case study 1

Celebrating charity work in Essex

The National Lottery Charities Board (NLCB) employs us on a project basis to raise awareness of its work in the region. Last year we were asked to promote a special event in Essex to publicise the awards it's given to charitable organisations in the county and celebrate the work those groups have carried out, as well as encourage more groups to apply for awards.

Six weeks before the planned event, a venue was chosen in Essex that met our requirements for space, catering, parking and disabled access. NLCB drew up a list of key organisations to invite to exhibit at the event, as well as a list of VIPs and NLCB dignitaries, and we wrote and sent out invitations. We also drew up a list of press, TV and radio stations from across Essex who were invited to attend and/or to cover the event. Interviews with key NLCB personnel and participating charity groups were offered.

We drew up a pre-event press release, along with a list of all organisations participating and what they had achieved with their awards, which was sent out to the media. All organisations were contacted to ascertain their individual requirements for exhibiting at the event, and all were written to with details of arrival times, parking arrangements and a plan of the evening. All Southend press were called to check on how they were covering the event. We also sent leaflets advertising the event to all the main libraries in the area, encouraging the public to come along.

On the evening of the event, we set up the room, helped the charities to set up their exhibitions, liaised with the media and made sure the whole event ran smoothly. A press release was prepared to send out immediately afterwards, along with photography of the event. A photograph was also sent to each participating organisation with a thank you letter.

Press coverage was achieved in all the main media covering Southend and the areas of Essex that the grant-holders came from. Essex FM radio interviewed a NLCB spokesperson. There was a constant stream of people at the event enquiring about applying for an award, and NLCB was extremely pleased with its success and smooth running. Participating organisations also said how much they enjoyed the occasion and how pleased they were to be able to showcase to others the work that the NLCB grants had enabled them to carry out.