Press Release from [your organisation]
For immediate release: [Date]
Heading
[Name of Event] at [location] on [date and time]
Local residents who would like to know how to get online are invited to a free digital taster event at [venue] on [date/time].
Activities being held on the day include [description of event]. Around [no of students/volunteers etc] will be on hand to gently introduce those who aren’t yet online to the wonderful world of digital technology
The taster session at [venue] is being held to celebrate Spring Online 2013, a national award-winning campaign run by Digital Unite in association with Carphone Warehouse. Research shows that around 7 million people have never used the internet and of those around 6.3 million are aged over 55s. (Source: ONS 2012).As such they’re missing out on the many benefits being online offers such as accessing a wider range of products and services, saving money and being better connected with friends and family. As one of the largest and longest running digital inclusion drives in the UK, Spring Onlinehelps older people and other less confident users take their first steps into the digital world. For more information about Spring Online visit
[Name of person] at [organisation] said:“We know that computers and the internet can be a little scary for many older people and they just need a helping hand to get them started. We hope as many people as possible will come along to our event and give digital technology a go”.
Ends
Notes for Editors
If you wish, you can use this space to provide additional information such as background on your organisation and opportunities for the media to come along.
Contact Details
-Name of person, contact telephone number, email address.
-Name of organisation, telephone number for general enquiries, website address
Some top tips for writing and sending out your press release
-It’s great if the headline is snappy, but you don’t have to try to be too clever!
-Insert your press release into the body of an email – journalists prefer this to attachments.
-You should issue this at least two weeks before your event
-All of the key information such as the ‘who, what, where, when, why and how’ should be in the opening paragraphs. You need to convince the journalist that your story is worth reporting, so emphasize the things that will do so, e.g. human interest stories, celebrity coming to the event, fun activities.
-You can include quotes from you, or from participants that are relevant to the story but don’t make these too long. . Don’t make these too long – each quote should make one point. E.g. ‘It’s great fun getting to know the older generation and helping them find out about their interests online’. ‘I had never touched a computer, and I knew what it was like to feel unskilled.’