About the project
Non-native American mink were introduced into the UK for fur farming and have had a catastrophic impact on several native UK species, especially water voles, which have declined by 96% since the 1950s.
The Waterlife Recovery Trust (WRT) was set up to see if it was possible to humanely eradicate American mink to prevent this terrible impact on native species. They began an innovative East Anglian trial which used smart cage traps that alerted volunteers via text/email when activated, and golf balls containing scent from previously caught mink to lure other mink inside, both which have never been done before.
In January 2024 their ground-breaking trial was declared successful and showed that a mink-free Britain was feasible – something previously deemed impossible. Following the success of the trial WRT now has a grant of £500,000 from Natural England to roll-out these methods in other parts of the country, with the aim of making Britain mink-free.
Outcomes
CCC was asked to promote the success of the trial, showcasing the pioneering elements but communicated in a sensitive way. This is where our storytelling expertise comes into play. We developed a series of key messages and a press release which was pitched to national, regional and sector media outlets.
This was our most successful media relations campaign to date, with 208 items of media coverage and an estimated audience reach of just over 1 billion. Highlights include interviews on BBC Radio 4 Today, ITV National News (TV) and on all key regional TV and radio outlets, articles in 21 national newspapers (print and online) and articles in the New Scientist and Country Life. We worked with the Press Association which generated 168 items of regional coverage and some of the national newspaper articles.
We also have some future stories in planning including BBC Radio 4 Inside Science, BBC One: Countryfile and a profile-piece in The Guardian.
Traffic to the WRT’s website soared as a result, with 793 visits on the day the PR’s embargo was lifted (compared to 169 the week before), 9,662 clicks and over 40,000 hits.
“We were very pleased with the results of our partnership with CCC. The coverage achieved exceeded our expectations, and the support and guidance we were offered by Adela and Morag was extremely helpful. We wouldn’t hesitate to engage CCC again.“
Tony Martin, Chair of the Waterlife Recovery Trust
CCC delivery
- Creating a key message document and infographic to communicate this complex story
- Media relations: using key messages to create a press release, pitching to media, setting up interviews and filming
Photography: Dave Edwards, Hugh Clark, Nigel Housden Pinsharpstudiosuk, Waterlife Recovery Trust