Helen & Douglas House reminds HR teams that relaunching existing benefits can be just as powerful as introducing new ones

NEWS RELEASE, 3 February 2026: The People team at Helen & Douglas House, an Oxford-based children’s hospice charity, has this week relaunched its financial wellbeing benefit for all 260 UK staff, highlighting the role of benefit “relaunches” in driving employee engagement.

The charity has offered staff access to Octopus Money’s one-to-one money planning service for the past two years, supporting employees with budgeting, saving and long-term financial planning. First introduced in 2023 during the height of the cost-of-living crisis, the benefit was refreshed this year to ensure staff fully understood and made use of the support available.

The relaunch included a targeted internal communications campaign and a live webinar, “How to Have Confident Money Conversations”, hosted by Octopus Money on 30 January.

Simon Bolton, Head of People at Helen & Douglas House, said: “People teams often focus their energy on launching new benefits, but we’ve learned that you can create just as much impact by reminding staff about the support that already exists; especially if you explain clearly what’s in it for them.

Our people are deeply purpose-driven, but money confidence underpins everything from emotional wellbeing to how supported you feel at work. That’s why financial wellbeing sits at the heart of our overall wellbeing strategy.”

By refreshing its financial wellbeing offer and clearly communicating how staff can use it, Helen & Douglas House is tackling what Octopus Money calls the “Wellbeing Insights Gap”: the disconnect between investment in benefits and understanding their real-world impact.

Octopus Money this January published a new survey with answers from 250 rewards and benefits professionals on how to better address this challenge. It found that while 93% of senior leaders want clear evidence that benefits spending delivers real value, almost one third of HR teams struggle to track the impact of their wellbeing initiatives in practice.(1) The Wellbeing Insights Gap Report can be downloaded here: octopusmoney.com/wellbeing-insight-gap 

Ruth Handcock, CEO at Octopus Money, said: “Rewards and people leaders are under growing pressure to prove that wellbeing benefits deliver real, measurable value. That’s why what Helen & Douglas House has done here really matters.

By relaunching an existing benefit and clearly showing employees how to use it, they’re turning investment into impact. We know that good money intentions, particularly prevalent at this time of year, rarely stick without hands-on support. Giving people access to one-to-one conversations with a personal money expert can be genuinely life-changing, helping them feel more confident about everything from day-to-day budgeting to long-term pensions planning.”

Helen & Douglas House recently won Best Charity Internal Wellbeing Programme at the This Can Happen Global Awards, with judges recognising its holistic approach to wellbeing. Alongside financial coaching, employees can access counselling, occupational health services and peer-led support for managers.

Staff case study: “I felt we could be very open”

Serena El-Ajouz, aged 41, from Oxfordshire, says the non-judgemental nature of the money planning calls made a significant difference. “I loved that my partner could join the conversations and I felt we could be very open. My coach lives in the same town and we built up an easy relationship, he never judged us, even though I felt we hadn’t been great savers and didn’t know much about pensions.”

With her coach’s support, Jane says she and her partner have started budgeting for the first time, reduced household bills and begun saving – making a long-planned trip to Australia feel achievable. “I spoke to others who had similar experiences although we’re all at different life stages: some are planning for retirement and want to think about making the most out of their pension, for example.”

Octopus Money is now available to more than 200,000 employees across the UK, including in the legal, financial and charity sectors. Customers retire on average £315,000 wealthier, and 61% say they feel less worried about money after their first three sessions.(2)

ENDS

Notes

1. Research carried out by Censuswide on behalf of Octopus Money. Fieldwork took place between 16-26 December 2025, polling a sample of 250 reward and benefits professionals at manager level and above.
2. Insights from over 8,000 customers who used Octopus Money’s services in 2025.
3. GRiD research shows 2 in 5 employers admit that take-up of benefits is left to employees to initiate themselves, revealing a gap in encouraging staff to engage, see HR Director
4. Download Octopus Money’s Wellbeing Insights Gap Report here, which looks at common value metrics, where they fall short, and how HR experts can go the extra mile to justify the wellbeing benefits that set them apart: octopusmoney.com/wellbeing-insight-gap 

About Helen & Douglas House hdh.org.uk 

Please note the correct use of our name in full. Helen & Douglas House – with an ampersand not ‘and’

We care for children and young people from Bedfordshire; Berkshire; Buckinghamshire; Gloucestershire; Hertfordshire; parts of London; Northamptonshire; Oxfordshire; Wiltshire. We also support current and bereaved families.

We have retail shops across our region, giving us a presence in many town centres. 

The shops raise awareness of the service provided, as well as vital funds for the charity.

About Octopus Money octopusmoney.com 

At Octopus Money we’re building the future of financial advice, helping more people get the support they need to plan for the life they want.

We’re a new kind of advice business that combines the best of humanity, smart technology and investment expertise. Anyone can get started directly through our website, and we work with some of the UK’s leading employers to give employees access to 1-to-1, personalised help through the workplace.

Part of the Octopus Group, winner of 2025’s Financial Advice Firm of the Year and a certified B Corp, Octopus Money is committed to doing the right thing for customers, advisers and the future we all share.