FAQs

On 4 June 2024, the leading global type 1 diabetes charity, JDRF International (JDRF) is proudly unveiling its new brand and name, Breakthrough T1D. The new name embodies its mission to cure, treat and prevent type 1 diabetes (T1D), while supporting everyone who lives with the condition.  

JDRF International (based in the US) will fully transition on 4 June. 

We will transition in the UK to Breakthrough T1D in October with a rollout of the brand across all our channels and a campaign to engage our community with our new brand messaging. Until that time, we will remain JDRF. 

We will tell you more about our new brand over the summer and confirm our transition date. 

Breakthrough T1D reflects our exclusive focus on the needs of the T1D community. Breakthrough T1D will continue JDRF’s journey, accelerating breakthroughs in research, breakthroughs in access to treatments and bringing the T1D community together to help everyone make their own personal breakthroughs. 

Since launching over 50 years ago JDRF has been at the forefront of every major type 1 research breakthrough, bringing life-changing treatments and technologies to the people who need them the most.

‘Breakthrough’ signifies scientific discovery in research, our ability to break through barriers, advance progress and move the entire T1D community forward. Breakthrough T1D invites everyone to progress together. The name promises impacts large and small—from scientific breakthroughs and advocacy wins, to breaking through everyday obstacles. It’s a rallying cry to make an impact for everyone in the T1D community.

Since our founding more than 50 years ago, we—and the world—have evolved. So too has type 1 diabetes (T1D) science and our understanding of it. While our mission remains the same, how we communicate must align with who we are now and the incredible breakthroughs we are advancing for everyone in the T1D community. 

We researched how our brand was perceived by the T1D community involving more than 5,000 people living with T1D around the world. 

Juvenile Diabetes is no longer a clinically used term. 88% of people living with type 1 diabetes are adults.  We need a brand which reflects this reality to engage more people in the T1D community and generate more support for our global mission. We are the same organisation—but with our purpose more clearly stated to be inclusive of the whole community. 

Our brand is changing and we’re bringing our history with us to celebrate our past, present, and future. We’re excited for this new era in our history and feel that our new name and look better represents who we are, what we do, and the full spectrum of the community for whom we advocate. 

After extensive market research, we determined that while our most engaged supporters valued and trusted our previous brand the name did not accurately represent who we are, what we do, or the full spectrum of the community we support. This is especially the case among people less familiar with us, who found our name a barrier. Global community insight confirmed, and staff and senior leadership agreed that ‘JDRF’ perpetuated misconceptions, with the word ‘Juvenile’ alienating adults, and the word ‘Research’ failing to capture the full picture of what we do. Using the acronym ‘JDRF’ as our name made it harder for people to engage with us, because they didn’t know—or couldn’t remember—the words represented by each letter.

The term T1D has been chosen as it is both used and recognised by people living with the condition. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition caused by the immune system mistakenly attacking insulin-making beta cells in the pancreas. It’s not related to lifestyle, it’s not reversable and it’s not currently curable. Using the term T1D will help us to address stigma and common misconceptions, providing clarity about our exclusive focus on type 1 diabetes.

Our mission is not changing. And neither is our mission statement. Our mission is still to accelerate life-changing breakthroughs to cure, prevent, and better treat type 1 diabetes (T1D) and its complications. 

What we have now, however, is a simpler, clearer way to communicate our mission to our audiences:  

As we drive toward curing type 1 diabetes, we help make everyday life better for the people who face it.  

JDRF International fully transitions to the new brand on 4 June.  The affiliates, such as us, have chosen a suitable launch date to align with their operational requirements. This includes ensuring fundraising and supporter activities are minimally impacted. The UK will transition in October. We will continue to communicate our progress throughout the summer and confirm our full transition date as soon as we can. 

Our name, visual identity and messaging are changing. This includes updates to the logo, color palette, typography, and other design elements. Plus, a refreshed way of telling our story to drive our mission forward.

Our logo represents breakthroughs, both big and small for the T1D community. The name physically breaks through our visionary, precise and powerful burst creating the impact of what we do for the community. This outward expression is inclusive, energetic, and embodies optimism for the cures we will discover as a community.

Strengthening our brand will help create more familiarity and engagement with our organisation, and ultimately, help us raise more funds as we drive toward cures. By telling a clearer story, we are removing barriers to more people joining our community and mission. Creating greater recognition will also help us increase distribution of resources to improve life with T1D. Stand-out messaging also helps us deepen relationships with existing supporters, volunteers, partners, government, and industry. This amplifies our efforts to fund research, accelerate new therapy approval, and improve access to therapies and clinical education for the T1D community globally.

Yes, people affected by T1D are at the heart of everything we do. We conducted extensive global market research involving more than 5,000 people living with or caring for someone with T1D. Breakthrough T1D scored highest in testing.

Our focus has always been supporting anyone affected by T1D. Our new brand makes that clearer.

You can support our rebrand by sharing your thoughts and feedback to info@jdrf.org.uk. Your input is extremely valuable as we continue to refine and improve our new identity. 

You can also help by spreading the word to your networks, sharing and engaging with our content.

Please contact our supporter care team at: info@jdrf.org.uk

We will be looking to carry out some further market insight on rolling out the brand and reaching wider audiences on the new brand between June – Oct. If you are interested in taking part, please contact brand@jdrf.org.uk. 

We have benefited from being a UK charity with an affiliation to a global organisation. The main investment for the global brand review has been made by JDRF International, based in the US, who have spent proportionately for a change of this scale. We have been partnered with a world-class branding agency, Siegel & Gale who have made sure all development was insight driven. 

Specifically, within the UK, we will spend £265,000 to change our assets and channels. This will also enable us to launch the brand with a paid for advertising campaign in October. JDRF International contributed a significant amount of funding to JDRF UK to ensure we can successfully bring the new brand to the T1D community. 

This rebrand will allow us to deepen engagement and support across the entire T1D community, which will ultimately move our mission forward, faster.

We are investing £265,000, with support from JDRF International, to transition our organisation to the new brand and to ensure we engage and support more people affected by T1D. This investment reflects our dedication to raising awareness and funding for our mission to find a cure for type 1 diabetes and improve the lives of those facing the condition. By removing the barriers our current branding creates, we will be able to connect with and make a difference to many more people affected by this life-changing condition.  

JDRF International is making a meaningful financial contribution to the UK brand rollout budget to ensure we can successfully bring the new brand to the T1D community. The global mission funding commitment grew this past financial year to approximately £148m and with the help of the new brand, we expect significant growth going forward. 

This rebrand will allow us to deepen engagement and support across the entire T1D community, which will ultimately move our mission forward, faster. 

If you have any further questions or would like more detailed information, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at info@jdrf.org.uk 

The events will continue to operate as they have previously. However, we are enhancing our marketing and branding efforts to align with our new name and visual identity. Despite these changes, rest assured that the core delivery and experience of the events will remain unchanged. Our commitment to providing valuable and impactful experiences for our supporters remains our priority.

We’ll be relaunching our shop from October with a range of new Breakthrough T1D merchandise for purchase.

People are welcome to keep their JDRF branded items. We are the same organisation—our brand is changing and we’re bringing our history with us to celebrate our past, present, and future. We prefer that if you are attending an event after we launch our new brand, supporters wear Breakthrough T1D branded items, which we will provide. At the same time, we recognise it’s your choice.

Existing regular gifts will remain unaffected. We will communicate with you about any upcoming changes to how you may see your donation listed on your bank statement. Your ongoing support will continue to make a meaningful difference in our mission, and we are grateful for your commitment.

Donations to JDRF – including sponsorship and lottery tickets – will be processed as normal, through our secure channels. We will communicate with you about any upcoming changes to how you may see your donation listed on your bank statement. 

Please continue to select ‘JDRF UK’ when  giving via 3rd party platform including Just Giving, Enthuse, Payroll Giving, Facebook, Instagram and GoFundMe. We will update these platforms from JDRF UK to Breakthrough T1D in October.

Our donation process is not changing. You can donate via our website, over the telephone or write to us.

Our information and support resources will undergo a gradual transition to reflect our new brand identity. We are implementing a phased approach to minimise any wastage during this process. While the essence of our virtual and in-person events will remain unchanged, they will feature an updated look and feel consistent with our refreshed brand. This ensures continuity in our services while embracing our new identity.

Our rebrand will not affect the research that we fund. Our mission stays the same, to prevent, treat and cure type 1 diabetes. We are the world’s leading type 1 diabetes research and advocacy organisation. Our commitment to accelerating research breakthroughs is steadfast and the cornerstone of our work.