How Your Care Home Can Get Wide Ranging National Coverage

Care homes have some brilliant characters living in them, with some fantastic back stories – and you can use these to 1) give them enjoyable, memorable moments and 2) promote your home’s offering to the wider world.

As an example, a care home client of ours, Foxholes in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, recently achieved more than 100 pieces of press coverage by looking at and then highlighting the backstory of one of its residents to the media.

The home welcomed David Brown, 83, as one of its residents last year, and it turns out he was the former teacher of the general care home manager, Neil Gandecha.

Despite being the head of English at the school, David always had a love of music, and in particular the violin, which Neil helped bring to life again through dementia therapy tools and a reunion with the head of music at a nearby school. This meeting saw David play a moving rendition of Bruce Springsteen’s ‘When the Saints Go Marching In’.

With all the hallmarks of a lovely story for the press – highlighting this was exactly what we did, achieving widespread national and regional coverage.

The story was featured by The Independent, the Evening Standard and dozens of regional outlets throughout the UK – much to the home’s delight, and indeed, David Brown’s family who loved the recognition of his talent.

Within care settings, these backstories are more common than you might think.

For instance another care home client of ours, Balquidder House near Loch Lomond, saw a similar former student-teacher relationship, which we also highlighted to press in June, achieving great coverage across leading Scottish titles, the Herald, Glasgow Times and more.

Taking a look at who is living in your home and their experiences can uncover a wealth of untapped PR potential.

Want us to show you how? Just let us know and we’d be more than happy to chat things through.