Crimestoppers appoints comms head in PR boost

by Mark Johnson, PR Week UK 16-Jan-04

Crimestoppers Trust has hired its first director of communications as it strengthens its PR effort.

The anti-crime charity has appointed its own deputy director of operations, Jane Reay, to the top PR post. She had held her previous role for almost three years.

The expansion of the department, which previously included only a PR manager whose post has since been scrapped, will include the addition of a PR officer on a part-time basis and the creation of a PR role to manage its website later this year.

Reay has been tasked with recruiting for both jobs.

‘In this role I can plan more proactively,’ she said. ‘I can ensure we’re getting the right messages out, and that our regional work reaps the full benefits.’

The trust, set up in the UK in 1988, had a total income of £2.8m last year. However, a survey conducted by Crimestoppers in December revealed that, although 80 per cent of people had heard of the Crimestoppers name, a quarter said they had no idea it was a registered charity.

Reay said that her first task will be to bolster the organisation’s fundraising activities, a task which also falls within her remit, by raising awareness of the fact of Crimestoppers’ charitable status. Reay is also in the final stages of selecting a PR agency to support its major campaigns this year.

Two agencies have been selected to pitch from an initial line-up of five, but Reay declined to name any of the firms involved.

Two major campaigns will be launched later this year to encourage the public to come forward through Crimestoppers to help with gun and drugs crime, she said.