Charity leaders learn about great story telling from media panel

Saturday 17 February 2018

More than 150 charity representatives, States members and senior civil servants, attended Lloyds Bank Foundation for the Channel Islands annual seminars, which focused on the art of great storytelling.

The events featured panel sessions made up of three prominent local media personalities in each island, alongside the keynote speaker, John Williams, Vice Chair, Association of Chairs and Communications Consultant.

They also included workshops during which delegates discussed cost-effective digital content solutions led by Digital Communications Specialist, Kirsty Marrins, and panel sessions where members asked the media how to piece together effective and efficient stories.

Keynote speaker, John Williams, gave some simple and sound advice about how one person and one story can be so much more powerful than a set of figures. He said to “take it back to something people can connect with because people don’t connect with statistics.” He also stressed the three main principles to consider when telling a story, which are clarity, confidence, and consistency.

The panel of media members included James Filleul, Editor at Bailiwick Express; Naomi Dunning, News Editor at BBC Radio Jersey; and Simon Jupp, News and Content Editor at Channel TV in Jersey. In Guernsey, panellists consisted of Shaun Green, Editor at the Guernsey Press; Tamara Timothy, Editor at Contact magazine; and Laura Clayton, News Editor for Bailiwick Express in Guernsey. 

Pictured: John Williams (keynote speaker), Tamara Timothy (Contact magazine), Laura Clayton (Bailiwick Express), Shaun Green (Guernsey Press).

Questions from the audience ranged from curiosities about video press releases to opinionated ones about whether or not the age of the press release is ‘dead.’ Katie le Quesne, Chair, Lloyds Bank Foundation for the Channel Islands, moderated both panel sessions and said that: “The purpose of the seminars was to help local charities improve their communication and particularly to encourage them to use social media in addition to the traditional media outlets of tv, print, and radio. In this way, they would be more effective at telling their story to attract interest and raise funds.”

Steve Eldred, Managing Director, Community Savings attended the Jersey seminar. He said: “The topic, content and quality of the speakers was excellent as was the organisation. I found it extremely useful and thought provoking.”

Jo Le Poidevin, Executive Director, Lloyds Bank Foundation for the Channel Islands, told the audience how the Foundation contributed funds in 2017 and highlighted that in the past 32 years, the Foundation has granted £16 million to support local charities across both islands. “We have stayed true to our average funding for 2017 and awarded more than £650k across 22 grants funded between one and three years. As our funding is solely backed by the profits of Lloyds Banking Group we also manage the matched giving scheme arranged with Lloyds Bank staff and last year raised a further £37k for Channel Islands charities through this programme.”

Lead picture: Katie Le Quesne moderating (Lloyds Bank Foundation), John Williams (Keynote speaker), James Filleul (Bailiwick Express), Simon Jupp (Channel TV), Naomi Dunning (BBC Radio Jersey).