Charity PR & Love Island: reaching a wider audience for Henshaws 

Located in Manchester, High-Rise Communications is lead by experts in charity and social enterprise PR – with clients ranging from purposeful organisations to non-profits. 

Hugely popular dating show Love Island returned to ITV2 last Monday and with it a new batch of singletons. Five men and five women entered the villa in South Africa for the winter edition to the glee of the 1.5 million watching at home.

The show features 25-year-old Ron Hall, a partially sighted financial advisor from Essex. Ron suffered an injury while playing football as a child, leaving him without his vision in one of his eyes. That hasn’t stopped him, though, as he says he often uses his sight loss to his benefit.

The challenge

Tasked with watching the programme for charity PR purposes that involved our client, Henshaws, we got off to a great start, landing coverage on local radio stations and in the local press.

Now, I have to admit, prior to watching the show I never thought it would appeal to me. However, the more you watch, the more engrossed you become. The twists and turns, and the unpredictability of what will happen next keep you fixed. So, the producers are always there providing the next shock of the series. 

Despite the shocks, I am pleased to see greater representation on shows like this. It helps promote understanding and awareness, and I have no doubt Ron will make a mark on the show for however long he is on it. 

The result

Henshaw’s Yorkshire fundraiser, Kate Simpson, appeared on BBC Radio York last week to comment on Ron’s appearance on the ITV2 dating show, and she also shared her own daughter’s story, who lives with a visual impairment.

Then, the charity’s commercial director, Tom Harte, appeared on BBC Radio Manchester to discuss the same news item. Other media we secured included the Harrogate Advertiser and About Manchester.

It’s a great start to our work with Henshaws helping to boost their profile in both the Greater Manchester and Yorkshire areas; raising awareness of what they do and how they help visually impaired people.

We all look forward to following Ron’s progress in the villa and hope he stays in for many more days, with important discussions on sight loss to follow.

Want help for your business?

If you need help from an award-winning PR agency in Manchester, whether you’re after charity communications or in the corporate world, we can help. 

P.S. Have you seen one of our digital PR campaigns? We secured dozens of links and our client saw a huge boost to their website views.