It’s been a particularly satisfying week for leepeckmedia, as we reached the culmination of a three month campaign and delivered stellar coverage across television, radio and digital platforms for our client ReesLeisure who run World of Swimming.

Devised by our own Account Manager at leepeckmedia, the “Make Waves for Marwell’s Penguins” campaign set out to connect the everyday reality of children’s swimming lessons with a much bigger cause: the moving water that Marwell Wildlife’s penguins need to stay healthy and active. The goal was to raise £10,000 towards a brand-new flow cannon for the colony.

Over 3,500 swimmers across Hampshire, Wiltshire, Dorset and Oxfordshire took part, and the story it told proved impossible to ignore. Our friends at the Daily Echo were among the first to back the campaign, with the Bournemouth Echo close behind, before the coverage rippled all the way up to the Oxford Mail. Over 12 weeks, Taylor worked closely with the marketing and fundraising teams at both Marwell Zoo and World of Swimming, and acted as the main point of contact for the BBC News production team, who held the exclusive on the full piece from campaign start, to the switch on of the much anticipated flow canon.

The results speak for themselves: the campaign didn’t just meet its target, it smashed it, raising a total of £15,631, plus a further £3,358 in Gift Aid. The surplus will go towards further projects supporting the health and wellbeing of Marwell’s penguins.

It’s campaigns like this one that remind us what good PR can do – turning a simple, local story into regional coverage with a genuine cause behind it. A huge thank you to everyone at World of Swimming, Marwell Wildlife and the BBC News team for making it happen, and to the leepeckmedia team for driving the strategy from first pitch to final splash.

Here’s to the next wave of stories worth telling.