Environmental charity The Conservation Volunteers has chosen Forster Communications to raise its profile following a six way competitive pitch.

The agency will work on delivering a PR programme over the next 12 months to tell the stories of the people involved in the organisation, as well as helping the charity to forge new partnerships with businesses, government and local communities.

The first campaign kicks off this month focusing on raising awareness and encouraging participation in The Big Green Weekend which takes place on 5-7th October. The PR programme will also encompass work on the Green Heroes Awards and supporting communications around new community spaces, the Green Hubs.

Forster Communications is a campaigning communications agency known for helping clients to deliver change. The agency has previously worked with a number of organisations to mobilise volunteers including the National Trust and Give More. The team has also been recognised for work on mass participation events including Bike Week, which has grown in participant numbers by over 10% every year since Forster started working on the project.

Miles Sibley, director of strategy, The Conservation Volunteers, said: “It’s a positive sign that the importance of green places to the wellbeing of individuals and communities is becoming more widely discussed and understood. However, cuts in public expenditure mean that parks, playing fields and woodlands are increasingly under threat.  We’re immensely proud of what The Conservation Volunteers has achieved since it was founded in the 1950s and feel it’s time to shout louder about our ability to help local people reclaim the green places that they want and need. The recent rebrand and name change is helping us appeal to new audiences, so it makes perfect sense that we refresh our communications strategy as well. We chose Forster as they presented clear strategy and tactics to help us drive genuine change.”

Peter Gilheany, director at Forster, added: “We’re really pleased to be working with The Conservation Volunteers as it embarks on a new phase of development with exciting projects like the Green Hubs starting to play a crucial role in local communities. In the noisy media environment, big name environmental campaigning groups often dominate the headlines, whilst the impact of local community projects is often ignored. In the next 12 months we’ll be working closely with The Conservation Volunteers to help them tell the compelling stories of the green places that we all enjoy, and the volunteers who look after them.”