October 2008
Children’s hospice escapes the crunch
A children's hospice is breathing a sigh of relief after it withdrew £600,000 from an Icelandic bank in the nick of time. Rainbows, in Loughborough, said it had a lucky escape. The money had been raised by the public for the charity's £4 million campaign to build an extension. The hospice, which cares for more than 250 seriously and terminally ill youngsters, wants to build a young people's unit to look after older teenagers and young adults.
Scott Lea from Rainbows said: “A high level of media coverage in the East Midlands is essential to the success of Rainbows Children’s Hospice. Almost 90% of our funding comes from the involvement of the local community and businesses, therefore a high level of local awareness is of utmost importance. The most cost effective method of sustaining our profile is through the distribution of regular press releases, Community Newswire has been instrumental in helping our stories get published.”
Media coverage:
Local media, Leicester Mercury
October 2008
Young volunteers hit the surf
Seventy London youngsters, many of whom had never previously left the capital, enjoyed a surfing weekend in Cornwall as a reward for the voluntary work they have carried out in their local communities. The young people, aged 10-22, all do voluntary work as part of London Youth, a network of 400 youth clubs across the capital. The surfing weekend in Bude was organised by the Cornwall-based charity CATS (Community Action Through Sport), a scheme that promotes and rewards young people for positive community action with a sports or healthy living prize.
Clair Roberts from CATS said: ‘I am pretty pleased that I got as many people interested as I did! Thanks for helping us. Community Newswire and Media Trust has been brilliant for us.’
Media coverage:
Western Morning News, Bude and Stratton Post, Cornish Guardian, BBC TV Spotlight, The London Evening Standard, Atlantic FM
October 2008
Volunteering award for Beeb
The BBC has received an award in recognition of the volunteer work carried out by its employees. It has been awarded Volunteering England's Investing in Volunteers for Employers accreditation for its employee volunteer programme, Connect and Create. Connect and Create works with 15 organisations - such as Action for Children, the National Trust and the Media Trust - to provide opportunities for BBC staff to develop skills and creativity by working with a charity or voluntary organisation.
Media coverage:
North London newspapers
October 2008
Shelter marks Government’s report
Housing charity, Shelter, handed out special 'report' cards to Government officials highlighting the numbers of children trapped in bad housing. Campaigners for the charity dressed as old-fashioned schoolmasters to hand out the report cards to staff entering the Treasury in Horse Guards Road and the Communities and Local Government building, Eland House, Bressenden Place.
Media coverage:
www.politics.co.uk , regional press.
September 2008
Back to tradition
A scheme to encourage people back to church is being supported with
a call for parishes to re-introduce traditional services at mainstream
times. Back to Church Sunday, aimed to get thousands of people to
return to the pews they once occupied. One organisation says it
provides churches with an ideal opportunity to re-engage with those who
turned away when traditional services were replaced with contemporary
alternatives. The Prayer Book Society works to promote the Book of
Common Prayer, which dates from 1662. It believes that the declining
congregations seen through the 1970s and 1980s were due in part to the
introduction of modern services in place of the traditional.
"Community
Newswire helped to remind newsdesks about the Prayer Book Society's
push to try a traditional service on national Back to Church Sunday",
says PBS press officer Trevor Butler. "The introduction of more modern
services from the 1960s coincided with a decline in church attendance.
Many large audience media included the story in their round-up of news,
including ITN on-line, orange.co.uk, and cool fm among them."
Media coverage:
Included ITN, orange.co.uk and radio
September 2008
Investigation suggests charity t-shirts improve cycle safety
Charity-branded t-shirts could help keep cyclists safe on Cambridge’s roads according to the findings of an informal study from the Alzheimer’s Research Trust. Staff at the Great Shelford charity who cycle to work had noticed that wearing one of the charity’s purple or white t-shirts seemed to incline drivers to leave more space when passing. To see if the theory held water, a team of four cyclists embarked on a simple two-week investigation intermittently wearing Alzheimer’s Research Trust t-shirts and other clothing.
Tim Parry from Alzheimer’s Research Trust said: ‘Community Newswire helped enormously when we issued our press release about a cycling investigation in which some members of our team took part. We had no experience of working with the cycling press, and Newswire helped expose the story to a number of specialist sites, as well as bolstering our PR efforts in the regions. It’s a great tool for us that we use on a regular basis.’
Media coverage:
BBC regional news, cycling press
August 2008
Golden Ticket to meet Beefy
Forty golden tickets were hidden in packs of chocolates being sold to raise cash for Leukaemia Research and those who found them won the chance to meet cricketing legend Sir Ian Botham. The chocolates, bought for a suggested donation of £1, with all profits going to Leukaemia Research. The golden ticket winners had the opportunity to meet and walk with Sir Ian on one of the nine days of his walk.
Sally Clark, Media Manager at blood cancer charity Leukaemia Research said: "Community Newswire’s help with the launch of Sir Ian Botham’s charity chocolates sold in support of his 2008 walk for Leukaemia Research was invaluable in making it a success. Their journalists’ contacts with regional and local press across the country meant that it reached a huge readership. The authority and recognition that the Press Association name lent to the story ensured extensive coverage. Using community newswire made that story for us. "
Media coverage:
The story reached a combined audience of over 2 million and had an AVE of over £23,000. Thanks to Community Newswire, it hit BBC Online and most of the key regionals and local papers including Belfast Telegraph, Yorkshire Post, Eastern Daily Press, Northern Echo, North Wales Weekly News, Birmingham Post, Cornwall Independent, Wales Daily Post, South Wales Argus, Western Daily Press, Western Morning News, The York Press, Evening Chronicle, Plymouth Independent, West Bristol Independent, Maidenhead Advertiser, Shropshire Star, Evening Chronicle, Craven Herald & Pioneer Durham Times, Windsor & Maidenhead Observer, Teesside Shields Gazette, Dundee Courier & Advertiser, Wigan Evening Post, The Newcastle Daily Journal, Bradford Telegraph & Argus and Scunthorpe Evening Telegraph.
August 2008
Annual Gathering for peace
One of Britain's oldest Muslim communities used its annual gathering to show how it could provide a model for other Muslims of how to live in perfect harmony with others. 30,000 members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community gathered for the biggest annual gathering of UK Muslims.
Dr Basharat Nazir, National Press Secretary for Ahmadiyya Muslim Association UK was delighted with the help and coverage.
Media coverage:
24dash.com
August 2008
Lions roar across countries
A
father and daughter from Surrey embarked on a 'round-the-world' trip,
without leaving the shores of the UK, to raise cash for multiple
sclerosis charities by driving across the country visiting
exotic-sounding places such as Egypt, California and Toronto in a
weekend. Vic, who is president of Guildford Lions Club, had full
support from Lions Clubs around the country and hoped to meet with them
on the drive.
Media coverage:
National including TV news
July 2008
Fight to save wild donkeys
Devon-based charity, The Donkey Sanctuary met with government officials in the Caribbean in an attempt to save 60 donkeys from slaughter as an island is cleared for development.
The Donkey Sanctuary believed the wild donkeys and horses of Salt Cay island, Turks and Caicos, were due to slaughtered for meat, but it also claims that in the past donkeys have been dumped at sea and left to drown. The Donkey Sanctuary was told about the plans by a supporter of the charity and swung into action to save the donkeys and ensure their future welfare.
Dawn Vincent from the Donkey Sanctuary said of Community Newswire: ‘Thank you for always helping us out – we really do appreciate it.’
Media coverage:
Western Morning News plus additional local media
July 2008
Creating little green spaces for all
Little Green Space is an environmental project based in the Derbyshire Dales, working in partnership with schools, businesses, councils, community groups and local people to create a network of little green spaces.
Most villages, towns and cities have land, including gardens, school grounds, parkland and wasteland which could be doing so much more for the environment as well as for people and wildlife.
Richard Bunting at Little Green Space said: 'The coverage we received on Community Newswire was a big help. We were able to place a link to the story on our website but we were also pleased and surprised to receive a call from ITV Central News.
We hadn't sent our press release to them as we didn't think it would be a television story, but the journalist had seen the Community Newswire story and wanted to follow-up. From this we also have an interested contact there, which is a huge help to a new, community-orientated charity like us. The recent launch of our educational programme and work with schools was also featured on Community Newswire, which again was much appreciated.'
Media coverage:
ITV Central news, online, call from BBC East midlands
July 2008
Disabled and deaf artists invited to apply for an award worth £5,000
Shape, an organisation that works with disabled and deaf artists, put out a call for applications for the Adam Reynolds Memorial Bursary.
The bursary is designed to offer a disabled or deaf visual artist the opportunity to develop their creative ideas without the pressure to deliver a defined outcome. In addition to the funds, the successful artist will be given a residency at Liverpool's Bluecoat Arts Centre and will also receive advice from Tate Liverpool.
Melanie Stidolph, Project Coordinator, Arts Team at Shape said: 'I’ve just checked out your site (Community Newswire) and can see the article there, great, thank you! Its already been picked up by the Liverpool Echo.’
Media coverage:
Liverpool Echo and other local media
July 2008
Children’s hospice has a fun and rewarding weekend
Little Havens Children's Hospice has raised more than £50,000 for life-limited youngsters at its weekend fundraiser.
During the event 900 people took to the local cycle paths for the Essex Countryside Bike Ride and around 40 Ferrari sports cars descended on Little Havens to take car enthusiasts out for a 10 minute spin. One driver even brought his prized possession over from Switzerland to take part.
Little Havens provides respite breaks and end-of-life care for youngsters across Essex not expected to reach adulthood. In the last 10 years, it has cared for over 1,000 children and their families from across Essex and parts of London.
Media coverage:
Echo, Yellow Advertiser
July 2008
Grant to support young people with learning difficulties
Young people with learning disabilities in the North East will benefit from an £8,000 Goodfund grant to help them live more independently. Mencap, with offices in Gateshead, Durham and Darlington, will use this money to continue supporting local people with a learning disability, their families and carers.
GoodFund, distributes money from the Postcode Lottery to create a support network for people who find it hard to learn, understand and communicate.
Manuela Wendler at GoodFund said she was delighted with the Community Newswire and subsequent local media coverage which raised awareness of the charity.
Media coverage:
Northern Echo and other local media