Tell the World

Many of our community members have been featured in newspapers and magazines, telling their stories of growing up with a cleft, or dealing with a diagnosis.

This media coverage is fantastic for CLAPA and cleft awareness, as it allows people to connect with our cause on a human level, and give people with a cleft some visibility.

You are the expert on your own story, and here are some steps to getting your story out into the world. CLAPA can support you with each of these steps.

1.  Think about your unique story

And why your story is important to you.

• It could be a fundraising event with a human angle – such as when one of our dads completed a ‘Tough Guy Challenge’ to win a medal for his own ‘little tough guy’, after seeing his son go through many cleft surgeries and procedures.
• Or a story to raise awareness and help prevent others going through the shock and fear of a cleft diagnosis like you did.
• Maybe you or your child has encountered prejudice or ignorance about the way you look or sound, so you’d like to help dispel myths and fight the stigma of cleft.
• Or maybe both you and your child have a cleft, and you can offer a positive story on how cleft care and support has improved.

Whatever your story, make sure it has a strong hook – this will help journalists create an article to grab their reader’s attention.

2. Have a go at writing a press release

Stories are usually submitted to the media as press releases, and can be great fun to write.

Try to keep your press release short and simple (under 500 words) and easy to read, using double-spacing and a simple font. Journalists receive lots of press releases and need to be able to read them quickly.

Here’s a press release template you can use to help:

Press Release

For immediate release (always insert date)

Headline/ title: Think about something eye-catching that will compel journalists to read on, such as: ‘Tough dad takes on challenge for tough son with cleft’. Look at other media headlines for inspiration.

First paragraph: Two or three short sentences. Include the most important information about your story. Think about your angle – such as our fundraising ‘tough guy’ dad – and what makes your story unique.

For local media, include your town or city (local journalists have specific geographical ‘patches’). For any upcoming events, include the date of the event here.

Main paragraphs: Provide all the details about your story. Journalists are taught to cover the ‘five w’s’ in their stories – Who? What? Why? Where? When? – to include all the information needed. Make sure your press release covers all the w’s.

Quotes: Add an interesting quote from someone who is central to the story, including yourself. Include their (or yours, if quoting yourself) first name and surname. A good quote length is two sentences.

Final paragraph: Sum up your story and include any actions. For fundraising stories this is where you can include any links to Just Giving pages etc.

Ends (write this at the end of your press release)

For further information, please contact: (insert your phone number and email address)

Notes to editors: (add the following section at the end of your press release for info on cleft and CLAPA)

About cleft lip and palate

Three babies are born with a cleft in the UK every day. This has an ongoing impact with their feeding, speech, hearing, teeth placement, and more.

In early pregnancy, the different parts of a baby’s face form separately and then join together. For one in 700 babies, the different parts don’t fully join, and the result is a gap – or ‘cleft’ – in the upper lip or roof of the mouth.

One or more surgeries are needed to close this gap, starting at just three months old. Further surgeries are often needed for speech, hearing and teeth placement issues. The treatment pathway is 20+ years, with many adults returning for more treatment later in life.

About CLAPA

The Cleft Lip and Palate Association (CLAPA) is the UK’s cleft lip and palate support charity.

Founded in 1979 by a group of passionate volunteers, it now supports a national community of more than 20,000 parents, patients and health professionals.

Last year, CLAPA sent out 10,828 specialist baby bottles and teats; reached around two million people on its social media channels; and delivered online events to 1,225 people personally affected by cleft.

CLAPA works closely with nine specialist NHS Cleft Teams.

The charity receives no NHS or government funding and relies on donations from the public to continue its vital work.

For more information visit www.clapa.com and see our latest impact report at www.clapa.com/our-impact

And finally: Read the language guide in our press resources for how to write about cleft.

Include photos in your press release if possible, and check permission from everyone in the photos. Include their names (first and surname) and their roles/relationships. Send as jpeg attachments of 1MB or above.

 3. Send it out

Email your press release to the news desk, or directly to a journalist. Copy and paste the release into the body of your message – attachments are too easily caught by junk mail filters.

The websites of newspapers and magazines, and radio or television, usually have details about how to send them a story or press release. Online media, including blogs and podcasts, may also be keen to cover your story.

Try approaching journalists who have covered similar stories or events, even if they’re not cleft-related. You can usually find their email address in the byline of any stories they’ve written.

Local newspapers, including online, are usually very receptive to stories about local issues or events, and often easier to connect with than larger national papers.

Give at least one week’s notice for any events your story might be about. Double that to two weeks for a weekly newspaper, and two months for a monthly magazine.

Keep a record of who you’ve sent it to so you can chase these up later.

4. Follow up

Be ready to quickly help the reporter out with photos, extra quotes, or any other information they may need to finish the story. They are often working to tight deadlines. Feel free to direct them to CLAPA for more information.

If you don’t get a response to your press release, don’t be put off. Follow it up with a phone call or email, as it may have been lost, or slipped their mind.

Ask if they’ve received your press release and if they’re interested in publishing your story. Be prepared to give more information straight away if they ask for it.

If they reject your story, don’t take it personally – there may not be room for it, it may have run out of time, or might just be something that journalist or outlet doesn’t cover. Ask if they can recommend somewhere else for you to send it.

5. Tell the World!

So you’re going to have your story published – give yourself a pat on the back!

Spread the news around your social networks and make sure to tell us about it.

We love to collect articles and broadcasts about our supporters, and we’d be happy to share it around our networks too.