‘That’s NABS. We’re in your corner, whatever you’re going through’: A lunchtime chat with Sue Todd
Interview
Adwanted’s CEO sits down with NABS’ Sue Todd at the charity’s ‘long lunch’ to discuss what else the body is up to for the good of the industry.
Greg Grimmer: What is the NABS long lunch? And where did you get the idea?
Sue Todd: The NABS Long Lunch is a new idea to strengthen our relationships with long-standing industry members who might not be as involved in NABS as they once were. We update guests on our work and discuss ways they could become further involved and support us.
It’s also a fantastic opportunity to reconnect with friends and colleagues from across our industry community, which is an integral part of the NABS mission. We are really delighted to have raised some money at this year’s lunch, as well as raising awareness. The people who came were so generous, and their donations will help NABS to power our purpose over the coming months.
GG: OK, I get it – it’s a chance for people who might not be coming to other events to hear from NABS and support you. What else are you up to? And how do you try to reach everyone in advertising?
ST: Our Long Lunch guests may have attended other NABS events in the past, and many still work at businesses that also support us. However, we wanted to create an exceptional opportunity to connect with this group, as they’ve contributed so much to the industry and to NABS over the years.
NABS works hard to make our range of events as inclusive and broad as possible, so everyone can find an event where they can have fun, get together, and raise essential funds for NABS at the same time. It’s a mix of much-loved, long-standing events, like our annual gala Stranger Than Summer, alongside newer formats we try in response to the changing needs of the industry, like Walk and Talk, our annual stroll across London.
GG: We put a team into your recent music quiz, AdLondon Calling, they had a great time – will you do that again?
ST: This will definitely be back. AdLondon Calling was a brilliant success. More than 42 teams from across adland packed into the Electric Ballroom, and the atmosphere really was electric. The event raised £20,000 for NABS.
What’s fantastic about AdLondon Calling is that it was organised by a member of our community, David Grainger, who took it upon himself to create an event to raise funds for NABS.
It was a top night with many business leaders contacting me to say their teams loved it. This is what community looks (and sounds) like: people coming together, having fun, and doing good.
As Grainger himself said post-event, a key part of building resilience and getting through tough times is getting people together – in this case, to scream power ballads with 300+ others.
GG: What about people who don’t like events? How do they get involved? Or support you?
ST: First of all, I’d say, have a good look through the NABS calendar, and maybe you’ll change your mind about ‘events’ – we’ve got everything from walks to quizzes, parties to golf days.
Aside from attending a NABS event, there are various ways to get involved with NABS. Right now, we’re running a Christmas Appeal , to which people can give individually (or even organise a team whip-round).
We’re also looking for fitness fans to join a NABS team at the ATHX Games, which James Cornish from Vevo is organising in January 2026. Another great way to support NABS is to check out what we do and to spread the word about our services.
GG: Why is now more critical than ever for people to donate/raise money and support NABS?
ST: Last year, we received more than 5,200 calls to our Advice Line for the first time. Demand for our services has never been higher and continues to increase each year.
Currently, people are facing many changes and dealing with worries in the outside world. That’s on top of the everyday, emotional, and personal challenges they’re dealing with. The effects of all of this on people are apparent – look at the conversation around anxiety and burnout, it’s everywhere.
Despite some of the great work individual businesses can do, people need somewhere independent to go to for help, a safe and impartial space.
That’s NABS. We’re in your corner, whatever you’re going through, and we’re here to help you move forward.
GG: How about the stuff you give back to the industry? I love your training workshops and encourage our team to attend, but they still seem like a hidden secret. Is that right?
ST: I’m not sure I’d say hidden, we have a lot of take-up – people across the industry attended our workshops 2,300 times in 2024 – but certainly there’s always room for more delegates on our workshops. A great one to take is our Managers’ Mindsets programme, which we developed in response to our All Ears community consultation, where we revealed that line managers are expected to support their teams emotionally, often without training in how to do so.
Come to Managers’ Mindsets, and you’ll learn coaching skills, how to hold open conversations and more. We offer workshops free of charge as part of our charity offer and can also build on this with bespoke training for organisations, which we can offer in-house at a competitive fee (and all proceeds go back to NABS).
GG: What other popular services do you offer?
ST: I want to give a massive shout-out to our Advice Line. Our advisors really are fantastic; empathetic, encouraging and here for everyone. They take calls from people at all levels in our industry, facing all kinds of challenges, and no issue is too big or too small for them to help with.
Our Advice Line team is the front line for mental wellness support in adland, and we are so lucky to have them.
GG: What’s the big thing for NABS to achieve next year?
ST: We’ve had a lot of success in 2025 with our first-ever Yay List – this year’s industry list to be on, which celebrates the companies that support NABS and make our mission possible. We’ve learned a lot about our donor community from the list, so we’ll use these insights to create more ways for people to support us next year.
The bottom line is that we want to help as many people as we can next year, and this will only be possible if Adland donates to us. We don’t get funding from anywhere else.
We’re seeing an increase in what people want to do individually to fundraise – like Dave’s drive on Adland Calling and James’ fitness challenge.
We’d love to see more people lean in and find a way to do this for NABS. Often companies match monies raised too by individuals, so this can be a gratifying experience both financially for NABS, but also for the people who take part.