“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty”

Winston Churchill

What is #CovidKindness?

It goes without question that the pandemic is shaping our industry in ways that we could have never predicted. With change comes extreme difficulty but also the profound human ability to adapt and thrive. Strike Media has discovered over the past few weeks that if you look below the surface of the chaos, huge amounts of creativity and kindness is manifest in bright new online business ideas to help others. This collective ‘not knowing’ has prompted a sort of stripping back of ego and realisation of common humanity that is pretty inspiring.

We are on a mission to celebrate the fabulous individuals who have shown the courage to make lemonade out of lemons during lockdown by starting online initiatives to help others. See below for our pro bono PR work for Blossom Antenatal and Your Local Delivered.

Please do drop us a line if you would like us to help you spread the word about your lockdown initiative!

Blossom Antenatal

A group of mums based in Harrow, North West London came together to launch Blossom Antenatal at the beginning of lockdown, to help expectant mothers in desperate need of help. Drawing on years of experience working with in the NHS, they, along with expert teachers in the field, are volunteering their time to offer free breastfeeding workshops online through Zoom. 

Blossom’s aim is to ease the burden on the NHS and support expectant families, as all NHS classes of this kind have been cancelled during the pandemic. As it stands, the NHS cannot do online classes due to GDPR and bureaucratic red-tape. Blossom Antenatal, who already have the backing and support of a number of NHS hospitals and NHS workers, have stepped in to offer a virtual helping hand. Normally, 30% of new mums in hospital ask for breastfeeding classes. 1200 mums have already booked into classes in just over a week and Blossom is growing into an invaluable support network, with their messaging even reaching the other side of the world- the group has received calls and emails from mums in Australia asking for help.

We worked with the Blossom team to pull together a themed press release as well as a target press list with a very quick turn around. We were thrilled to secure an interview on Sunday 5th April on BBC 5 Live with one of the Blossom teachers and a mum to be, a long BBC London feature with founder Clare Castell, social engagement with influencers and friends of Strike Media as well as blog coverage. We were especially pleased to see celebrated poet Hollie McNish and TV personality and influencer, Anna Williams get behind the cause. Blossom continues to grow even as the lockdown eases and are working towards becoming a registered charity. Kudos ladies!

Your Local Delivered

This free online search platform allows people who are in isolation and at high risk of COVID-19 , to find local businesses that are delivering. Listings of pubs, restaurants, pharmacies, bakeries, butchers and more are available at the click of a finger to service housebound communities  with quality, local produce with the aim of giving small businesses a helping hand. The Strike Media team sent out a press release announcing the website, and following the site going down for a hour following the release due to the huge increase in traffic, the site is now up again and thriving, helping communities across the country.

We have helped get Your Local Delivered message out with pieces in The Guardian, Time Out as well as arranging for them to speak on BBC Radio London (Robert Elms Show) & BBC Radio Five Live. We were delighted to see that Your Local Delivered had been shortlisted for the Telegraph’s ‘Lockdown Awards’, with a lovely picture of founder Charlotte making up the main image on the website and in print. This was a monumental achievement for Charlotte and the team, who had all juggled full time jobs alongside the running of the delivery service. Strike loved being able to help these guys out and spread a bit of good news when the anxiety about the virus was at its peak.

Movies Together

The 5th edition of our weekly home entertainment newsletter championed the online petition #MoviesTogether. This is an online petition created by film lovers that pledges people will return to the cinema after lockdown. It’s been signed by 14,326 people to date and was a much needed expression of unity and optimism from the four major corners of the theatrical experience: audiences, filmmakers, studios, and exhibitors at the height of lockdown. 

Those who signed the petition received push notifications when cinemas re-opened with listings so they could arrange socially distanced trips with their nearest and dearest.

Grieving in Lockdown: personal PR for Annie Tutty

At the height of lockdown in May, we came across Annie’s very moving blogpost about losing her dad at the age of sixteen. Now a successful twenty four year old with a degree and London based job in digital marketing, Annie writes in her blog about how lockdown had given her some much needed time to reflect and grieve for his death. After speaking to her about the hundreds of messages she was getting from old school friends, colleagues and even strangers who had come across the blog, we decided that sharing the blog with local news outlets might encourage others to confront their grief as well. 

The team at Strike and our founder Wez Merchant are big advocates of mental health awareness, so were very happy to work with Annie to get her story heard around Mental Health Awareness Week at the end of May. We arranged two interviews with Get Surrey Live and Radio Jackie. Annie has since had an influx of messages and is so happy that her speaking out has given others confidence to do the same.