hayley coristine | freelance communications specialist
LOOKING FOR SOME FREELANCE HELP?
I have in-depth experience of charity and agency-side comms plus 13 years working as a freelance writer and editor (check out some of my work here), all around the areas of sustainability, environmental conservation and ethical living. If you're an environmentally or ethically-minded organisation, brand or business and need a little with telling or promoting your story, I can help. My specialties are writing and content creation, reputation management, PR & media relations and digital media.
MY SERVICES
Writing • Article & column writing • Copywriting for websites, newsletters, reports and direct mail • Editing & proofreading
Digital Media • Content creation • Blog writing • Channel management • Content calendars • Communications audits • Social media training • Social media strategy & evaluation
PR & Media Relations • Press release writing • Concept development • Storytelling for diverse audiences • Pitching stories to press • Interview briefs • Journalist liaison
Crisis Communications • Reputation management • Crisis comms audits • Emergency planning • Stakeholder mapping • Crisis communications training
Strategy & Management • Communications strategy development • Strategy implementation • Evaluation
CLIENTS
A selection of some of my clients
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WORK I'VE DONE THAT I'M PROUD OF
Writing • Write columns and news articles to bring client stories to life. Researched and wrote some of the most successful blogs and news articles on the SA’s website. Have written popular articles for Natural Products News, the Organic Trade Board, Pebble Magazine and Thousand Islands Life, among others.
PR & Media relations • Successfully delivered ‘Out to Lunch’ media campaign to improve children’s food on the high street, achieving media reach of 22,000,000 in the campaign’s first two days. Surpassed targets for print, radio and online media coverage, securing stories in national press including The Guardian, The Times, Independent, Telegraph, The Sun and the Daily Mail. The campaign led to restaurants pledging to make changes to their kids menus and offer healthier food choices.
Production • Collaborated with the fantastic Natural History Consortium as Conference Producer for the UK's leading environmental communications conference, Communicate, as well as Communicate Plus, the fringe youth conference, in 2019. Conceived sessions; approached, booked and briefed speakers; managed production schedule and worked closely with venue staff, NHC team and partners to ensure smooth running of both sold out conferences.
Digital Media • Refreshed the Soil Association’s digital media strategy and grew Twitter and Facebook audiences by 43% and 50% while managing social media. Influenced directors to build their profile via social media which resulted in more funding being dedicated to digital media.
Campaigning • Developed and delivered PR strategy for the ‘Come Clean About Beauty’ campaign which shone the spotlight on misleading beauty claims. Secured exclusives in the Daily Mail, the Guardian and the Times and achieved media reach of 14,000,000 in campaign’s first week, across national and consumer beauty press. Resulted in key beauty press (Glamour, Vogue and others) covering the story during the campaign week and in the months following the campaign, due to significant reader interest.
Crisis Communications • Delivered a crisis communications audit for the Soil Association, identifying key threats to reputation and working across teams to plan responses and manage sensitive issues. As a direct result of this work the team has had time to prepare for negative stories, and stories have been reported more positively than would otherwise be the case without plans in place.
Strategy & Management • Undertook website audit for a Sustainability Consult client and made improvements to style, user journey and brand story, resulting in increased web traffic and fewer drop-offs.
OTHER STUFF I'VE DONE
Press Manager @ Soil Association • Bristol, UK • March 2017 - April 2018
Digital Comms & Press Officer @ Soil Association • Bristol, UK • July 2014 - March 2017
Chief Content Officer @ Five Brand Communication • Belgium // UK • Dec - July 2014
Communications Assistant @ Sustainability Consult • Brussels, Belgium • Sept - Dec 2013
Environmental Consultant @ ADAS • Wolverhampton, UK • 2011 - 2013
Communications & Operations Coordinator • Maynooth, Ireland • 2008 - 2010
Freelance writer & comms specialist • various locations • 2005 - present
I've also worked in the travel and education sector - in a previous lifetime!