Template press releases for walkers to use!

To help you raise awareness about your team entry in this year�s RBS Caledonian Challenge, why not contact your local newspaper and suggest they run a story on your involvement in the event. Local papers are always looking out for news stories involving local people and a group of walkers aiming to walk 54 miles in 24 hours provides an ideal story!

It could also help you raise some sponsorship money. A suggested template press release is below. You can adapt this for your own use, but please ensure you always refer to "The RBS Caledonian Challenge� and the Scottish Community Foundation in your copy.

To find out the best person to whom to send the press release, you can phone your local newspaper and ask for their news contact. Ask whether they would prefer to receive the story via email and/or hard copy and ensure that you run your press release through a spell check and check for grammatical errors.

You might also wish to send your press release to your local radio station, which may wish to speak to you both before and after the Challenge to see how you get on.

And always remember your own internal communications, in-house news letter, intranet and PR.

Template regional press release for CalChall teams
[Insert date]

Local Walkers Put Their Best Foot Forward for Charity

A group of keen walkers from [insert town/region] is training to walk 54 miles of the West Highland Way in 24 hours in June this year. Why? They are joining 1,500 other individuals taking part in Scotland�s top charity endurance event, The RBS Caledonian Challenge.

The Caledonian Challenge 2007 takes place on 16th and 17th June and involves teams of between three and six walkers, in corporate or individual teams, walking 54 miles non-stop along the West Highland Way. Starting in Fort William the route passes through some of Scotland�s most spectacular scenery � up Glen Nevis, down the Devil�s Staircase, across Rannoch Moor, past Crianlarich, finishing at Ardlui on the shores of Loch Lomond.

All teams are asked to raise a minimum of £500 sponsorship per walker (and looking to raise a total of £1 million) for the Scottish Community Foundation, which supports small community projects throughout Scotland.

[Names of individual walkers] of [Team name) is raising sponsorship funds in various ways [list ways your team is raising the sponsorship money].

And besides raising sponsorship money, the team is also undergoing a fitness programme in order to be able to walk 54 miles of rugged terrain non-stop.

[Name of individual] commented on their training programme, saying: [include quote on training walks already completed/planned].

Anyone wishing to sponsor [team name] should contact [insert name of individual in team and contact phone and/or email address].

For further information on this year�s Caledonian Challenge, visit the website:
www.caledonianchallenge.com or call the hotline on 0131 524 0350.

ENDS

Notes to Editors: -
The Caledonian Challenge was founded in 1997 by two Scots, Angus MacDonald and Alex Blyth. Inspired by Hong Kong�s Trailwalker event on the MacLehose Trail, they wanted to bring a similar challenge to the West Highlands.

The Challenge has grown from 17 walkers raising £16,000 in 1997 to become Scotland�s top charity endurance event, with more than 1,500 walkers braving the trail in 2006.

Each year, walkers raise over £1million for charity and these funds support the work of the Scottish Community Foundation, which helps people to give back to Scotland. The Caledonian Challenge has raised over £9m since being set up in 1997, helping fund projects that range from youth theatres to elderly support groups, drugs advice services to healthy eating initiatives.

The Scottish Community Foundation (SCF) is the only one of its kind in Scotland and was founded in 1996. It has since grown to mirror other successful community foundations across the world. In 2005 alone £2.5 million of Scottish Community Foundation grants reached every sector of society in every corner of Scotland; from under fives and over seventies to arts groups and disadvantaged teenagers; from the rural Highlands and Islands to the Scottish Borders, isolated rural areas to crowded inner cities. The sums involved were just as far ranging; the smallest gift was £200, the largest a long term grant of £25,000 per year.

Media Contact: Lorna McKee or Stacey Bell at Golley Slater PR on (0131) 272 2733 or [email protected] / [email protected]

April 26, 2006, 7:39 pm

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