What would you say if you were told you could get your charity message in front of millions of television viewers for weeks at a time? How about if this was then boosted with your charity name all over the national press and television?
The UK’s soaps are well loved and well watched. For charities, they are an untapped resource to getting your message to an often hard to reach audience. This course will teach you how you can be part of the storytelling process, working with soap and drama teams on storylines which mirror the issues faced by your supporters and beneficiaries.
The course is led by Jenni Regan who set up and successfully ran the Mind Media Advice Service over a number of years working on hundreds of dramatic storylines involving mental health.
Is it for me?
The course is for anyone working within a media role of a charity, the size of the charity is unimportant. This would be suitable for larger charities who may get lots of requests for help and yet don’t feel like they are able to work successfully with dramas and soaps, as well as smaller charities trying to push out a message on tiny budgets. It may be that the charity already has some interest in setting up a media advice service or that there is some interest to incorporate this work into a current media team.
This training day is exclusively for CharityComms members.
There are 3 of 15 places available.
What will I learn?
This is a one-day course that will teach you all the skills you need in order to engage the broadcast media to your advantage. Using practical and theoretical teaching to ensure you feel confident to set up resources, target and approach relevant media, deliver a robust media advice service and gain publicity for any successful storylines.
Outline for the day:
What is a media advice service? Why it matters that fictional accounts are realistic and how well-loved soap characters who are exposed to issues can benefit your charity. We will explore why soap and drama teams love working with charities and what is in it for them.
The Business case: With so many charities and so much noise out there how can a fictional storyline bring in value for the charity? We will explore the reach and brevity of the storylines and discuss any costs associated.
How to set up a media advice service: We know that different charities will have varying resources and senior buy-in so this session will be a practical look at the different elements of the service. From online resources to finding out who and how to approach teams, this can be scaled up or down as appropriate.
Getting the most out of any opportunity: If you do manage to get a story on air how do you then make the most of the opportunity? We will look at building a media plan in partnership with the show, the power of case studies and ideas to turn this into an awareness-raising or fundraising opportunity.
Writing an action plan: We will identify potential opportunities for each charity and work with you to develop an action plan so that you leave feeling confident about the next steps.
About our trainer:
Jenni Regan spent around ten years working as a senior broadcast journalist at the BBC producing news stories and films for BBC Breakfast, Watchdog and Working Lunch, before switching career to work in the charity sector.
She spent over eight years working for Mind and the campaign Time to Change. In this time she set up the Media Advisory Service for the charity. A unique service in the sector working with the broadcast media to improve portrayals of mental health. The service worked with around sixty soap and drama storylines each year, as well as countless documentaries. Jenni also managed the yearly Mind Media Awards.
Jenni is now the director of London Arts in Health Forum, a charity which brings together the arts, health and wellbeing. Jenni is also working as a freelance trainer and consultant.
Payment and cancellation policy
- The event booker will receive an invoice for your course place. Payment must be made by the date of the event
- If you are unable to attend, a substitute delegate is always welcome. Please email Sarah Cutress to let us know if you’d like to do this.
- This training day is exclusive to CharityComms members. Individual members of CharityComms may only use their event place for themselves: individual member benefits are not transferable to anyone else.
- All cancellations must be made via our online booking system. You can cancel your place by following the link on the original booking confirmation email. An administration charge of £50 + VAT per place will be charged for places cancelled more than seven days before the event, whether the place has been paid for or not, after this date the full cost is chargeable.
- You can cancel within seven days of the event, but you will NOT receive any refund.