Summary

Nottingham based social enterprise Communities Inc asked for Motive's help in raising awareness of their Stand By Her training workshops.

The workshops, which were developed in partnership with Nottinghamshire Women's Aid, are aimed at men and aim to reduce violence, intimidation and harassment of women by equipping men to act as allies and to challenge misogyny wherever they come across it.

We helped Communities Inc reach a national audience with these workshops and ultimately brought in enquiries from local authorities all over the UK who were interested in staging them in their area.

Working with the Communities Inc team we focused on the broadcast media, reaching out and inviting them down to a specially prepared taster workshop. We carefully selected our pitch targets, choosing journalists with a focus on social issues.

Results

The response from the media was fantastic with the Stand By Her workshops becoming a lead item on BBC national news bulletins. Click here to watch the report on BBC News.

We also secured coverage on ITV National News and Channel 4 News along with several print and online titles.

Motive's PR campaign helped position Communities Inc at the very centre of a national debate on how best to tackle the problem of violence against women.

They received many enquiries off the back of the PR campaign and agreed deals with several local authorities to roll the training out in their areas. These included Hackney, Greenwich, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth and Richmond Upon Thames in London along with Darlington, Rochdale and Cambridge councils.

At least 1,000 men are now expected to receive the Stand By Her training.

What's more Communities Inc were contacted by London Mayor Sadiq Khan asking if he could visit one of their Stand By Her sessions after seeing the media reports.

He used his visit, in June 2022, to announce the launch of a new £18m initiative to combat violence against girls and women - confirming that Communities Inc is now at the very centre of the focus of how best to address this important issue.