Dying Matters comes to [TKTKTTK]

Press Release [Date]

For immediate release

TKTKT indicates where you can add your local information

A team of volunteers from TKTK is going to try the impossible get people from TKTTK talking about death. An event is taking place at [TKTKTK] on [TKTKT] as part of the nationwide annual Dying Matters Awareness Week.

The [whatever it is you are doing] will feature [more details about what you are doing]. The goal is to create a friendly space for people to ask questions about end of life care issues, such as making a will, planning a funeral or coping with bereavement.

About 1% of the UK population dies each year, which means about TKTK will die in [place] this year, and each of those deaths will affect many more people in different ways.

[The event] is one of hundreds taking place across England for Dying Matters Awareness Week, which runs from May 8-14. For more information about Dying Matters Awareness Week, and the events on across the country, please see http://www.dyingmatters.org/page/map-awareness-week-events-2017

The theme for this year’s Dying Matters week is “What Can You Do” as it challenges people to do something practical. This might be something for themselves, like making a will, or something for someone else who is bereaved, or caring for a dying relative. This could be something as simple as cooking a meal or walking the dog, but can make a huge difference to someone coping with death or bereavement.

IF YOU DID SOMETHING SIMIALR BEFORE:

[Your name] said “we held a [whatever you did last time] last year, and it was so successful we wanted to do it again. Lots of people had so many questions, or said they were glad to be able to talk about death. It can be an awkward subject but if we can’t talk about it we only make it more difficult to deal with.”

IF THIS IS THE FIRST TIME:

[Your name] said “this is a first for us, but we’ve seen all the other events taking place across the country and we think there’s a need for it here. Talking about death can be a bit awkward at first, but it is something we all have to face. Talking about death makes it easier to plan for and to deal with when it happens.”

QUOTE FROM NCPC:

Claire Henry MBE, Chief Executive of the National Council for Palliative Care and the Dying Matters coalition, said “we should not be afraid of talking about death, I know that everyone has questions and concerns, its good talk about it as we can all get our plans in place and then get on with living.

Research from ComRes, commissioned by Dying Matters in 2016, found that only 35% of British adults had made a will, and only 30% have discussed their funeral wishes. For [name of your region], the research found that [XX%] have made a will and [YY%] have discussed their funeral wishes.

ENDS

Notes: For more information, please call TKTKTKTKT (name and number)

How to use this template:

The first, and essential, step, is to be an active consumer of your local media. If it’s a paper, when does it appear, and what sort of stories does it tend to run. Does it publicise events in advance, or report on them after? What’s the best email address to send stories to? When is the press deadline?

You must have a good idea of your local media before you sent them anything.

This template is aimed at generating publicity ahead of an event, but is adaptable to be used as an after the event release. You can do both, but in that case, keep repetitions to a minimum.

Use this template as a starting point if you’re experienced in writing your own release, or simply add in your own local information if you’re not so confident. You know your local situation better than anyone – what your local media are like, what’s special about your event. You are free to include as much or as little as you wish, but remember that the key three things to include are:

·  When

·  Where

·  Why?

The first two are obvious, but the third is more complex. You need to include a reason why the target media should run the story, and then the story itself should include a reason why people should make time to come along. These two can be the same, but can also differ.

So, if you doing something for DM week for the first time in your town, that can be the why for the media, but it less likely to be the why for the public. But saying you want to encourage people to talk and ask questions is likely to be a why for the public, but less so for the media.

The statistic about 1% of the population dying each year, and therefore XXX will likely die in your town this year, is a good why for both, as it is usually more than most people would guess, and it both grabs attention makes it seem very real.

You need to get these three elements into the first paragraphs, all of which should be short. In this template, the when and where are in the first paragraph, and the why is covered in the next two.

After the when, where and why, we then have some more background information, then a quote from you, and a quote from us. If you have support from someone notable, such as the mayor, MP, a local faith leader etc., then that is more important than the quote from Claire.

The quote from you is just a suggestion to get you started. Use that if you’re feeling stuck, or do your own thing. What counts is that you come across as informed and enthusiastic. As noted above: you know your local situation better than anyone. Write something that speaks to your town or area.

Then we have the other stats about how many people have made a will or planned a funeral, with both GB-wide and regional figures available. If the figure for your region is very close (within 1 percentage point) to the national average, that’s less interesting, so you can put that lower down. But for some regions it’s very different to the average, so play that up – your region is either better, so well done, or worse, so time for some encouragement.

Region / % made a will (2016) / % discussed funeral wishes (2016)
North East / 27 / 29
North West / 33 / 27
Yorks and Humber / 36 / 35
West Midlands / 32 / 26
East Midlands / 33 / 37
Eastern / 47 / 34
London / 27 / 24
South East / 40 / 27
South West / 30 / 30

Data from ComRes

Make it long enough to look like a story in your local paper, but no longer. One side of A4 loosely spaced is about your maximum.

If you want to also use this to create a press release after the event, then you can take the same quotes and data, but add in quotes from the event, give rough numbers of how many people were involved and make sure you take and include photos.

Photos and images: If you have run a DM event before, and have some strong images, then flag that in the release end notes. Do not send a large image file along with the release – that’s certain to annoy. We also have some social media/online graphics you can download and share. See the Awareness Week landing page for details http://www.dyingmatters.org/AwarenessWeek

Who to send it to:

Look at your local paper or station’s website – there will be a contact box. The email address will usually be “news@...” or “newsdesk@...” but often local paper will put the email addresses of reporters alongside the stories. If there’s a reporter who seems to specialise in those sorts of stories, send it to them as well.

And here are some stories from this year to help you start:

http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/15233043.Chance_to_chat_about_taboo_subject_of_death_at_city_bar/?ref=rss

http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/our-region/gosport/taking-the-stigma-out-of-talking-about-death-1-7915744