One of the best things about working as part of On The Level PR is the opportunity it affords to let everyone know what a great place the East London Foundation Trust is to work for.
Developing and maintaining good relationships with local and national media organisations is vital in this regard.
A recent event that took place is a great example of how the process works.
It had just been announced that children’s author Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity were funding two dedicated Transition Nurse Specialist posts nationwide.
Everyone at the Trust were delighted to learn that the Specialist Children and Young People’s service (SCYPS) in Newham had made a successful bid for one of these posts.
And so the charity wanted to celebrate this with a special launch event at the SCYPS centre in Stratford.
Supporting Youngsters With Complex Health Needs
As part of the celebrations, a Roald Dahl Transition Nurse Specialist already in post and a youngster she had worked with were coming along to talk about their joint experience.
That jump from childhood to adulthood is challenging enough for anyone, but for a young person with complex health needs, doubly so.
Hence the vital work role that a Roald Dahl Transition Nurse plays.
But the announcement about the funding for the new role would have slipped under the news radar if it hadn’t been pitched to the right journalist at the right time.
From previous experience, I knew that this would be the perfect story for the BBC’s Karl Mercer to cover.
Karl is a broadcast journalist with a long and illustrious track record of reporting stories that matter to Londoners.
Beating BBC News Deadlines
Happily, by getting Karl (pictured far left) and the BBC news team on board, not only was I able to highlight the excellent work that the SCYPS team do day in day out across Newham, but also to shine a light on this highly prestigious nursing vacancy now available within the team.
Karl was keen to make sure the story would transmit that same day on the teatime BBC London News.
This was great because we were now reaching out to a wide pool of potential nursing talent across the whole city; letting them know about this exciting new post.
It was now a matter of making sure Karl and his team had enough time to get the footage they needed and beat the daily news deadline.
So I put myself on guard that morning outside the SCYPS clinic ready to wave frantically to make sure Karl and the TV crew didn’t miss me– there was no way I was going to let them drive past and lose vital editing minutes!
Strong Bonds Shine Through
Upon arrival, Karl got to work and really created some magic.
He spent time getting to know the Roald Dahl nurse and the youngster she had worked with; to really get to the essence of what it was that made them form such a strong bond.
He captured something special about their relationship on camera which shone out on the broadcast that night.
Meanwhile, the Roald Dahl themed party going on in the background was great – so many young service users had come dressed in role. There was a real buzz of excitement all around.
Luke, our Newham Recorder journalist was there. It was great to see him chatting away to our dedicated SCYPS staff, getting an understanding of the varied and demanding work they all do.
He ended up doing a lovely write up that went out both online and in print.
Both the BBC and Newham Recorder pieces highlighted the strong bond that exists between our multi-specialist staff team and how they work together to support youngsters.
Reaching Out To Millions of Londoners
The virtuous circle was in motion – by helping to manage a media event on this scale, that night millions of Londoners could see the range of talent that drives our SCYPS service in Newham.
Not to mention the high aspirations they all have for children and families across the whole borough.
And very importantly, it was clear to nurses and other aspiring health professionals everywhere that this was a great team to come and work alongside, a place where you can forge a great career path.