40acts 2017 – Press release template for Churches, Schools & Community groups
A press release is a standardised way of getting news of what you’re doing to journalists and reporters in your local area. A great press release contains relevant, timely news that will be of interest to the audience – so we’ve left plenty of space (and a few examples) for you to customise this with specific details of what your group is getting up to during 40acts this year.
How to use this template:
1. Make a list of your local newspapers, radio and TV stations (and pay attention to the sort of stories they cover, so you can find an angle to your news that you think they’ll like).
2. Add the details of your group and story in the highlighted sections. Remember to make it local, quirky and fun (if what you’re doing would make a good photo, include details of where and when a photographer could come in the notes for Editors at the end).
3. Remember to add your contact details at the end, in case the reporter wants to check anything or arrange a photo).
4. Delete any red text (including these notes at the start) and remove any highlights & brackets.
5. Save the document with a catchy title (e.g. Church takes up generosity challenge for Lent).
6. Send the press release out (you can usually find details of the newsdesk/news teams at the front of local newspapers, or with a quick Google search).
7. Cut and paste the press release into the main body of an email (as well as attaching the document) and send (with a brief personal message if appropriate).
8. If you get any coverage we’d love to see! Please email pics or links to
For Immediate release
Giving up giving up – local [church/school/group] opts to give generously for Lent instead.
A [place name] [church/school/group] has set itself the challenge to complete [number] acts of generosity this Lent.
[Parishioners/Member/Individuals/Pupils/Children] from [church/group/school name] have signed up for ‘40acts’, a generosity challenge created by the charity Stewardship, which encourages participants to do at least one different act of kindness each day of Lent. The challenge was followed by over 100,000 people last year between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday, notching up an estimated 4 million generous acts in that time.
Use one of the following two paragraphs, depending on when you’re sending the press release.
To kick off the challenge [church/group/school name] are [add any interesting or quirky events here e.g. assembling a giant heart, giving out 1000 cupcakes, delivering food parcels] on [date] at [time]. This will mark the start of their challenge, during which 40activists receive a daily email with their challenge and a thought for the day from one of 40 chosen Christian authors, leaders and celebrities.
As part of the challenge [church/group/school name] this week [insert the interesting or quirky story e.g. knitted 500 teddy’s for the local children’s hospital / gave out 100 Easter Eggs / Washed 50 cars / ] This ticked off one of their [number] generous acts for their challenge, inspired by the ideas and suggestions provided by Stewardship in their daily emails and group activity ideas.
[Church leader/Headteacher/Organiser’s name] said:
Insert your own quotation here, for example:
“Through simpleactslike baking for a neighbour, sending anonymous gifts or grabbing some rubber gloves and a bin bag and cleaning up our street, we hope that this Lent we’re able to give something back to our wonderful community this Lent.”
Stewardship’s 40acts challenge has grown in popularity since the Christian charity first launched it in 2010. Seven years on and millions of acts of generosity later, the challenge continues to astonish the team behind it.
Debbie Wright, Head of Content at Stewardship said:
“Every year more and more people choose to do Lent generously, and use generous acts to demonstrate their faith in the lead up to Easter. We never cease to be amazed at the creativity and kindness that we see, as people start to share their stories on social media.
It’s great to see [church/group/school name] taking up the challenge and making a generous difference to the community of [place name] this Lent.”
www.40acts.org.uk
[insert church/group/school name here]
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. For further information please contact:
a. [Your name and contact details (include phone number and email)]
b. Stewardship, 020 8520 5600,
2. 40actscan be found atwww.40acts.org.uk.
3. 40activists can sign up to receive the daily40actsemails and are invited to join the40actssocial media community on Facebook (www.facebook.com/40acts), Twitter (www.twitter.com/40acts), and Instagram (search#40acts).
4. [Add a brief description of your church/school/group here, if applicable]
5. Stewardship (www.stewardship.org.uk) is a Christian charity providing advice, guidance, inspiration and practical tools to make it easy for people to give easily, generously and tax effectively. Stewardship giving accounts are currently used by over 25,000 people in the UK to give around £60 million to charitable causes each year. Stewardship launched the 40acts challenge in 2010 and has also been behind other generosity initiatives, including the launch of the #givingtuesday campaign in the UK in 2014.
ENDS