The Christie Charity
In March 2019, The Christie charity announced a £23m fundraising appeal to support the development of a £26m new cancer centre for Macclesfield. The communications team at The Christie developed a high profile PR plan for The Christie at Macclesfield and implemented this over a 3-year period leading up to the opening of the centre.
The team negotiated 2 key media partnerships to help maximise coverage - one with the local weekly paper, The Macclesfield Express (readership 7,839) and one with lifestyle magazine, Cheshire Life (readership 25,623).
In the summer of 2019, The Macclesfield Express established its ‘Bring The Christie to Macc’ campaign. The newspaper launched the campaign with a front page trailer, page lead article and editorial. It also provided editorial space each week for regular news and updates on the project and the fundraising effort.
Between June 2019 and the centre opening in December 2022, the Macclesfield Express ran 96 articles about the project.
These included:
- patient stories showing how the new centre will benefit cancer patients,
- the fundraising launch event, planning approval,
- many local fundraising activities,
- key moments in the building and fitting out of the centre,
- details about the services to be offered, and
- details of some of the key appointments for the new centre.
The team also placed several first-person pieces from some of the consultants and clinical staff involved in the project including impactful awareness pieces on lung cancer, bowel cancer, clinical trials and frailty issues.
The second media partnership with Cheshire Life proved to be equally as successful. The publication agreed to host a special Christie at Macclesfield photo competition with 12 entries selected from over 100 to feature on the walls of the new cancer centre and in a fundraising calendar.
The Christie at Macclesfield project was featured each month between May 2021 and December 2021 with the opening of the centre featured in the April 2022 issue. Coverage in the aspirational lifestyle magazine included three celebrity interviews, behind the scenes interviews with key clinical and non-clinical staff, inspiring fundraisers, key facts and figures and compelling patient stories.
With the catchment for the new cancer centre covering the High Peak area of Derbyshire, the rest of Cheshire and some parts of North Staffordshire, the media team targeted a wide range of local newspapers, community news websites and local radio stations through that catchment.
The communications team’s initial aim of achieving more than 200 pieces of coverage throughout the campaign was exceeded by a large margin, with 379 articles and news stories about the project appearing in the following media outlets:
Print and online media
- About Manchester
- Biddulph Chronicle
- Blackpool Gazette
- Building Design & Construction Magazine
- Buxton Advertiser
- Cheshire Independent
- Cheshire Life
- Cheshire Live
- Cheshire Living
- Chester Chronicle
- Company News HQ
- Congleton Chronicle
- Congleton Nub
- Construction Enquirer
- Creative Build Magazine
- Crewe Chronicle
- Estates Gazette
- Glossop Chronicle
- INCheshire Magazine
- In your area website
- ITV.com website
- Knutsford Guardian
- Living Edge
- Lytham St Annes Express
- Macclesfield Express
- Macclesfield Nub
- Manchester Evening News
- MSN.com
- National Health Executive
- Northwich Guardian
- Place North West
- Porsche Post
- Salutions (Didsbury Magazine)
- Sandwell Chronicle
- So Cheshire
- Specification Online
- Stockport Express
- The Sentinel
- Warrington Guardian
- Winsford Guardian
- Woman's Weekly
Broadcast media
- BBC North West Today
- BBC North West Tonight
- BBC Radio Manchester
- ITV Granada Reports
- Hits Radio
- Silk FM