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It’s been a while since I was publicising my most recent adventures and unfortunately I no longer have copies of the press releases that were sent out. I’ve written an example with a few extra notes that should hopefully help you out. The key things to make sure you include in your press release are the what, when, where, who, why and any other things beginning with W that I might have missed out. You can try writing it in the style of your local paper, but the journalist that gets their hands on it will always redo it. Just worry about getting the facts down. If you’re feeling creative you can offer them a headline as they might be in a lazy mood that day and use yours.

I have written a rough version of a press release that I might have sent out to my local paper here in South West London.

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BLIND MAN CYCLES CUBA FOR SCOPE

Richmond-based cyclist Simon Webb will this Saturday be embarking on a fundraising challenge with a difference. He, along with thirty other people, will be flying to Cuba for a five-day endurance trip cycling from Havana to Trinidad to raise money for the Cerebral Palsy charity Scope.

Simon’s participation in this event is particularly impressive as he is registered blind and so will be completing the 360km on a tandem.

Here is a good place for me to insert a quote from myself talking about the challenge of tandem riding. Remember you are playing for the sympathy vote a little, as you want the public’s money, in this case for charity. Something along the lines of:

'This is a challenge like no other that I have ever embarked on. I have spent most of my sporting life as a club sprinter for Richmond Athletics Club and so five days of cycling in the heat of the Caribbean is likely to be a tough one. Taking a tandem will throw up one or two interesting challenges, but my front rider is a more experienced cyclist than I am and I am hoping not to have to try and mend too many punctures myself.'

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Following this should be some more details about the charity, in this case Scope, and the trip itself such as distance, terrain, points of interest along the way and all that jazz.

Round off with details of how people can sponsor you and you should be on to a winner. You also want at some point - probably in the middle - want to add some general information about yourself to give you that local identity. We’re talking things like what job you do, what school/college you attend, have you done any other charity ventures, what’s your sporting background, what interests do you have - link these to the locality, for example are you a regular at the local football ground, theatre, church, etc? The more the reader feels like they know you, the more likely they will be to donate money to your cause.

A lot of what has been said may seem obvious to most, but having worked in newsrooms at radio stations you’d be surprised at the state some press releases arrive in. I also know of a couple of occasions when information hasn’t been clearly headed and the wrong stuff has made it into the papers.

Remember deadlines have to be met and you will stand a better chance of your story being used if you divide your press release up properly. This is pretty important to include. If you send a sheet with a load of text on it including your contact details for the paper to get back in touch, there may be some confusion as to whether you are offering your mobile number and personal email address as a way for the generous public to contact you directly to offer support and sponsorship. Whereas this in itself is not a big deal, it is not such a great idea to have this information printed in the Your Town Evening News.

Clearly state that any information written after this point is not for publication and then add any stuff you think will make the life of a journalist easier such as details of photos, how to get in touch with you and when would be an ideal time to do a follow-up story once your trip is over.

If you do all of this, there should be no reason why you won’t get a decent article in the local rag. I have had press releases used for countless different reasons and I always stick to this formula. Good luck!