How papers can help your cause

It’s one of the questions that so many organisations want the answer to – how do you get your story in the paper?

And charities and businesses alike can find out some of the secrets at a training session run by the KM Charity Team next month.

Leading the session will be the team’s chief executive Simon Dolby, who has more than 20 years’ experience as a journalist and won awards during his newsdesk days.

He now leads the KM Charity Team, which runs a variety of schemes improving children’s health and wellbeing, and also organises events all year round which help to raise money for other charities.

Mr Dolby said: “The humble press release is a powerful tool which can earn your cause sup- porters, cash and volunteers. “It’s not a difficult thing to do – once you know what you’re doing, how to get a journalist’s attention, what information they’ll want and how to present it. Journalists are really busy people with a hundred things coming at them all the time. “If you can write a decent press release that makes their lives easier, they are much more likely to use it.”

The half-day course on Tuesday, January 9 is suitable for both complete beginners who are just starting to try to generate press coverage and people with some experience of writing press releases.

Topics will include campaign objectives, when and how to contact the media, whom to contact and the building blocks of a press release. There will be a practical writing session with some more advanced tips.

The session will run from 9.30am to 12.30pm at the KM Charity Team offices at 10 Estuary View, Whitstable, with tea and coffee beforehand.

Tickets are £60 each which a sandwich platter lunch.

To save £15 on your place, visit kmcharityteam.co.uk/training and enter the discount code KMNEWS18.