Retrak Partnership with Greater Manchester Police

Retrak

  1. Objectives

    Souter PR was appointed by Retrak to promote its partnership with Greater Manchester Police (GMP). The partnership initiative saw twenty volunteers from GMP travel to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia in November 2010 to help refurbish a drop-in centre for street children.

    The main objectives for Souter PR were:

    • To build awareness of Retrak’s fundraising and support efforts in Africa by raising the profile of the GMP volunteers - telling their stories and supporting their fundraising activities
    • To showcase the value of the partnership with GMP and increase the chances of them re-committing support in the future

  2. Planning

    • We set up a kick-off team meeting with the volunteers in September to introduce ourselves and the role of PR, and to get everyone motivated and excited about the trip’s potential to drive coverage
    • During the initial meeting, we arranged photography for the group and each of the volunteers in branded Retrak t-shirts and with various ‘DIY related’ props
    • We created a press release template to gather information from the volunteers so that we had a detailed background of each and to ensure the messaging was consistent across the activity
    • We worked closely with the Retrak project team and GMP to agree campaign objectives, deliver an agreed schedule of activity and share successes

  3. Implementation

    Established in 1994, Retrak is a charity that aims to give street children in Africa to a real alternative to life on the street. The charity protects and inspires these children by providing long term care and support in areas such as healthcare, refuge, education, employment opportunities and sports.

    Retrak uses the support of local volunteers to help make a global difference, and in 2010 was chosen to be one of GMP’s 2010 charities of the year.

    More than 100 GMP employees responded to an appeal by Retrak to travel to Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa to help refurbish one of their drop-in centres for street children - but there were only 20 places. The lucky few selected used part of their annual leave to help the worthy cause.

    Retrak had very little visibility in advance of the activity so we needed to raise the profile of the charity by reaching a wide audience with positive messages that would leave a lasting impression.

    Although they all worked for GMP, the volunteers lived and/or were based in different locations across the North West.

    We implemented a series of well targeted local volunteer stories with a very quick turnaround from draft to sell in. A key factor was timing so it was essential to have buy-in from the volunteers from the outset, and to have a collaborative approach with Retrak and GMP to ensure an efficient sign off process was in place.

    Souter PR managed a programme of PR activity that involved 14 volunteer stories. This was supported by ongoing communication with volunteers, as well as team briefings pre and post project.

    The project was implemented and delivered in just 12 weeks - from contract sign off to the departure of the volunteers.

  4. Budget

    The campaign ran from 1st September to 15th November 2010 and the investment was £3000 in agency fees. There was some small additional spend on initial photography.

  5. Results

    • 28 pieces of positive print and broadcast coverage
    • Total opportunities to see – (based on circulations/audience) – c 3million
    • Value of coverage (based on AVE) – £19,478.83
    • The volunteers raised over £40,000 for Retrak
    • GMP has chosen Retrak as one of its 2011 charities of the year and another team of volunteers will be heading out to Africa in November

    Key messages

    • Retrak mentioned in all coverage
    • Positive representation of the cause
    • Reiteration of point that GMP volunteers were supporting Retrak during annual leave
    • Good use of photography

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