70/30 Action Pack
GROUP COORDINATOR: ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
GROUP EMAIL: ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
70/30 TEAM PHONE: 020 8688 3773 70/30 TEAM EMAIL: [email protected]
Produced by S M Calvo and S Lawes at WAVE Trust, 2016.
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Hello!
This pack has been produced to support you in developing local activity to reflect the national 70/30 campaign. In it you will find all the practical tools and resources you need to plan, run and evaluate activity to promote primary preventive messages to all relevant parties in your local area.
This is also a communications guide. We want to help you get the key 70/30 messages under your belt, so you can focus on what’s really going to make the difference:
Creating genuine relationships with local decision makers and ultimately persuading them to implement primary prevention. Empowering others to become champions for 70/30. Setting up further meetings, publishing articles, delivering talks and presentations… in short, making sure you’ve always got a next step, a call to action and you’re always up to something!
Working as part of a local action group gives you the opportunity to multiply your network, divide and conquer tasks, focus on your individual area(s) of expertise, and make your campaign the strongest it can be! It’s also just a lot more fun!
Let’s get started. Good luck and have fun!
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1. AN INTRODUCTION TO 70/30 3 a. THE ISSUE (LASER TALK) 4 b. WHO WE ARE 5 c. 70/30 KEY MESSAGES 6 2. KEY MESSAGING 8 a. GETTING THE 70/30 MESSAGE ACROSS 9
b. KEY STATISTICS 14 CONTENTS 3. ACTIVITY IDEAS 17 A. CAMPAIGN CHECKLIST 18 B. ACTION SHEET 19 C. PRESS 20 D. SOCIAL MEDIA 26 E. SERVICE PROVIDERS 39 F. POLITICIANS 35 G. COMMUNITY 39 4. MEASURING PROGRESS 46 5. CHAMPIONSHIP SCALE 47 6. IMPACT TRACKER 50 7. FUNDRAISING 51 a. FUNDRAISING 52 b. DONATION FORM 53 8. SUPPORTING MATERIALS 54 a. LASER TALK 55 b. TEMPLATE LETTER TO MP 56 c. TEMPLATE LETTER TO COUNCILLOR 57 d. TEMPLATE BLOG POST 59 e. TEMPLATE PRESS RELEASE 60 i. PUBLISHED ARTICLES 62 f. AMBASSADOR ROLES 65 g. CONTACT LIST 66 h. CONTACT LOG 67 i. AMBASSADOR SIGN-UP SHEET 68
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An Introduction to 70/30
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The Issue
Did you know that during their lifetime, more than 1 in 5 children will suffer significant abuse or neglect? What’s even more shocking is that 90% of these children will receive no help at all.
70/30 is a movement aiming to prevent this harm before it happens and reduce child maltreatment by 70% by the year 2030.
We know we can prevent maltreatment to children before it happens if we tackle the root causes during pregnancy and during a child’s first 2 years of life. But, too often, public policy is based on intervening after the damage has already occurred, and parents are stigmatised and demonised by the media and in their communities.
Parents rarely set out to harm their children. Parenting is the toughest job in the world and it can be even harder for those who are dealing with issues such as mental health problems, domestic violence or substance abuse. Early and effective support can help parents to overcome these problems and avoid any negative impact on their children.
70/30 is empowering citizens to enrol decision-makers and the public in a primary prevention approach in order to bring about a large-scale system change in the way child maltreatment is tackled.
We believe that a 70% reduction in child maltreatment by 2030 is possible and we are committed to making it happen.
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Who We Are The 70/30 campaign was started and is supported by renowned primary prevention charity WAVE Trust. We are a network of people – mums, dads, health professionals, students and everyone else committed to making a massive difference – dedicated to bringing about a 70% reduction in child maltreatment by the year 2030 – hence ‘70/30’.
Our Story
The 70/30 goal was created after WAVE received support from its partners and experts who agreed that 70/30 is achievable IF the right policies and actions are taken by decision makers and those holding the purse strings. The 70/30 Ambassadors Network was formed to make 70/30 a reality. People power is what will make system change happen in our communities to protect babies and in doing so reduce social inequality and relieve pressure on squeezed local budgets.
Our Plan
To achieve 70/30 we need to prevent the maltreatment of children before it happens by tackling its root causes. This means providing support to parents who may be struggling with mental health issues, substance abuse, domestic problems or other issues. Early, effective support can help mums and dads to deal with these issues and will reduce overall levels of child harm.
Our biggest challenge is to get decision makers to see primary prevention as something urgent and needing to be in place now, not something ‘nice to have one day’. We will never stop ‘picking up the pieces’ and in fact levels of child maltreatment will never go down if we continue doing the same old things that we’ve – Albert Einstein always done.
Primary prevention (preventing harm BEFORE it begins) could save up to £15 billion each year (Building Great Britons Report 2015). Preventing Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) could reduce heroin/crack use by 59%, violent crime by 51% and unplanned teen pregnancies by 38%.
Find out more at We’re making great progress sharing these messamessagesges with www.70-30.org.uk local politicians, politicians, community councillors, groups and newspapers,and the press AND- AND we we areare winning them over. We are continuing to increase our impact and developing strong local 70/30 action groups to get systems changed to ones where we ‘turn off the taps’ rather than ‘mopping up the floods’.
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An Introduction to Our Key Messages We believe that a 70% reduction in child maltreatment by 2030 is possible and we are committed to making it happen.
Social Problems Substance Abuse ‘What is done to children they will do to society’ It’s often said that substance abuse, whether (Psychiatrist Dr. Karl Menninger, 1893 - 1990) it’s alcohol or drugs, is escapism from lives of horror. The experts call it ‘self-medication’. We need to create caring, peaceful citizens by supporting families before things go wrong. Happy people do not often indulge in such destructive and very costly behaviour. If we We cannot wash our hands of children by saying prevent people from becoming traumatised ‘it’s not my problem’. Children are everyone’s and unhappy then they are much less likely to responsibility and the results of maltreatment are take excessive drink and/or drugs. seen in our schools, workplaces and communities. Reducing adverse childhood experiences Achieving 70/30 will lead to a large-scale increase in (ACEs) such as child abuse, neglect and pro-social, productive young people and a decrease in welfare dependency and lifelong disadvantage. witnessing domestic violence could reduce heroin/crack use by 59%.
Justice System Violence
Violence is preventable. Violent personalities are not born - they are largely developed in 68% of the prison population have suffered abuse infancy. or neglect in childhood. (WAVE report, 2005). There are societies where child abuse, Better to not have them traumatised in the first domestic abuse and interpersonal violence are place by having them grow up in a home full of rare. (Levinson). We need to find and support love and care. all families at their times of crisis. If we create empathic human beings we will not We can create peaceful citizens by picking up have countless murder cases where it is said ‘the accused showed no emotion’. issues before they have serious, long term effects. Intergenerational cycles of violence
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Intergenerational Harm Health Inequalities
The 3 key factors that lead to problems in families being repeated are domestic violence, mental Research shows that inequalities begin from health issues and substance abuse. birth and become entrenched. Research also shows that childhood experiences have lifelong 25% of children who witness domestic violence impacts on physical and emotional health. develop serious social and behavioural problems.
Children of mothers with mental health issues are We could stop many people developing mental twice as likely to experience a psychiatric disorder disorders, obesity, diabetes, heart disease and in childhood. many other health issues, if they just got the A primary preventive strategy will stop these right start in life. issues from transferring from one generation to the next. Maltreatment in infancy is responsible for much middle age illness (ACE Studies- V. Felitti).
Economic Cost The UK annual cost of child maltreatment is c. £15 billion. Wouldn’t you like your taxes to be spent more wisely? That amount of money could build dozens of schools, hospitals, roads and so much more. Allowing our councils to spend almost half of our taxes (40% - Christie Commission) on “picking up the pieces” is not sustainable. What happens when they continue to spend more and more on damage caused by child maltreatment? Which services will we lose? Street lights, refuse collection, road repairs…? Investment in primary prevention is just that – an investment – just like investment in our physical infrastructure. It yields a long term return at least as good as, if not better than, roads and railways.
Want to find out more?
You can find out more about the 70/30 campaign at www.70-30.org.uk or call 020 8688 3773. P a g e | 8
Key Messaging
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Getting the 70/30 Message Across
In part I, we have distilled our message down to the key points, included a ‘FAQs’ section (including common misconceptions about 70/30). Part 2 includes advice on how to handle iffy sorts on social media, ‘Dealing with Trolls’. It’s important we don’t confuse our communities – MPs, Councillors, health practitioners, commissioners etc. – with too many different messages. Think of political parties – they always have three or four key messages, not 20. That’s what works! There is a saying among campaigners: If you give the same message again and again and again, the point when you’re absolutely sick of hearing it is the point when the people you’re speaking to will actually start taking it in. It’s worth remembering that we should tailor our message to different people: a Conservative MP may be more interested in family cohesion and financial savings, for example, whereas a Labour MP might want to hear more about reducing health inequalities and supporting vulnerable parents. If you’re speaking to a Lib Dem, it’s worth noting that 70/30 is actually Lib Dem party policy! It was even in their 2010 manifesto. If you want to Google it, it’s on page 50.
Part I – The 70/30 Message A comprehensive primary prevention strategy would have many different benefits:
Health inequalities Crime Education
Child maltreatment has been A 2001 US study2 found that ‘[We need to promote] the idea linked to poor health ‘being abused or neglected as that investment in early action outcomes. a child increased the likelihood is just that – an investment – just like investment in our 25% of children who witness of arrest as a juvenile by 59 physical infrastructure. And domestic violence develop percent, as an adult by 28 that it yields a long term return serious social and percent, and for a violent at least as good as, if not better behavioural problems.1 crime by 30 percent.’ than, road and railways.’3
Public spending The economy Breaking the cycle of violence
The Christie Commission in The UK annual cost of child Preventing such ACEs as abuse, Scotland estimates that 40% maltreatment is £15 billion.4 neglect and witnessing of local public spending is domestic violence could reduce This cost is made up of higher only needed due to failure to heroin/crack use by 59%6, healthcare costs, less 5 act early enough. productivity, more social care Violence by 51% and unplanned teen pregnancies by 38%.6 costs and a higher rate of imprisonment & other costs
spread over a person’s lifetime
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Our mission is to achieve at least a 70% reduction in physical and emotional abuse, neglect and incidents of children witnessing domestic violence in the UK by the year 2030. We refer collectively to these things as child maltreatment. Key to this is a primary prevention approach to tackling child maltreatment – tackling the root causes to prevent harm before it happens. Primary prevention is all about supporting parents – improving antenatal and perinatal screening for risk factors and offering support where appropriate. This is completely different from early intervention. This is important in its own right, but separate to prevention (we don’t want people to mistake the two, and there’s no need to bring it up if they don’t). Nobody is doing primary prevention7:
70/30 is about primary prevention… Not early intervention...
Identifying risks before harm is done Identifying harm or malpractice ‘early’ Supporting parents with appropriate programmes Seeking to limit/mitigate harm once it has begun Spending comparatively far less to avoid serious problems Spending much larger amounts dealing with often very serious problems
The laser talk is a useful resource here – see page 4.
FAQs
1. Who does implementing a primary prevention plan involve? a. Health visitors, midwives, other local NHS workers and early years’ professionals. b. The local community – including schools and community groups. Also the local voluntary sector, especially where a charity provides an appropriate support. c. The Local Authority. d. A lead independent organisation to keep the project on track.
2. Can we afford it? a. By implementing a proper primary prevention strategy across the UK, we could save an estimated £15 billion per year.4 Local providers spend far more ‘picking up the pieces’ than primary prevention costs. We can’t afford not to.
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Some Occasional Misconceptions 1. Is this a ‘nanny state’ plan? a. Not at all! Primary prevention is about creating a culture shift away from waiting until harm is done, blaming and condemning the parents, and ultimately doing nothing differently. b. Instead, 70/30 is about supporting parents, e.g. postnatal depression – a minimum of one in ten parents are affected13. It isn’t nanny statism to support these parents.
2. Does this clash with people’s civil liberties? a. Definitely not. Support is offered to, but not imposed on families who have needs.
3. Would this create a culture of dependency? Isn’t it a worrying cultural change? a. The cultural shift is towards recognising we have a responsibility to support parents where risk factors (e.g. mental health issues) are present. b. The current culture of ignoring these risk factors and then condemning parents down the line is doing real damage. c. It’s only by giving families support very early on, before and shortly after issues have arisen, that we will empower them to lead independent and successful lives without state intervention.
4. Surely we should punish parents who maltreat their children? a. The current culture of ‘waiting until things go wrong’, and then condemning the parents, is not working. We have roughly the same level of child maltreatment in Britain in 2016 as we did at the end of WW2.
Part 2 – Dealing with Trolls on Social Media Social media is a great tool for campaigning, but it also brings risks. Misinformation and inappropriate language linked to our campaign on social media could do real damage to what we are trying to achieve. Watch out for ‘trolls’ (people who get attention by spending their time deliberately aggravating others over social media). It isn’t difficult to see how a provocative conversation on Twitter, Facebook etc. could do real harm to our case. There are three ‘best practice’ responses: 1. Politely and dispassionately put our case across a. Appropriate where somebody has said something that needs to be corrected. Consider: if a third party reads the Tweet/comment, are they likely to come to a conclusion that damages the 70/30 campaign’s standing/work? b. Where a statement is simply false/incorrect, it is usually appropriate to dispassionately correct it. E.g. if somebody said, ‘Almost no children are significantly abused or neglected any more’, we should correct them (as in
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our laser talk, more than one in five children have suffered significant abuse or neglect).
2. Ignore them a. If the answer to the above question is ‘no’, it may be best to simply not rise to the aggravating message/comment at all.
3. Tell them to get in touch a. Not as counter intuitive as you might think. Responding to a comment by asking the individual to email you (or, in some cases, us) directly, means you are closing down an online conversation.
Things to avoid in your response to trolls: 1. Don’t let them get to you. 2. Don’t respond in kind. 3. Don’t delete their posts (this will often really set them off!)
Resources You can find a wealth of additional resources in our shared Dropbox folder. There is more detail on 70/30 messaging here, a collection of articles and studies here and a folder with more information on WAVE’s Pioneer Communities project, which aims to pilot the primary prevention principle in a number of Local Authorities around the UK, here.
In Case of Emergency First thing: get in touch with the 70/30 team at WAVE. While the 70/30 campaign team are getting the word out, the WAVE team can really help with the messaging and situations like this. Email Sara Martínez at [email protected] in the first instance and cc in Sam at [email protected] if the issue is of an urgent nature. You can also call us at the WAVE office during office hours (9.30am – 6pm) on 020 8688 3773.
Appendix/sources
While there is an extremely large evidence base for the proposals of 70/30, more information on our key statements can be found using the links below.
1. WAVE Trust, Conception to age 2 – the age of opportunity. http://www.wavetrust.org/sites/default/files/reports/conception-to-age-2-full-report_0.pdf 2. Samuels, J. E., Research in Brief (2011), https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/184894.pdf
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3. David Robinson OBE, Chair of the Early Action Task Force, Verbal evidence to the All Party Parliamentary Group for Conception to Age 2 – The First 1001 Days. 11 April 2016. 4. (Figures adjusted for present UK population) Fang et al, The economic burden of child maltreatment in the United States and implications for prevention. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0145213411003140 5. Dr Campbell Christie CBE, Commission on the Future Delivery of Public Services, p.7. http://www.gov.scot/Resource/Doc/352649/0118638.pdf. 6. Bellis et al 2013: Journal of Public Health Vol. 36 No. 1, pp.81-91, Adverse childhood experiences: retrospective study to determine their impact on adult health behaviours and health outcomes in a UK population. P.84. 7. Some small, local initiatives exist that would form part of a primary prevention strategy; many have proven very effective even in isolation. 8. World Health Organisation, European Report on Preventing Child Maltreatment, D. Sethi, M. Bellis, K. Hughes, R. Gilbert, F. Mitis, G. Galea 9. WAVE Trust, Conception to age 2 – the age of opportunity. http://www.wavetrust.org/sites/default/files/reports/conception-to-age-2-full-report_0.pdf 10. As above. 11. As above. 12. As above. 13. NHS Choices, Postnatal Depression. http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Postnataldepression/.
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Key Statistics
Use these key 70/30 statistics to strengthen your case at any opportunity.
1. During their lifetime, 1 in 5 children have suffered child abuse and/or neglect or witnessed domestic violence. o 90% of these children have received no help.2 o There is consistent evidence that physical abuse affects about 1 in 11 children in the UK each year.3 o This situation will continue unless we switch to primary prevention.
2. ‘Physical abuse usually goes undetected. We estimated that a small minority (about 1 in 31) of children subjected to severe parental violence each year undergo an initial assessment by social services for physical abuse.’3
3. Based on both US and Australian studies, adjusted for population, the UK annual cost of child maltreatment is £15 billion4. This cost is made up of higher healthcare costs, lower productivity, more social care costs and a higher rate of imprisonment (with associated costs plus criminal damage costs), and other costs spread over a person’s lifetime.
4. '[We need to promote] the idea that investment in early action is just that – an investment – just like investment in our physical infrastructure. And that it yields a long term return
The 70/30 network is dedicated to helping reduce child maltreatment by at least 70% by the year 2030 and is supported by renowned UK primary prevention charity WAVE Trust.1
at least as good, if not better than, roads and railways.’5
5. The WHO reports that child maltreatment’s economic and social costs are on a par with those for all non-communicable diseases (inc. cancer, obesity, diabetes, heart/respiratory diseases) 2. o The WHO also reports that child maltreatment is responsible for almost a quarter of the financial cost of mental disorders.6
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6. The Christie Commission in Scotland was established by the Scottish Government in November 2010 to develop recommendations for the future delivery of public services. It found 40% of local public spending is only needed due to failure to act early enough.7 o A survey of UK local authorities estimated that in 2005, 44% of their social services budgets, or £30.5 million per week, was spent on child abuse and neglect, equivalent to £1.6 billion per year.’8
7. Domestic violence: o One in five children in the UK have been exposed to domestic abuse.9 o In 90% of domestic violence incidents in family households, children were in the same or the next room.9 o 62% of children in households where domestic violence is happening are also directly harmed. 9 o 25% of children who witness domestic violence develop serious social and behavioural problems.10
8. Children of mothers with mental health issues are twice as likely to experience a psychiatric disorder in childhood.11 o Postnatal depression affects more than 1 in 10 mothers (as well as some dads).12
9. 50% of all maltreatment-related deaths and serious injuries involve infants under 1.13
10. People who as children suffered multiple adverse childhood experiences such as child abuse, neglect and witnessing domestic violence are between seven and eleven times more likely than those who did not to be imprisoned in later life.14
11. Preventing such Adverse Childhood Experiences as abuse, neglect and witnessing domestic violence could reduce: o heroin/crack use by 59%, o violence by 51% o unplanned teen pregnancies by 38%15
12. Only 3% of Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) in England have a perinatal mental health strategy.16
References
1. The 70/30 Network, Who we are, www.70-30.org.uk/who-we-are/.
2. Sethi, D., Bellis, M. A., Hughes, K., Gilbert, R., Mitis, F., & Galea, G. (2013). European report on preventing child maltreatment. Copenhagen: World Health Organization.
3. Woodman, J., Pitt, M., Wentz, R., Taylor, B., Hodes, D., Gilbert, R.E. (2008) ‘Performance of screening tests for child physical abuse in accident and emergency departments’ Health Technology Assessment 12, iii, xi- xiii, 1-95 .
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4. Fang, X.M.,, Brown, D. S., Florence, C.S., Mercy, J.A. (2008) ’The economic burden of child maltreatment in the United States and implications for prevention’ Child Abuse and Neglect 36 (2):156-165 and Taylor, P., Moore, P., Pezzullo, L., Tucci, J., Goddard, C. & De Bortoli, L . The Cost of Child Abuse in Australia, Melbourne: Access Economics, Australian Childhood Foundation and Child Abuse Prevention Research Australia.
5. David Robinson OBE, Chair of the Early Action Task Force, Verbal evidence to the All Party Parliamentary Group for Conception to Age 2 – The First 1001 Days. 11 April 2016.
6. Van Konkelenberg, J (2006) Noncommunicable Disease and Poverty: The Need for Pro-poor Strategies in the Western Pacific Region. A Review. World Health Organisation: Western Pacific Region.
7. Dr. Campbell Christie OBE Commission on the Future Delivery of Public Services (2011) p. 7. http://www.gov.scot/Resource/Doc/352649/0118638.pdf.
8. Statistics of education: referrals, assessments and children and young people on child protection registers: year ending 31 March 2006. (2006) Department for Education and Skills. London: The Stationery Office.
9. Domestic violence and pregnancy (Refuge website 2016) http://www.refuge.org.uk/get-help-now/what-is- domestic-violence/domestic-violence-and-pregnancy/.
10. WAVE Trust (2013) Conception to age 2 – the age of opportunity. Croydon: WAVE Trust. See also Ghate, D., Hazel, N. (2002) Parenting in poor environments: stress, support and coping. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
11. Joy, I., van Poortvliet, M. & Yeowart, C. (2008) ‘Heads up: Mental health of children and young people: A guide for donors and charities’ www.thinknpc.org/?attachment_id=771&post-parent=4933.
12. NHS Choices. Postnatal Depression. http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Postnataldepression/.
13. Brandon et al (2008) ‘Analysing child deaths and serious injury through abuse and neglect: what can we learn? A biennial analysis of serious case reviews 2003–2005’. Department for Children, Schools and Families. Research Report DCSF-RR023
14. Bellis et al (2013) ‘Adverse childhood experiences: retrospective study to determine their impact on adult health behaviours and health outcomes in a UK population’ Journal of Public Health 36 (1): p84
15. Bellis et al (2015) ‘Measuring mortality and the burden of adult disease associated with adverse childhood experiences in England: a national survey’ Journal of Public Health 37 (3): 445-454. See also http://jpubhealth.oxfordjournals.org/content/37/3/445. http://bhamsouthcentralccg.nhs.uk/publications/board-papers/2016-board-papers/march-2016/1026- enc-5-adverse-childhood-experiences/file.
16. NCT (Website 2016) New FOI data finds huge gaps in provision of care for perinatal mental health. https://www.nct.org.uk/press-release/new-foi-data-finds-huge-gaps-provision-care-perinatal-mental- health
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Activity Ideas
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Campaign Checklist
Whichever activities you decide to run as a local 70/30 action group, this checklist will help you get started:
I.D. Preparatory task Done ✓
1 All members of the group (including Group Coordinator) have completed the necessary (4) training sessions, hosted by the 70/30 team at WAVE Trust.
2 All members are committed to attending the monthly 70/30 ambassador national conference call and the Group Coordinator is committed to attending a second call each month for further training and support.
3 All members are committed to staying the hour after the monthly national call to take the monthly action and agree next steps and to meeting a second time each month to plan and take further action toward creating champions in Parliament, among local Councillors, and the media for reducing child maltreatment by 70% by 2030.
4 Objectives, target audience and key messages are agreed – all campaign elements are in line with these.
5 Group’s main activities for the next 3 months are agreed between all group members and a rough timeline has been produced to keep to targets.
6 Roles and key responsibilities for each group member (including Group Coordinator) are agreed. Note, each member should be assigned a role that appropriately matches their particular skill-set and time commitment. Roles should be logged in action pack (page 70).
7 Key local contacts identified and details are logged in group’s contact list (page 71).
8 Official Facebook and Twitter (with handle and hashtag) page created for local group.
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Action Sheet
The 70/30 campaign exists to raise awareness and support for primary prevention in your local area. You want to engage your local community at every level – politicians, service providers, health professionals, local media and everybody else!
This is where you start to put your group’s strategy into action. Whether it is through formal events, directly on social media, through door-to-door knocking or by networking with local organisations and partner agencies. It is up to you as a group to decide what activities you take on.
Ensure that each group member is clear on their main role and key responsibilities. Each member’s role should reflect their individual skill-set and strengths and be appropriate for the amount of time they have to dedicate to the group’s activities. Some examples of roles are; Group Coordinator, MP Primary Contact, Press Lead, Fundraising Lead and Outreach Lead.
Don’t forget that campaigning is often about building relationships. It is a good idea to approach every interaction with an assumption that they will be on your side, or at least that they will be willing to listen to your views. Go with the intentions of making friends with them, adding support to what they are already trying to do. It may be that you have the same goals but a different knowledge base. Share your knowledge! How you organise should be focused on how to motivate them to actively play a role in your campaign.
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Finding- and Building - Champions in the Press
Your group’s strategy should include a way to share your campaign with the media. Media coverage gives your community something to Tweet and post on Facebook, and publicly validates your campaign. Developing an effective media strategy will ensure you aren’t wasting too much time contacting the press and can focus on other key activities. With a strategy in place you are far more likely to get the press interested in your story and adopting the role of Tip: Don’t forget that many supporter, and ultimately, 70/30 champion. All it takes is newspapers have an online one press mention to get traction and become prominent platform. There is press that in the public eye. only exists online also.
Target local media Start locally, then go broader. If you have local media coverage, then larger media will start covering you too! People relate to a local story.
Research journalists Rather than contacting lots of journalists, do your homework and target those who have previously covered stories related to 70/30 and its mission. They’re far more likely to be interested in your campaign and eager to cover it. One way to do this is, whilst reading tweets, Facebook posts and articles related to the 70/30 campaign, take a note of who is writing and commenting on the topic. Tip: Use the Next, identify the best way to contact the journalist you choose to site Anewstip to target. This involves identifying each journalists preferred mode of find relevant contact and communication. For example, many journalists are very journalists by what active on twitter and will respond quickly to twitter direct messages or they Tweet. @ mentions.
Fill them in Save journalists some time. Give them everything they need to tell your story, including high-res photos, the 70/30 website link, and several ways to contact you, including your group email address, phone number, and Twitter handle (@7030[area]).
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Pitch your story Reporters want to know the full story, not just that you’re running a campaign group in your local area. 70/30 should be integrated as a thread in your story. Share your struggles and triumphs. Include a compelling question. E.g. The 70/30 campaign was launched in February 2016 to raise the profile of the issue of child maltreatment and call for a change in the way child maltreatment is tackled in the UK. Since then ... Tip: Make sure you include Who? have shown their support by... This year…. to highlight What? Why? Where? When? the importance of...
Share 70/30 milestones A successful campaign may be more interesting to some journalists than a new campaign in its earliest stages. Therefore make sure to reach out to the same pool of journalists (same media list) each and every time your group reaches a particular milestone. Examples of milestones include having a successful local event, gaining new group members, getting an article in the local press or having an influential person show support online.
PRESS RELEASE TOP TIPS: • It is always a good idea to contact your local journalist first, so they know to expect your press release. These details are easy to find, online or by looking in your local paper.
• If promoting a group event, make sure you include the date, time and location of your event. • Include contact information including, website URL, Group Coordinator name, group email address and telephone number (optional). • Include your own quote about the importance of 70/30 and the work you are doing as a group locally.
• Never send your press release as an attachment, rather include it in the body of an email. • Contact the news desk or a reporter rather than the editor and then over the phone or email you need to tell them something striking that captures their attention. • Include what do you want people to do/how can they get involved/who can they contact/where can they find more information e.g. Our [activity] will take place on [date] at [time] in [location e.g. church hall]. • If you are sending your article to a local paper, make sure it has a local angle. Look at local statistics or groups that are running, then talk about what the 70/30 campaigns intentions are and make the link.
• From … about the [importance of the campaign/involvement with the campaign]. e.g. “[name], [title] said: “…..Come along and join us and help reduce child
maltreatment in your area”
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Creating a relationship When we first contact journalists, our role is to engage them and provide them with content. You’ll want to make their lives easier by sharing content, statistics, compelling local stories and well written letters to the editor / articles. Please always pass these by the team at WAVE before sending them to journalists. The WAVE team can help by providing great quotes, facts and draft articles. You can also help us by sharing draft articles with us – we are a small team here and we can share content you create with other Ambassadors!
Championship Scale In our Championship Scale section, we describe six levels of support you can use to gauge the support of politicians, local organisations and others you speak to. This is also true of journalists – and we thought it was worth producing a rather different scale here because engaging with the press is such a distinct aspect of our campaign. A word of encouragement: local journalists are always on the lookout for a good news story! There will be a lot of appetite for 70/30 stories if you get your pitch right. But a word of caution as well – we need to make sure we present our cause clearly and that the result is press coverage that furthers the goals of 70/30. We have a ‘common misconceptions’ section on Page 11 of this pack. It is worth having a look at this – and steering journalists away from them!
Tip: Have a peek at Page 11 of this pack for some common misconceptions about 70/30. Be sure to steer journalists away from these.
Supporters in the press Moving a journalist from ‘neutral’ to ‘supporter’, or from passive ‘supporter’, to ‘advocate’, opens up exciting possibilities. Take their contact details and offer for 70/30 to share briefings with them. Pick a group member to keep an eye on local stories. When they come up, get in touch with the WAVE team to get content for a 70/30 angle on these!
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The 70/30 Journalists’ Network As long as they are happy for you to, please pass the WAVE team journalist’s contact details and we will add them to our Journalists’ Network. This will engage them to another level by offering briefings, contact with experts in the field and – for journalists who are very keen – a video-link briefing on 70/30.
Journalists’ Briefings The WAVE team can provide video-link briefings to journalists who really engage with the issue and want to take their support to the next level. These will be a great chance for them to get to grips with the issue. They will include recorded segments from several experts in the field and are a really valuable ‘from the experts’ briefing for journalists. It is important that we make this offer, because journalists who are keen and wish to write about our campaign will really benefit from a crash course from WAVE in the complexities of the issue, so that they can write from an informed and authoritative position.
The journalists’ championship scale The challenge, again, is to move journalists up a notch on our Championship Scale. However, we have very specific ways of interacting with the press depending on how engaged they are.
OPPONENT
It is important to do a bit of research into journalists before contacting them, because if a journalist were to be opposed to 70/30 they could do real harm. If a journalist seems like they would be opposed to 70/30, it is best not to engage with them.
• They may be taking a ‘popular narrative’, based on one of the misconceptions mentioned
above.
• They might write from an ideological position aimed at a particular readership.
• They may want to write a negative story in the hope of attracting more interest (sadly, people are more often drawn to bad news stories than good news ones).
NEUTRAL P a g e | 24 The press in 2016 is a busy industry – journalists are run off their feet and while many press offices get countless calls each day, they are watching like hawks for valuable stories. Because of this, the default position of journalists you talk to will usually be neutral. Make their lives easier by giving them a compelling, 30 second pitch!
When you’ve got a neutral journalist’s ear, offer them an article or letter to the editor ready- written. Have a look at the Creating a Relationship section above for tips for writing these.
• A neutral journalist will be waiting for you to show them – quickly!! – How your message is relevant to them and their readers. • If you are writing a letter to the editor of your paper, friendly and persistent contact pays off to ensure your piece gets published. They’ll appreciate if you get to the point quickly and give a clear request early on (again, think in terms of 30 seconds).
• Long articles that veer from the key message of 70/30, and your local activity, are a prime cause of journalists registering as neutral! 250-300 word articles that get across the key points early and read as locally ‘relevant’ are much better.
SUPPORTER
A journalist who is keen on supporting 70/30 will still be a busy journalist! You can offer supporters in the press periodic briefings from 70/30 and take their contact details (email and phone) so the WAVE team can send them these.
• Supporters are journalists who want to hear more about 70/3o. • They should be happy to publish letters to the editor or articles, without much prompting.
ADVOCATE If a journalist is very supportive, they may wish to write about 70/30. This is great – we really want this support from the press! – But we know that it can be difficult to grasp the issues at the heart of 70/30. Primary prevention is crucially different from intervention; also there has historically been a lot of stigma in the reporting of child maltreatment. Because of this, the WAVE team provide video-link briefings as described above to supporters in the press who want to become advocates. When a journalist seems very keen, please put them in touch with us and we’ll set up a briefing for them!
• Advocates in the press with write articles about 70/30.
• They may also offer you coverage of your campaigning, which can be very useful. • 70/30 groups should assign an Ambassador to ‘owning’ the group’s relationship with advocates in the press.
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LEADER
Journalists who advocate 70/30 are a blessing – but there is another important step that we want to empower journalists to take: as well as reporting on our local campaigning, we want journalists to start actively campaigning for 70/30 themselves! • Leaders in the press will share the 70/30 message with their colleagues, editor and other journalists.
• A leader may convince their paper to actively campaign for 70/30 – this is a key goal.
CHAMPION • As with our main Championship Scale, champions within the press will become key people within the 70/30 campaign. They will campaign actively for primary prevention, help us to network with other journalists and be powerful allies for change.
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Create your social presence
Social media is one of the best ways to spread the word about your campaign. It’s a great way to both raise the profile of your 70/30 group, its activity and the 70/30 campaign in general. There are four main reasons to utilise social media: reach (profile), engagement, advocacy and action. Before you post anything, it is important that you decide what it is you want to achieve by engaging through social media channels. Is it that you want to increase social media followers? Generate more buzz online? Accumulate brand mentions, or simply raise awareness of 70/30? Create a campaigns page Start by creating a Facebook page for your 70/30 group. Initially, invite group members to be members on your campaign page. Once you begin to form a supporter network, your member group will grow and your online presence will go from strength to strength.
Checklist
Name: 70/30 [area] Group Twitter handle: @7030[area] About: include 70/30 website URL (www.70-30.org.uk), group email address ([area]@70-30.org.uk) and a contact phone number (optional) Mission: add mission statement to your page. Profile: Choose a good quality, vibrant profile and cover photograph to make sure you get noticed!
Choose your channel With so many different social media platforms available it can be difficult to judge which ones to use. Start by creating social media profiles for all of the channels relevant to your target audience that you and your team are comfortable with (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, YouTube, LinkedIn, etc.). The channel you choose must reflect your
P a g e | 27 target audience. Think about which networks your target audience is most likely to be active on and start building an online presence in the appropriate spaces. E.g. If you wish to engage with politicians, use twitter. Twitter – immediate, up-to-date news and happenings, you can post links to videos, images as well as favourite and retweet – the hashtag (#) is what creates trends, the handle (@) is how you follow other users and how they follow you. Make sure you use the hashtag #towards7030 in any of your posts and tag @7030Campaign in any twitter activity and let’s get it trending! The more of us use this hashtag the bigger our social media impact will be. You may even want to create your own hashtag for your group! If you’ve got more time you could even take a short film using a smartphone and share it.
Tip: Insert a brief description of your activity. Keep it interesting and short enough to tweet (140 characters). Remember to be local and topical. e.g. [area] 70/30 group meets with Head of local council to share plans for future. Add an image to bring the tweet to life!
Facebook – great for photo albums, case studies, testimonials. Its main function is liking and sharing, which promotes engagement with participants. Instagram – this tool allows you to share photos and apply stylised filters which is useful when showcasing events, promotional materials, group activities etc. YouTube – This is a highly effective way to get your message across or grow an audience with a TV channel on YouTube. You can also link YouTube videos to tweets and Facebook posts to create a real buzz around your activity.
Schedule your posts Once you’ve created the accounts you wish to use, choose a social media scheduling tool to help you create a schedule of regularly rotating content, such as news, blog posts, images, videos or quotes. Consistently posting interesting, relevant content will help you engage with your followers and start to build a strong online community.
Engage with your campaigns participants One of the most important things you can do to improve your social activity is to engage with its participants. Identify and reach out to influencers in your space to help build awareness about your campaign.
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As people begin to post content with your hashtag e.g. #towards7030, pay close attention and make the effort to ‘like’ and/or ‘comment’ on all positive submissions. When you’re seen to engage with real people, it helps to validate and humanise your campaign.
Engage your community Firstly, share your social media pages and email landing page with your host committee and early supporters. Ask them to engage with and share your content with their networks. To make things easier for your supporters, draft at least 10 Tweets, Facebook posts and short emails for them to share. Remember to keep Tweets short – you only have 140 characters total, and you need to reserve 24 characters for a hyperlink and 24 characters for an attached image. Once you have your email list built and host committee locked in, you can share the drafted emails and social media posts you created with them and ask them to create their own email lists they’ll share to as well.
Tip: Tweets with images receive 35% more Retweets Tip: Videos uploaded to Facebook than those without, so try to receive 62% more engagement than keep your messages short and photos, so consider including videos sweet so you can include an
to increase community image! engagement. Reach out to influencers Target major influencers with large social media followings who are interested in the 70/30 topic and encourage them to share your content with their followers.
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Network with local Services
Getting to know local service providers is an essential element of building a 70/30 network in your community. As people dealing with the outcomes of child maltreatment, many will become passionate advocates for 70/30. They can also provide valuable local information and contacts.
This section of the guide provides a framework to help your group get started in creating sustainable and mutually productive relationships with your local service providers.
This is a big task and taking it on as a group will make it far more manageable, effective and enjoyable. Try to split up actions so that each group member has a clear to-do list!
We break this down into 7 key steps:
1 Know your area
2 Do your homework
3 Write a list
4 Pick up the phone
5 Prepare your pitch
6 Meet
7 Follow up
Know your area
Check what area your MP covers. Then check what area your local council covers. Do this with health services, and any other organisations you aim to contact. It’s important to know where they overlap geographically and where they don’t. Both Scotland and Wales consist of unitary local authorities so the process is fairly straightforward.
In England, some areas consist of a two tier local government system, so make sure you identify the local authority Tip: Go to responsible for health and social care in your area. http://ow.ly/Mssu3064HOh
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In areas with a county council and a district/borough council it is usually the county council (upper tier) that is responsible for health and social care. However, there are some counties that contain unitary authorities which have little or nothing to do with the Tip: All of county. London consists of
unitary In Northern Ireland, health and social care trusts are authorities responsible for services rather than local authorities.
JSNA
A good starting point might be to inform yourselves about what actually is being done in your Local Authority (LA) around primary prevention. There should be documents accessible online from your LA. If you are unable to find these ring up your LA and ask for this information. One document which all LAs are required to produce is called a JSNA (Joint Strategic Needs Assessment). This outlines the needs of the local population and how the LA intends to respond to these needs with effective commissioning of services. It might include statistics for your LA (e.g. statistics on child abuse, domestic violence, substance misuse, mental health issues etc. etc.). These are always useful for campaigning. There will probably also be Health and Wellbeing Plans, there may even be documents on LA policy on prevention – it would be useful for someone in the group to access these documents and to scrutinise them. This is how you will get to know how your LA defines prevention, where they are putting their efforts. It would also be a good idea to get some understanding of how your LA operates. There are many partnerships, primarily with the NHS and now the CCG (Clinical Commissioning Groups) and also partnerships with other boroughs. Social Care and Children’s Services might be run by a social enterprise company. Find out who is in charge of these services, for example, there might be a particular person responsible for prevention.
Enter ‘health and wellbeing’ and the name of your local authority into a search engine to find out who you should be speaking to.
See below links to all local authorities and health trusts in the United Kingdom:
Northern Ireland https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/contacts/health-and-social-care-trusts
Wales http://gov.wales/topics/localgovernment/unitary-authorities/?lang=en
Scotland http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Government/local-government/localg/usefullinks
England https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/491463/List_of _councils_in_England.pdf
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Do your homework
If you do your homework - get to know local services and how they work - you are going to be far more powerful and effective in making people sit up and listen.
Firstly make sure that you are clear on your objectives in engaging with a particular organisation or charity. Why are they the right people to approach?
Secondly who is the best person to approach within that organisation? Work out what engagement channels already exist and use those rather than trying to bypass them or invent new ones.
Research the members and identify any who seem aligned with your objectives. A targeted approach is likely to work better than sending a generic letter.
Write a list
Now build a list of services to talk to. Include the following: Tip: If you have friends or An email and phone family working in related Key contact name professions in your local area A few words about what they do. they are often the best The area they cover (this is important)! people to start with.
Some of the key services to contact are:
Health Visitors and Midwives Mental health services (child and adult) Children and family social Care Drug and alcohol services Youth service Young offenders Domestic violence teams
Some other ideas may include:
Antenatal groups e.g. NCT (National Childbirth Trust) Playgroups and Nurseries, Children’s Centres Primary Schools (Head teachers / deputy heads / parent groups) Secondary Schools (as above) Parent forums (e.g. Mumsnet and Netmums) Voluntary or statutory organisations for issues such as substance misuse, domestic violence, homelessness, young offenders, Probation Service
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It is great to engage with local charities and find out what networks exist. Charities will have their own websites and many provide services all over the UK. Make sure to check that the service you’re reading about is in your area.
Tip: Strike while the iron is hot! Once you’ve established a need to connect, do so in a timely manner. Otherwise, they’ll forget about you! Pick up the phone
Now that you have a list of services it’s time to make contact. Don’t worry about who to contact first, just start at the top of the list.
The first best step is an email to the manager or administrator. The advantage of the email is that you can provide all the necessary links and documents for them to explore as and when they can. Make a note of their business hours and try to send the email around the start or end of a business day. Try to keep the email as brief as you can. Write a clear subject line e.g. introducing local campaign - meeting request. Almost immediately (the day after), follow up with a phone call. Use the calls log included in this pack to keep a record of who you talked to and what you talked about.
Call checklist
Always introduce yourself as a 70/30 Ambassador. Describe the 70/30 campaign and your intentions locally as a 70/30 group. Explain that you are making contact with a range of services providers, Councillors, MPs and decision makers. State that you would like to speak with them to discuss how the campaign can support the work of their service and their local concerns. Highlight any matters they would like to address and how they may be able to support the campaign. Ask for meeting and get a date set in the diary.
Prepare your pitch
Once you’ve set up a meeting, you will need to draw up 2 checklists. The first is what you know about the organisation you’re meeting. The second is what you want to share with them, and what you want to get out of the meeting.
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Example checklists
Below are two example checklists – a first telling me about a charity I’m hypothetically meeting, in this case ‘WAVE Trust’, and a second telling me what I want to share with them and what I’d like them to commit to during our meeting.
About WAVE Trust
Based in Croydon (61 Friends Road, CR0 1ED. 10 mins walk from East Croydon station). Set up by George Hosking (still CEO) to tackle the roots of violence and reduce child maltreatment. WAVE stands for ‘Worldwide Alternatives to ViolencE’. Initially a research charity, they’ve produced reports with the UK Government’s Dept. of Education (‘Age of Opportunity, 2013’), the Dept. of Health (various) and the Scottish Government (PREP report, 2016). Their work is very influential and highly regarded. Currently working towards piloting their ‘primary prevention’ strategy in a number of areas. Their mission statement is to reduce child maltreatment by at least 70% by the year 2030.
For the meeting Don’t forget: laser talk sheet; leave-behind introduction sheet The 70/30 campaign completely shares their objectives (!) We have formed a 70/30 Ambassadors’ Group in Croydon and want to work with WAVE We would love to get the endorsement of WAVE, if possible a quote from their CEO and a photo – we’d then press release this Could they put us in touch with people within their contact network?
The crucial point is to be able to demonstrate that you are solving a problem that the service provider cares about. This means being able to show both value for money and good outcomes.
The NHS Confederation, Regional Voices and the LGA have provided a useful briefing which could be useful here: http://www.nhsconfed.org/~/media/Confederation/Files/Publications/Documents/Compari ng-apples-with-oranges.pdf
Meet
This is what a successful meeting will look like:
Relate to them: Leave a little ‘small talk’ space and find common ground.
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Engage them: Demonstrate how 70/30 matters to their work. Speak to what matters to them and how 70/30 matters to that.
Enrol them: Ask directly for what you want - this will be direct endorsements, networking support and for the people you are speaking to, to become champions for 70/30. Finish with concrete action points and dates set. Establish who follows up, how and when.
Follow up
Follow up will only happen if you get a follow-up agreed at the meeting. It should only happen when there’s a genuine reason to follow up. This does not mean delaying the follow up - it means acting on the meetings action points.
This is where you build the relationships that will grow into a local movement and ultimately form your local 70/30 network.
Good luck and happy networking!
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Meeting politicians
Everyone loves meeting politicians. Here are some thoughts on how to get the most out of them.
Research: know your MP Spend around twenty minutes online researching your MP – it is time well spent. Of course it is easy to spend longer, but if you can find answers to the following questions you will have the information you need. Have a look at the example results for questions 1 and 2. Has your MP campaigned to save/protect/fund a local NHS service? You can find your MP by going to www.theyworkforyou.com and typing in your postcode. For example, if you lived in the Oldham East and Saddleworth constituency, your MP would be Debbie Abrahams MP. Then search Google News for their record on things like local NHS services. Here’s what you get if you search for ‘Debbie Abrahams MP local NHS services’: https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF- 8#tbm=nws&q=debbie+abrahams+MP+local+NHS+services. The first news item here tells you that this MP is interested in Alzheimer’s care. This gives you an opportunity to say “; know you’ve done great things campaigning for better mental health provisions for older people’, ‘I’m really encouraged that you have worked to improve standards of Alzheimer’s care’, etc.
Tip: Even if not directly relevant, it’s nice to acknowledge an MP’s good work, particularly in the fields of mental health, the NHS, children’s services etc.
The third item in this same Google News search is an article relating to some of Debbie’s work on mental health services: http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater- manchester-news/oldham-mp-debbie-abrahams-quizzes-10506953. This has given us valuable knowledge of this MP’s record, to help us answer question 1. You can use the same steps to answer the following four questions as well. 1. Has your MP campaigned to save/protect/fund a local children’s service? 2. Has your MP visited a local NHS centre?
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3. Has your MP visited a local children’s centre? 4. Has your local MP advocated or supported a local campaign regarding: a. Mental health provisions? b. Children’s services? c. Domestic violence?
Reflect on what motivates you Your first meeting with your MP is an excellent opportunity for you to introduce the 70/30 campaign to them. To ‘sell’ our message, it is invaluable to know why you are motivated to campaign for 70/30.
Tip - Think about the following:
How has your personal story brought you to the 70/30 campaign, and why is it so important to you personally that your local MP supports 70/30? What experiences have you had that have convinced you that 70/30 is so important?
The 70/30 message On the first two Nationwide Ambassadors Conference Calls, we discussed a short, powerful explanation of the 70/30 campaign, which we called a ‘laser talk’. While you do not necessarily need to know it word for word, it is worth having another read through it and making sure that you are familiar with the key messages and statistics – you can find it on page 4 of this document.
Invite a friend Is there somebody you know who is also passionate about the 70/30 campaign? You may like them to come along to your MP meeting. This is a brilliant way to find people for building a local group. If you do invite someone, meet them for a coffee or lunch the week before, and go over what it is you’re going to talk about. This is also a great way to practice for the ‘real thing’.
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What to ask for
If an MP is sceptical, it’s our job to convince them to support 70/30. If they’re supportive, we want to make them keen. If they’re keen, we want them to be a champion for 70/30! We are very deliberately not going to provide an exhaustive list of things to ask for – because meeting your MP is really about telling them our campaign exists, getting a commitment of support from them and building a relationship.
We want everyone we meet to ultimately become a champion for 70/30, and this is something we’ve dedicated a separate section of this pack to. It’s on page 47.
Here are some suggestions for what to ask for in your first few meetings with a local politician:
Initial Meeting
Introduce him or her to primary prevention and 70/30. Hopefully they will accept/agree with these principles. If they’re keen – ask them to endorse 70/30!
It’s great to get a selfie with your MP that you can then tweet. Ask them to tweet about your meeting as well.
Will they acknowledge your meeting publically? You could ask them to publish a blog post or MP’s newsletter item.
You will probably want to ask them who you should contact in your area. Do they know children’s centres, similar community groups, domestic violence charities, third sector service providers (e.g. HomeStart), parent-and-toddler-groups… and if they are very keen, perhaps they’d like to accompany you to a meeting?
If they seem keen enough to commit to a follow-up meeting you could offer one to:
1. present 70/30 in detail / provide evidence base 2. share with a wider audience, such as a) MP’s/Cllr’s local political party b) local organisations (as mentioned above) c) nearby/connected MPs or Cllrs
If they’re supportive they’ll often want to read up before committing to a next step. Have a copy of our info pack to hand! Get them to commit to a second meeting date that will allow you sufficient time to fulfil the action they suggested you should take – especially where they have given you contacts to follow up with, or where they have suggested an action that you have followed through with.
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Follow-up Meeting
Most stakeholders will soon want to see detail, so present 70/30 in detail, with evidence base (all the info you need is included in this pack). Invite attendees of second meeting to join the campaign if appropriate (e.g. local activists) or to stay in touch with you (local journalist, Councillor Etc.).
Creating the local appetite for 70/30 is very important at this early stage. Will your MP help to publicise your campaigning & endorse it? Can you enrol attendees? Don’t forget to collect contact details!
Will attendees write about meeting – on their website, in a local paper, on social media?
In the long run
We are campaigning for the UK government to accept primary prevention in principle, as Scotland & Wales have, and to work towards making this happen. In devolved administrations (Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales) we want to see progress on commitments in principle turning into action.
Locally, we are campaigning for the Local Authority to adopt a primary prevention strategy (this could be a Pioneer Community – it doesn’t have to be). We’re working towards:
Press endorsement & engagement Meetings with local politicians, community groups & press Local events Community engagement (e.g. early years charities).
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Engaging the local community
Members of the group will likely have access to different members of the public. There are many creative ways to raise awareness in your community. There are two main routes to the public: (1) Awareness-raising stalls (2) Speaking to specific groups. Here are some ideas to get you started: Tip: Do community
activities as a group. It’s much more fun that way! Awareness raising stalls Street stalls are a really important way to reach out to ordinary people within your local community, especially on a Saturday morning when people are not rushing to work! They’re also a really simple way to raise awareness, create public pressure and recruit new group members for your local 70/30 group! You could always link up with a local group or school and organise a stall at a community event or school fair. Also supermarkets like Morrison’s regularly allow people to run stalls at the entrance to their stores – arm yourself with the donation form on page 53. It’s great to ask people for both a donation and to join your local action, and you’ll be surprised how generous people are willing to be if you ask them. Note that it is worth putting some time into planning your stall, making sure that you have access to relevant 70/30 campaign material, including information on primary prevention, local statistics. Posters, leaflets, flyers are all ways of bringing your stalls to life.
Here are some tips for running a street stall: Tip: 70/30 pledges are a great way to make the stall more Focus your stall around one key message. interactive and dynamic for Think about how your stall will look. passer-byers. Find a good location and choose the right time. You only have a few seconds to grab somebody’s attention so make sure you have a great opening line. E.g. ‘Want to make [area] the best place in the UK for children?’ Always have a sign-up sheet handy for those who want more information on the campaign and for recruiting new group members. If recruiting, make sure to take their name, email, phone and address. This may also be a good time to do an opinionnaire. Offer passer-byers 4/5 statements and ask them to indicate for which they think it is likely/unlikely/highly unlikely, for example. See ‘child maltreatment: view from the street’ section of this guide for more ideas.
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Talks to local groups This doesn’t have to be something formal but could be just putting yourself forward in a context where you would feel comfortable. You could look through the events page of your local newspaper and see what sort of groups meet up on a regular or occasional basis. It could be just a short presentation on what the campaign is about with some local statistics or it could entail taking part in a discussion, seeing what people know and giving them a load of evidence based information. Ideas of groups could be:
Parent / teacher groups Patient forums University/School/College groups Faith groups
The 70/30 Quiz Another idea for a more light-hearted and yet informative group activity could be to make up a quiz. Perhaps make it multiple choice, with questions relating to the local authority, child maltreatment, problem issues requiring intervention, amount of money spent on local interventions etc. This can be a useful way of finding out what people know, surprising people with the facts and hopefully inspiring people to want to be involved. For example: Q1 What is the population of your Local Authority? A1 150,000 A2 200,000 A3 500, 00
Q2 How many adults in your LA have a common mental health disorder such as depression and anxiety? A1 10,000 A2 25,000 A3 40,000
Q3 Are the following statements TRUE or FALSE? 1. (Local Authority) has the 4th highest rate of hospital admissions for self-harm in 10-24 year olds in London. 2. In (Local Authority) there are 5,500 children living in poverty.
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3. 20% of young people report having tried cannabis – the highest in London and the third highest in England.
Other ideas for questions of True/False statements:
Rates of suicide of different age groups? Figures for crime? Number of young offenders? Amount of green space in the borough? Alcohol / drug use – hospital admissions Figures for domestic violence Are rates for any of these going up or down Brain development At what age does most abuse occur (under 1, 1-3, 4-10, 11-15, 16 – 18) How much does the LA spend on prevention, on substance misuse, on domestic violence etc. – or what proportion of LA spending is on the following
There are many possible questions. Have some fun with it!
Child maltreatment: View from the street Another great way to initially engage with groups of people or individuals in your community is to initiate a discussion around the issue of child maltreatment using a survey- like approach. One idea is to start this discussion from the angle of the consequences of maltreatment, for example – alcoholism, drug use, mental health issues etc. and then to ask them what they think are the causes. Q. Do you think alcohol abuse is a problem in the UK / [local area]?
Q. What about drug abuse / anti-social behaviour / violence?
Q. Have you read recently (Oct 2016) about the huge increases of young people with mental health problems?
Q. What do you think we can do about these problems? (Potential answers: treat them when they are young, lock them up, teach them in school etc. etc.)
Q. Would you believe me if I told you that a lot of these problems are caused by how children are treated when they are very young, particularly when they are babies?
Q. Do you know that the most long term damage to children happens from the moment of conception to the age of 2 . . . because this is when the emotional part of the brain is developing? When babies or children are abused or neglected at this stage of their life it physically affects the wiring / connections in the developing brain and this can create
P a g e | 42 lifelong problems for that individual. It’s very hard, slow and expensive to heal the damage in these very early years. (Example: 68% of our prison population has been abused or neglected in childhood).
Q. What would you think of the idea of persuading our local authority to spend a bit more money on preventing this damage happening in the first place so that they would have to spend less money later on treating the damage after it has happened?
* Prevention is not only better than cure, it is also cheaper!
Q. Would you be prepared to join with others in the community who share your ideas and create a big voice in this area to campaign for more PREVENTION? A local authority wide primary prevention strategy is what is needed. (“I would be prepared to join in a local effort to reduce child maltreatment in [area] if…”).
Open day Why not have a Social Saturday open day where you Tip: Make sure to take lots of invite the local press and your MP to join your local photos at any public events to share 70/30 group to find out more about the campaign and on social media or in the local press! your local work/activity?! Depending on what you do, you could also invite members of the public. Or organise a visit from your local MP or a local Councillor to a public event. Not only is it important for you to build relationships with local politicians, but they also like to get their visits captured in local media reports too!
Knowledge sharing event A knowledge sharing day is a buzzing, interactive, and collaborative workshop with lively discussions and practical demonstrations. You could put on a knowledge sharing event where you can talk about your experiences as a 70/30 group. Knowledge sharing days are a great opportunity to share your undertakings, whilst picking up ideas from other organisations. Allowing people to connect and link ideas as well as sharing learnings and experiences in a relaxed and sociable space. What might be evident to those in a certain practice, but unknown to others, including your group?
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Planning your knowledge sharing event Although a knowledge sharing event has as its aim the spontaneous and informal sharing of ideas and opinions, the approach you choose to take when planning your event requires some planning. The key areas to consider are content, communication, logistics, and facilitation. Here are some tips to make sure your day is a true success.
Start by thinking about why you are holding a knowledge sharing event and what you hope to accomplish from it. Think about who you wish to invite. Having a diverse group of participants and presenters will result in a more dynamic and innovative day, whilst adding value to the learning aspect of the event. Make sure to think outside the box also, don’t just invite those who are a very obvious choice. The more diverse a range of people you have attending, the more you will learn! Make sure the number of people you invite meets the capacity of the chosen venue. Publicise your event well in advance. This includes promoting the event on a local level amongst community members and on an organisational level. Hold the event in a well-known, easy to reach venue with a lot of foot traffic e.g. in a local church hall – location is essential to the success of a knowledge sharing day! Take culture and diversity into account – do you need to have materials translated, for example? Make sure your booth(s) have lots of visual interest – it seems obvious but the more exciting they look, the more enticed people will be to engage and have a look. Don’t huddle behind your booth – come out and talk to people, smile, look engaged and excited about the event. Try ideas that will attract people to visit the booths – e.g. make it interactive Do provide a feedback mechanism for the event. At the end of the day your group will participate in an ‘impact session’ where you will evaluate the day. “What worked well and why?” “What should we do differently next time?” It’s important to hold this session directly after the event, otherwise learnings can get lost and it can prove difficult to get everyone to attend further down the line. Lastly, MAKE IT FUN!!! It’s really important that you are not too serious – a fair should be fun! As long as your materials and presentation(s) are informative and up- to-date, you can relax on the day and have some fun with it, socialising and engaging in fun conversation with attendees.
How the day should look Knowledge sharing days vary in duration, however they typically run for 2-3 hours with presentations followed by Q&A sessions and discussions. A representative from the local
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70/30 group (ideally the Group Coordinator) should be on hand at each event to give an update on the campaign in general, more specifically with regards to your own local action and answer any questions as well as discussing ideas for future events and initiatives. Help people benefit from each other’s experiences, broadcast achievements, face to face networking, stimulate interest in future collaboration and the development of 70/30 locally. The following timeline, taken from the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (2014), can be used to aid the planning of your group’s knowledge sharing event to ensure good time management. Note that as this is an ideal timeline, if you shorten the timeframes, you will need additional resources to ensure everything is in place in time. Follow this link for more information
Timeline
Ideally one year before share fair: Establish the steering committee. Decide theme, date, and venue. Book the venue. Establish the content team, logistics team, communications team (at least identify team leaders). Prepare call for proposals. Send preliminary note to key partners, so they have advance notice.
Six months before share fair: Appoint teams. Send out call for proposals. Draft schedule. Confirm room bookings. Order facilitation materials. Order any logo merchandise. Communications team starts work. Set up basic Web site.
Four months before share fair: Review the proposals. Recruit more people (session volunteers, facilitators.) Open for general registration.
Three months before share fair: Confirm the proposals. Fit accepted proposals into schedule. Confirm IT needs and arrangements. Within communications team, identify rapporteur(s), establish social reporting team, and agree on hashtag. Establish facilitation team. Establish training team, if being used.
One month before share fair: Confirm availability of all facilitators, rapporteurs, room assistants, social reporters and catering. Make last changes to schedule, and post on Web site. Verify rooms, IT, security and catering.
During share fair: Discuss, organize, facilitate, report, and communicate. Participate and enjoy!
Just after share fair: Do an After Action Review, and share summary with key stakeholders. Thank all involved, and congratulate your team on a job well done.
Within a month of share fair ending: Write final report, with conclusions, recommendations and lessons learned.
Thereafter: Keep the momentum going! The share fair is not the conclusion of a process, it is just the beginning.
Web link: http://www.fao.org/3/a-aq228e.pdf
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Speak on the radio Does your area have a local radio station? If so, why not write in asking for a 5-10 minute slot to speak about the 70/30 campaign?! This is a great opportunity for you to promote your local action group and advertise the opportunity for other community members to join.
Promotion Make sure you shout loudly about your activities. If you’re hosting an event, remember to let the press and your local MP know about it weeks in advance - this will help to raise the profile of the day further and get some great coverage for your organisation. Use the resources in this pack to help you out. Other ways of promoting your event are to set it up as a Facebook event, create an email signature, and invite all of your followers to come along and support you.
Keep us posted Do let us know what you’ve got planned. Whether it’s an MP meeting, a presentation with the local Council, a street stall or a meeting with the local press, we want to know! Contact us at [email protected] or tag us in your tweets - @7030Campaign.
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Measuring progress
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The Championship Scale
Some campaigns are simpler than 70/30. A campaign for more money for our NHS, for example, would measure their success purely on politicians committing to spending more money, or to the press taking up their cause. A campaign to save a library would see success as the library staying open. 70/30 is bigger, bolder, more ambitious and so more of a challenge to measure the success of. We want to change the conversation around child maltreatment: to destigmatise it; to reframe it in terms of supporting parents; to have the crucial importance of primary prevention recognised; and to build support for comprehensive up taking of primary prevention in our areas – and, ultimately, across the UK.
“The welfare of today’s children is inseparably linked with the peace of tomorrow’s world.”
– Henry Labouisse, on accepting the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of UNICEF in 1965
We have a powerful way of measuring our progress: the Championship Scale. There are six levels on the scale: Champion, Leader, Advocate, Supporter, Neutral and Opponent. Everyone we talk to will be somewhere on this scale. Our job is to move people towards being champions! A word of caution, though: your MP (for example) might do Tip: measure where the person you’re meeting is something to make them a supporter today, but cool again on this scale right now – tomorrow and go back to being effectively neutral. We need to this will change week by measure where they are in the here and now. This will change. week Only by coming back again and again, building relationships, making ourselves relevant and being relentlessly can-do will we succeed. We are, after all, literally working to change the future.
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Levels on the scale The six levels on our Championship Scale are detailed below – you can use these boxes to identify where the person you are meeting is ‘at’. The challenge, then, is to move them up a notch.
OPPONENT
• An opponent will not realistically be pro-child maltreatment.
• They may instead be “against intrusions into family life”.
• They may take the position that “we can’t afford it”.
• They may say “we have our own way of doing things in our area”.
• They are against the aims of 70/30 rather than simply disinterested – and would resist attempts to create a local or national primary prevention strategy.
NEUTRAL
• MPs, Councillors and local organisations who are neutral will often say this is not an issue for them, but for others • An MP may tell you that you need to take the issue up with the Local Council
• Sometimes neutral people will also say ‘we can’t afford it’. Distinguishing those who are neutral from those who are opposed here is a matter of making your best judgement. • Others will say ‘it’s an interesting idea. I’ll think about it.’ If you’re thanked for sharing the campaign but no action is promised, this is a sign you still need to win them over.
SUPPORTER
• Someone who is convinced by our message and accepts the need to act becomes a supporter.
• They might register their support by tweeting it or blogging about it. • Often a successful MP meeting will end with an MP committing to take actions, although you will need to chase supporters or they won’t usually follow up with action!
• A supporter may offer to do things, but only when prompted or asked first. • Someone who publically endorses may be a supporter, but often will be an advocate. Often politicians and public figures fluctuate between being supporters and advocates, so again you’ll need to make a judgement.
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ADVOCATE
• Advocates not only support the 70/30 campaign, but work to bring others on board. • They will talk about / share our campaign with colleagues.
• They may go with you to a meeting with a Councillor, MP or local community organisation.
• If they write about our campaign, they will do so more proactively – they will urge others to support 70/30 in an article or themselves write a letter to the editor of a local paper.
• An MP or politician may well take an action fitting with this level on the Championship Scale, only then to ‘go quiet’ and effectively become a supporter again. This is normal – it is our job to keep the campaign relevant, share additional resources/actions with them and nurture this relationship.
LEADER
• A leader (you could also call this level ‘spokesperson’) takes a leadership role in their advocacy on
primary prevention in even more public ways.
• Rather than you having to chase them for things, they will be proactive. It may even be that they are waiting for us to do something (for example to provide information or a Parliamentary Question) rather than the other way around.
• In fact, as Ambassadors, most of us hover between advocates and leaders / spokespersons
ourselves!
CHAMPION
• A champion is completely self-directed in their leadership on the issue. They are not just joining our
campaign – they are pushing it forward.
• For an MP to be a champion for 70/30, they would be calling for debates in Parliament, in regular contact with us, and specifically committed to the goals of the 70/30 campaign (not similar goals or a broadly overlapping agenda).
• While we are seeking to create champions, these really are exceptional campaigners for 70/30.
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Impact Tracker
Makerble’s impact tracker tool provides all Ambassadors with an effective online platform, perfect for logging and measuring impact ongoingly. Once inducted, and following initial training, each new Ambassador is provided with their own personal login details to access the impact tracker online (through the official 70/30 website). Ambassadors will be added to the group they belong to e.g. 70/30 Ambassadors Group for Sussex, and will be required to capture all actions and activities as and when they do them from then on. Ambassadors will not only be able to see and follow the overall impact of their own local group, but will also have the option to ‘follow’ other groups across the UK (named ‘projects’ on the tool) in order to follow their progress also. There is an additional messaging service on the tool which allows Ambassadors to stay in touch with each other and share information & advice. Other features on the platform include logging contacts and beneficiaries, capturing details of individual local activities and uploading associated attachments including photos, videos, presentations and documents. Download Makerble’s ‘How To’ guide for more information. For additional assistance and training on how to use the impact tracker tool, contact Sara Martinez at [email protected] or call 020 8688 3773.
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Fundraising
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Fundraising
Fancy raising some money to support the work of the 70/30 campaign? There are so many ways you can help. Whatever you do it should be fun and help share the 70/30 message!
Here are a few easy low key ideas to help you get started with fundraising:
Suggest the 70/30 Campaign for your work Christmas charity fund, or to any group you might be involved with that regularly raises money for a variety of causes. Organise a children’s fun sports day event in your local park during the summer holidays and the entrance money for each child to take part could go towards 70/30. Older children face-painting younger children on a Saturday morning outside local supermarket, with 70/30 information stall alongside. Dress down days at work for which employees pay for the privilege through donations to 70/30.
Organise a stall at your local summer fair or a school fete with some money raising activity. Some of you may want to be more ambitious: A musical event, concert or dance in a local venue with tickets sold in advance. A charity walk or run in partnership with a local gym or sports club. A fund raising dinner or charity auction.
It’s always good to involve children, friends, family, workplaces, schools and older people – as many different parts of your community as possible! We’re incredibly grateful for your support! If you need to get your money to us, here’s how!
Getting your money to us Share your fundraising activities with us
Pay in your money through our online virgin We would love to hear what your group gets up to. money giving page. Alternatively, use the Your stories inspire others to get involved and we sponsorship form included in this pack and love to share photos and videos through Facebook, return it to us with a cheque. Cheques should Instagram and Twitter. Please send to: info@70- be made payable to WAVE Trust and posted 30.org.uk or post on our Facebook and Twitter to: WAVE Trust, 61 Friends’ Road, Croydon, pages or tag @7030campaign on Instagram so we Greater London, CR0 1ED can see the fun you’ve been having!
Please don’t forget to send your name and contact details so we can say thank you. If you have any questions about fundraising for WAVE Trust’s 70/30 campaign, please contact us at [email protected]
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DONATION FORM
Local 70/30 ambassadors campaign for a 70% reduction in child maltreatment by 2030 as volunteers. However, they are supported by a dedicated team at the WAVE Trust charity. Your generous donation will be invaluable in enabling them to continue their amazing work towards making 70/30 a reality.
Name:
Email:
Phone number:
Address:
Postcode:
My Bank:
My Bank’s Postal Address:
Please pay by banker’s standing order, cancelling any previous instructions regarding this payee:
Barclays Bank East Croydon Branch PO Box 95 1 North End Croydon CR9 1RN Sort Code: 20-24-61 Account No: 30945293
Amount (Figures): Amount (Words): Date of First Payment:
Frequency: Until further notice or date of last payment………………………………………………………………..and debit my account accordingly:
Name of my account:
Sort code: Account number:
I hereby authorise you to set-up this standing order payment on my account:
Signed: ………………………………………………………………….……….. Date: …………………………………………………….
Name: (Block Capitals):
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………………………………… You can add 25p to every £1 you donate at no extra cost to you. Ticking the gift Aid box enables us to claim back the income tax you have
already paid on the donation you make, as long as you’re a UK taxpayer.
Your details will be held in accordance with the Date Protection Act 1998 and no information will be disclosed for use by a third party. WAVE Trust is a registered charity No. 1080189. For more details or to opt out of our mailing list at any time please contact [email protected]
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Supporting materials
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Laser Talk
Learning how to speak powerfully about the 70/30 issue is one of the most important tools you will need to have in order to be effective. Our laser talk enables you to deliver powerful, short and compelling talks that are the backbone of the 70/30 work.
The laser talk can be used during phone calls and meetings with MPs, Councillors, local organisations, and newspaper editorial boards and during chance encounters with any other relevant parties.
Preparing to deliver your laser talk
Here are some tips for when you are preparing to deliver the laser talk:
Practice your laser talk several times on your own before practicing with another group member. Memorise as many of the details as possible. Choose a member in your group that you feel comfortable practicing with. Deliver your talk without stopping, even if you have a few stumbles along the way. The more you practice, the better you will get at it! Once finished, critique yourself. Pick two things that you liked about the way you delivered the talk and one thing you want to improve. Listen with an open mind and ear for learning how to make your talk better when your partner gives you feedback on your delivery.
Delivering the laser talk
Engage your listener - get their attention with a dramatic fact or short statement. State the problem - present causes of the problem you introduced in the first section. How widespread or serious is the problem? Inform about solutions - Inform the listener about a solution to the problem you just presented. Call to action – Be specific about what you want them to do. This will require a follow up.
Tip: Refer back to page 4 for a copy
of the laser talk!
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Template letter to local MP This letter requests a first meeting with an MP. It’s succinct and makes a clear request early on; this is important as many MP’s offices are inundated with mail and MP’s staff will skim read at best. I recommend sending it as an email, using the subject line ‘Surgery request to discuss local 70/30 campaign’. Beat ye not about the bush. Needless to say, please replace the sections in purple and delete the sections in gold. Good luck! [Your name] [Your first line address & postcode – important] Dear [name surname] MP,
I am an Ambassador for the 70/30 campaign to reduce child maltreatment by 70% by the year 2030. I am encouraged by your calls to protect our local NHS, as well as your concern about the levels of child poverty in this country. I was likewise encouraged to read about your visit to Bowley Close Rehabilitation Centre last month.
[In the highlighted section above, tell your MP you’re encouraged by their stance/local campaign on a relevant topic. Do a quick Google of ‘MP’s name + children’s services’, ‘MP’s name + NHS, ‘MP’s name + mental health’. Check their website blog for visits to children’s centres etc. The aim is to tie in the relevance of your letter with, and show you’re aware of, their local work.]
As my local MP, I would like to meet with you to discuss the 70/30 campaign’s vital work towards bringing together children’s services, mental health and family support to combat child maltreatment, and how we can see the best possible progress in towards achieving this in [your area].
[Your initial meeting will focus on telling your MP about the merits of and necessity for 70/30, which there’s plenty of information on in this pack.]
We have an ambitious plan and I would be incredibly grateful if you or a member of your staff could meet with me to discuss this plan, the enormous potential it has to change lives and the steps we can take towards making it happen.
Best wishes, [Your Name], Volunteer 70/30 Ambassador & constituent
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Template letter to Local Councillor
This letter is intended for Ambassadors who wish to write to a Local Councillor in order to request a first meeting. It is succinct and makes a clear request early on. There is more leeway than in an MP’s letter, although it is recommended that Ambassadors first contact their MPs and ask that they put them in touch with Councillors. Thus the first paragraph is appropriate where this letter is a follow-up. Send this letter in email format, without the section before ‘Dear…’ and use the subject line ‘Local 70/30 campaign – meeting request’. Again, to the point and clear. Replace the sections in purple and delete the sections in gold. Good luck!
Your Name Address Line 1 Address Line 2 Postcode (important)
Cllr Name Surname Address Line 1 Address Line 2 Postcode
Dear Cllr Name,
I am an Ambassador for the 70/30 campaign to reduce child abuse and neglect by 70% by the year 2030. I am encouraged by your campaign to …. I was also impressed to read about your visit to …
[In the highlighted section above, tell your Cllr that you’re encouraged by their comments/local campaign on a relevant topic. Do a quick Google of ‘Cllr’s name + your area + children’s services’, ‘Cllr’s name + your area + NHS’, ‘Cllr’s name + your area + mental health’. Check their blog, if they have one, for visits to children’s centres etc. If they are a member of the party/ parties running the council, you can complement the council as a whole where appropriate, just as above. The aim is to show the relevance of your letter and show you’re aware of their work.]
I recently met with my local MP, Name Surname, who was very helpful and keen to hear more about the primary prevention approach that our campaign is proposing to tackle child abuse and neglect in your borough. [S]he also very kindly agreed to contact you about our campaign. [Edit this section as appropriate.]
As my local councillor, I would like to meet with you to discuss the UK-wide 70/30 campaign to lead the way globally in recognising the vital importance of prevention (preventing damage before it occurs). Our primary prevention model brings together children’s services, mental health and family support to combat child maltreatment and is supported by leading practitioners and experts in the field.
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Your endorsement and support could help make our goal of reducing UK child abuse and neglect by 70% by 2030 a reality.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and I look forward to hearing from you in the near future.
Best wishes,
Your Name (Volunteer 70/30 Ambassador & constituent)
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Template blog post Can we cut child maltreatment by 70% by the year 2030?
Recently I met with a local campaigner from the UK-wide ‘70/30’ campaign to reduce child abuse and neglect by 70% by the year 2030. I wholeheartedly agree with the group’s aim and look forward to supporting their [insert area] campaign.
The grassroots movement was started in 2016 by WAVE Trust, a research-based charity known for their influential work on preventing child abuse, neglect and children witnessing domestic violence.
70/30 campaigners are already making an impact. They believe a preventive early years’ strategy can stop harm before it ever happens to children by tackling the root causes. The causes are widely known to experts and charities, and include parents’ mental health issues, domestic problems, substance and alcohol abuse, and parents’ history of themselves having been abused or neglected as a child.
After decades when levels of child abuse and neglect have stayed stubbornly high – it’s known that during their lifetime 1 in 5 UK children have suffered significant abuse or neglect, and 90% of them got no help at all – unless a new approach is taken, followed by practical action, 1 in 5 children will continue to suffer.
Failing to prevent this harm also brings a heavy financial burden. The All Party Parliamentary Group for Conception to Age Two put this cost to the UK economy at around £15bn per year – an unsustainable amount.
The silver lining is that there is increasing acceptance among professionals of the importance of tackling social problems earlier, where it is possible to get better outcomes and make huge savings to the public purse.
What makes the 70/30 campaign unique is their focus on a comprehensive support structure for vulnerable parents, identifying risks, and preventing harm before it is done. Currently no country anywhere in the world has put such a strategy into effect. Let’s get it happening in our area!
To get involved in the 70/30 campaign or find out more, visit www.70-30.org.uk. You can get in touch by emailing [email protected] or find them on Twitter: @7030Campaign.
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Template Press Release This is the letter one of the WAVE team wrote to their MP after a first meeting. He called the local paper’s news desk who were very willing to help, and followed up a number of times until it was published (several weeks later).
Sir — My local MP, Helen Hayes, wrote in her column of 10th March that we face a crisis in mental health care for children. Ms Hayes recalled a meeting she had with one distressed local mum, whose teenage son has had to wait months for treatment or even assessment. Ms Hayes is right to call on the Government to give mental health the same attention as physical health. Evidence shows a strong link between early adverse childhood experiences and later mental health problems. With health budgets being squeezed, one exciting way to make progress and savings is for us to do far more to prevent harm before it happens. This is where WAVE Trust’s 70/30 campaign comes in. As 70/30’s local ambassador in Dulwich, I recently sat down with Ms Hayes and introduced her to the campaign. I explained our ambitious goal: to reduce child maltreatment in the UK by 70% by 2030. We can achieve this by tackling the root causes of child maltreatment. These might be parental mental health problems, domestic violence, substance abuse or a whole basket of other issues. By helping mums and dads to deal with these problems, you can prevent their children from developing mental health problems later in life. We can give thousands of kids a better shot at life while saving money. Surely that makes sense? To get involved in the 70/30 campaign or find out more, visit www.70-30.org.uk or follow us @7030Campaign.
If you’re writing an article rather than a letter to the editor, the daughter of one of our Ambassadors (who is studying journalism) has kindly put together a few tips:
1. If you want your article to get published the best thing to do is contact the news desk or a reporter rather than the editor and then over the phone or email you need to tell them something striking that captures their attention. 2. If you’re sending it to a local paper it won’t get printed if it doesn’t have a local angle – look at recent articles from the same paper in order to find a link/correlation between their existing focus and the work of 70/30 Campaign. 3. Look at local statistics, or groups that are running then talk about what the 70/30 Campaign’s intentions are.
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Headline – your headline should present the who and what in a concise manner Sub Headline – offer additional information in a sub heading to draw your readers further in.
Dateline – show writers you’re a professional by using the correct dateline format (City, month day, and year).
Engage – Grab your readers’ attention with an engaging first sentence. Tell your audience why they’re here. Start with the most important and newsworthy details.
Describe – Compel readers to read on with a captivating and unique descriptive paragraph. Present all the facts but also make sure to be interesting and useful.
Quote - Add a human element to your article with a strong, supporting statement from you, a local 70/30 supporter, an academic or researcher etc.
Call to Action - Highlight the next steps your reader should take and/or direct them to where they can learn more with a clickable link. Image caption: Multimedia elements are also distributed to visual-based sites separate from the release, so be sure to include information from the message of the press release as well as keywords.
About the Campaign – Include a description of the campaign and clickable link to the official 70/30 website. Include the most important information a reader will need to know to understand the 70/30 campaign’s main focus and purpose. When was the campaign launched? Why is it called 70/30? What is its main focus and purpose? Where can people learn more about you? How can people get involved? What role can they take?
Contact – Make it easy for writers to get in touch with you for follow up by providing all relevant contact information, e.g. to find out more email [email protected] or follow us @7030Campaign.
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Figure 1 Nicola Lund Ambassador for Gower (South Wales Evening Post)
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Figure 2 Janak Lodhia Ambassador for Leicester (Leicester Mercury Online)
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Figure 3 Rob Robinson Ambassador for Axminster, Honiton (Exeter Daily Online)
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esponsibilities
Key r Key
Phone
Name
70/30 Role 70/30 AMBASSADOR ROLES
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FOLLOW
UP/ACTION
NOTES
PURPOSE PURPOSE CALL/MEETING OF
TIME
DATE
PHONE
NO/EMAIL
ORGANISATION
NAME
CONTACT
T
CONTAC
MODE MODE OF
GROUP MEMBER GROUP
4 1 2 3 5 6 7 8 9
ID
17 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 18 19 20
CONTACTLOG NAME: GROUP COORDINATOR: GROUP
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EMAIL ADDRESS EMAIL
PHONE NUMBER PHONE
BECOME A 70/30 AMBASSADOR TODAY! AMBASSADOR BECOME 70/30 A
(TOWN) ADDRESS
NAME
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From everyone at 70/30, we could not do this without you – so thank you for your efforts and for your commitment to this very worthy cause!
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