Starting the conversation
Charity sector.
“I cannot thank James enough for the incredible power and professionalism be brought to our initiative. He delivered beyond any expectation.”
- Founder of The Baton of Hope
“James’s contribution has simply been outstanding and we are all incredibly appreciative of the dedication and professionalism he put in. He handled everything we were doing with such sensitivity and that was really important also.”
- Executive Committee Member, The Baton of Hope
The Baton of Hope
The Brief
Over the summer of 2023 and beyond, the Baton of Hope set out to change that narrative around suicide, not only by overcoming stigma and prompting conversation, including in the workplace, but by engaging government and encouraging a new national focus on the issue.
I joined the charity as Interim Communications Director, building an integrated comms and PR strategy across a two-week UK-wide tour, and putting the Baton of Hope at the heart of a new conversation on this difficult subject.
The Challenge
It really was a new conversation. Over 35 years as a journalist, the Founder had never covered a story on suicide; it received practically no media attention. With minimal action taken to address what is the leading cause of death among young people in the UK, driving change would be no mean feat.
Also, the tour’s organising committee was bemoaning a “lack of clarity” with regards a “disjointed comms plan”, across 12 different tour cities and project leads, who had begun to devise differing key messages and strategies.
The Delivery
After running a messaging workshop with key stakeholders, it was clear the strength of the tour lay in the tragic stories of suicide survival and bereavement from suicide that participants had to tell. I devised a media strategy around the 1,000 Baton bearers across the tour (and some of the project leads themselves), all of whom had lived experience of suicide or had struggled with mental ill health.
Extensive media outreach followed, leaning on the experiences of those involved and their bravery in telling their stories.
The Results
370 pieces of coverage were secured for the charity’s launch and tour, including 15 live broadcast interviews, 40 pre-recorded interviews and more than 100 news bulletin segments.
PR reporting tool CoverageBook estimated 5 million views of online and print coverage across 150+ online articles, ensuring a major change from the lack of media attention that the subject had previously received. Highlights include: Sky News. BBC. ITV. Daily Mirror. The Star. Daily Record. The Chronicle. MEN. The Argus. MKFM.
Social listening tool Brand24 scored the Baton of Hope as having a 45% higher brand presence than 70% of brands, meaning that we really did put the charity at the heart of a new national focus on the issue.
But more importantly, the tour was recognised, in a video message recorded by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, as “the biggest suicide prevention initiative we’ve ever seen.” The charity’s executive committee was invited to 10 Downing St, where it was greeted by Maria Caulfield, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Mental Health, and asked to contribute to the Government’s plans to reduce suicide rates.
