On Monday October 29th the national organisations backing Community Day will be launching the next stage of the campaign, as this is the day on which Community Day would fall. It is the in the middle of the current longest gap between bank holidays.
Local groups may also want to use the day to show their support for the campaign by asking local MPs to back the campaign or to show their support for the campaign.
Of course the more a press release features local events and personalities the more likely it is to receive good coverage, but the following may provide some helpful ideas for writing your own news release for local newspapers, websites and radio stations.
And if you can join with other groups to make a joint call, that will also help get better coverage.
If you are calling on an MP to support something, it is important that you give them prior notice and get a letter to them off in good time. You should also tell them that you will be releasing the letter to the local media.
embargo: 00:01 hours Monday October 29 2007
<name of group> urges local MP(s) to back Community Day public holiday
<enter local group> has called on <local MPs or name of MP> to back the campaign for a new Community Day bank holiday in October that will celebrate the contribution that voluntary and community activity makes in <town or area>, provide an opportunity for existing groups such as <name of your group> to publicise their activities, and give people in <town or area> an opportunity to organise one-off events designed to improve their local community.
Supporters of a Community Day are calling for a bank holiday on a Monday in late October, as it would split the four-month gap between the late August bank holiday and Christmas Day, currently the longest period between bank holidays. The date is also next to the October half term, which will help families to take part in Community Day together.
Britain has three days fewer public holidays than the European average, and the campaign says that a new Community Day would help bridge the gap with a new holiday that has a serious purpose. The national campaign is supported by the Trades Union Congress, the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, Community Service Volunteers, Volunteering England and the National Association for Voluntary and Community Action.
In the letter to <name of MP or MPs> <name> of < voluntary group> says: “<take a few quotes from the letter that put why you support Community Day in a nutshell and what difference a community day would make locally through what your group or groups would do on the day.>”
<name> said “A Community Day will be different to other bank holidays because it will have a purpose. It will gives us a chance to publicise our activities and recruit more volunteers, but we hope that it will also lead to lots of one-off events in <town or area>.”
“We hope that our MP and lots of local people will join us by showing their support on the Community Day website
www.communityday.org.uk , not just by signing up as a supporters but also answering the big question, ‘what would you do on Community Day?
