children with Cancer UK

I worked with CwCUK to update their website information pages on symptoms and treatments for children with cancer. Shingi Parirenyatwa, Digital Marketing Manager at Children with Cancer UK, said:

“Richard got in touch with us offering to help with specialist scientific copy to improve our Google visibility about our cancer type information and the research programmes we help fund. His content has always been relevant and delivered on time, and I can see that he has knowledge and expertise within the field.

“We’ve benefited from the content Richard provided, as our keywords for the treatment and symptoms pages have been organically ranking highly in the SERPs since we updated the copy.”

Shingi Parirenyatwa, Digital Marketing Manager at Children with Cancer UK

Find out more about this project.

Breast Cancer Now

During my time working for Breast Cancer Now (recently merged with Breast Cancer Care), I worked on a wide range of projects, including a report for a group of dedicated supporters. Angela Adams, Community Engagement Officer at Breast Cancer Now, said:

“I’ve worked with Richard on a number of projects and he’s always a true professional. He takes the time to work out exactly what’s needed and keeps you updated until the work is complete. You know the work is going to be of a high standard when Richard is involved.

“The most recent piece Richard did for me related to work that a group of dedicated supporters who had raised money to fund a range of projects over a number of years. Richard gathered together information about all the projects so that they could see the real impact of what they’d funded. They were delighted. They’re now proudly displaying the information on their website, and it’s soon to be going into a book.

“Richard is incredibly helpful and will always take the time to listen to what exactly you need from your project.”

Angela Adams, Community Engagement Officer, Breast Cancer Now

Read more about this project.

MQ: Transforming Mental Health

In 2019 I worked with MQ: Transforming Mental Health on their Mental Health Science Meeting. Hannah Myerson, Communications Officer at MQ: Transforming Mental Health, said:

“We’d worked with Richard on an article previously, and we were really excited by how quickly and effortlessly he picked up on our brand’s tone of voice. When we were looking support with our flagship event, it felt like a natural progression to approach him. Richard wrote the live blog for the event (the Mental Health Science Meeting), as well as three supporting blogs.

“From a professional point of view, Richard impressed all of us with his writing skills and his ability to communicate complex science in a clear and exciting way. He honoured deadlines, was flexible where necessary and went above and beyond our expectations by really taking the initiative to ensure that the digital user experience was as easy as possible.

“We were really excited to see how well the live blog performed – Richard’s work surpassed our benchmarks, both on page views and average time spent on-page.

“Personally speaking, Richard was easy-going, friendly, ready to brainstorm ideas and happy to work as part of our team during the event.

“Richard was brilliant to work with and he’ll always be an honorary member of the MQ Comms Team!”

Hannah Myerson, Communications Officer, MQ: Transforming Mental Health

Find out more about the project.