Case study · Previous employed role
YMCA Lincolnshire
Sleep Easy 2020
Integrated fundraising communications for YMCA Lincolnshire’s annual sleep-out at Lincoln Cathedral.
Communications that carried the campaign from registration to results.
Sleep Easy is YMCA Lincolnshire’s annual sponsored sleep-out, designed to raise awareness of homelessness and generate funds to support local YMCA services.
For the 2020 campaign, I worked across digital communications, PR, social media, photography and event branding — supporting the campaign before, during and after the event.
The campaign I supported ultimately raised more than £26,800, with more than 100 people taking part.
One event needed to drive registration, awareness and donations.
Sleep Easy had to encourage people to register for a challenging overnight fundraising event, maintain momentum in the weeks leading up to it, generate donations and raise awareness of homelessness in Lincolnshire.
The campaign also needed to keep supporters engaged while the event was happening and work consistently across multiple channels without losing its recognisable YMCA identity.
Owned, earned and on-the-ground communications.
Social & website contentWrote and published campaign posts and created the website content that supported registration and participation.
PR & media relationsWrote and distributed press material, liaised with local media, and supplied story information, quotes and photography.
Live event communicationsProduced live and reactive social content from Lincoln Cathedral, combining original photography with continuing donation messages.
PhotographyPhotographed the event to create useful campaign assets during the sleep-out and for post-event communications.
Physical brandingDesigned the branded YMCA Lincolnshire gazebo used on site and supported the wider visual presentation of the event.
Campaign lifecycle
A continuous journey, not a single announcement.
- 01Register
- 02Build awareness
- 03Fundraise
- 04Live event
- 05Keep donations open
- 06Media + results
Building momentum through useful, timely updates.
A YMCA Lincolnshire update on 23 January reported that more than half of the available places had been filled, with fewer than 50 remaining. As the event approached, content moved from registration into countdown and donation activity.
The campaign was also amplified beyond YMCA Lincolnshire’s own channels. University of Lincoln Student Life encouraged its audience to sign up, donate or help raise awareness.
Campaign evidence
Registration, countdown and external amplification.
A clear destination for people moving from awareness to action.
The YMCA Lincolnshire website brought the event purpose, Lincoln Cathedral location, overnight format, registration details, participation requirements and social channels together in one place.
The event itself became part of the campaign story.
On 6 March I produced live social updates from Lincoln Cathedral, showing participants arriving and setting up their cardboard sleeping spaces while continuing to direct supporters to the JustGiving campaign.
The communications continued after the sleep-out. The completion post congratulated participants, returned attention to the reality of homelessness and kept the donation route open.
On the ground
Live coverage and a purposeful post-event message.
Local coverage extended the campaign beyond YMCA channels.
I wrote and distributed press material, liaised directly with local media, and supplied photographs, quotes and information around the event.
The Lincolnite · 9 March 2020
Over 100 people sleep rough to raise £22k for YMCA Lincolnshire
The report recorded 100+ participants and an early post-event total of £22,719.19. It also made clear that donations were still open, so this is not presented as the campaign’s final total.
Read archived coverageMore than 100 participants. More than £26,800 raised overall.
The campaign I supported ultimately raised more than £26,800, with more than 100 people taking part.
A Lincolnshire Showground update on 3 April reported an overall total of £26,840.47, including £1,306.35 raised by its own team. This fundraising outcome belongs to the overall campaign and its supporters.
Continuity gave people repeated reasons to engage.
The campaign did not rely on one announcement or one channel. Digital content carried supporters from registration into fundraising; PR and partner amplification extended the message; live photography made the event tangible; and post-event content kept awareness and donations moving.
I completed this work while employed by YMCA Lincolnshire. I’ve included it to demonstrate my previous professional communications experience; its inclusion does not imply current endorsement of my freelance business by YMCA Lincolnshire.