While your group may be successful in improving access to individual premises, but this may not make the wider public aware of the access issues people encounter due to poor design. Establishing and maintaining a good relationship with the local press, radio station and television station can help raise public awareness of the issues, and may help to attract new members to the group.

Press releases

One of the best ways to get information about your group into the news is to produce a press release. If you decide to write one, consider the following guidelines.

• make it clear and interesting
• ensure it is as punchy as possible – it should immediately tell the reader ‘what, who, where, when and why’
• aim to sum up the story in the first paragraph
• type it on A4 headed paper with double line spacing (so that editors can mark which text to copy)
• put information on one side of each page only. If there is more than one page, each page should be headed with your access group’s name. The word ‘more’ should be typed at the end of every page except the last
• at the end of the press release, type ‘ends’, and paper-clip the pages together (do not staple them)
• always give a contact name and contact details at the end of the text
• try to keep it as short as possible – if they want more information, they will contact you