A guide to making noise with your local media

We need your help to make some noise! Local newspapers and radio stations love hearing about people from their area doing something unique, and volunteering with Oxfam at Glastonbury definitely counts. 

What follows is a short guide on how to contact your local newspaper, along with a press release you can personalise by adding your name and town or city. There are also some key messages and contact details if you’d like to get in touch with your local radio station too.

Please do let us know if the media would like to interview you, so we can be on hand to lend support. Just email our media team on media.unit@oxfam.org.uk.

1. Contact Your Local Newspaper

Share your Glastonbury volunteering story! Local papers appreciate community news.

  • Step 1: Visit your local newspaper’s website.
  • Step 2: Scroll to the bottom of the page and find the “Contact us” section and find the editorial email address.
  • Step 3: Send the template press release, along with a photo or selfie of you. If you have one in your Oxfam festival gear even better!
  • Step 3: If your paper is part of the Newquest you can submit your press release directly. Visit www.yourworld.net/submit and follow the steps. Just remember that photos really help elevate the story.

2. Contact Local Radio Stations

Radio stations are keen to feature local stories. Here's how to reach them:

  • Step 1: Choose a station from the list below.
  • Step 2: Call or email them using the press release below, stating you're a local volunteer attending Glastonbury with Oxfam.
  • Step 3: Offer to share your experience or participate in a brief interview, using the key messages we have provided below. Don’t forget to let us know beforehand so we can support you with what to and what not to say.

How to Contact Your Local Radio Station

England:

  • BBC Local Radio Stations:
  • Each county has its own BBC station.
  • Find contact details by clicking here. 
  • You can send them the press release and follow up with a phone call.
  • Heart Radio:
  • Visit: https://www.heart.co.uk/contact/globals-newsroom/
  • Ensure you change your station at the top of the page to reflect where you are in the country. Fill in the form or send them a short note with your contact details.

Scotland:

Wales:

Template press release for volunteers

Glastonbury 2025: Oxfam volunteer from [Town/City] to break the ‘radio silence’ on hidden and neglected global crises amid stellar music line-up

While thousands head to Glastonbury festival for the music, one local volunteer from [Town/City] is going to be doing something a bit louder by helping Oxfam break the radio silence on global crises that aren't getting the attention they deserve.

[Your Full Name], [age if you feel comfortable], is donning their festival gear and joining the Oxfam crew to spark conversations, raise awareness, and add a splash of activism to the glitter and wellies at one of the world’s biggest parties.

“I love festivals, the energy, the people, the sense of connection. Oxfam’s campaign is all about that too: helping us reconnect to the people and stories we’re not hearing.”

[Choose one quote below depending on role. Delete the other quotes]

  • [For Stewards] “As a steward, I’ll be checking tickets and wristbands on the gate, and keeping the festival safe. It’s great to be part of the team keeping the festival running smoothly while spreading Oxfam’s Radio Silence message.”
  • [Campaigners] “My role in festival campaigning means I get to engage with so many people about Oxfam’s summer campaign: Radio Silence. It’s incredible to have meaningful conversations that inspire both me and others to take action.”
  • [Oxfam shop] “Volunteering in the Oxfam Festival Shop is a fantastic experience, helping visitors discover sustainable, second-hand treasures while sharing Oxfam’s work. It’s a fun way to connect with people and promote positive change.”

Glastonbury 2025 promises to be spectacular, with The 1975, Neil Young and Olivia Rodrigo taking the top spots on the Pyramid Stage, Rod Stewart in the legends slot, plus appearances from Charlie XCX, Raye, The Prodigy and hundreds more!

Oxfam’s Radio Silence campaign is making noise about the things the world is staying quiet on - from hunger and conflict in East Africa - to the ongoing crisis in Gaza, where outcry has not yet been met with meaningful political action. Using soundscapes, craftivism and a bit of DIY magic, Oxfam is showing that festivals are about connection and action too.

“We’re creating a space where people can stop, listen, and do something that actually makes a difference, even if it’s just a moment of tuning in, “said [insert your name].

Halima Begum, CEO of Oxfam GB, said:

“We’re so pleased that [Your First Name] from [Town/City] is joining us at Glastonbury to help shine a light on hidden and neglected crises. From Sudan to Gaza, East Africa to the Democratic Republic of Congo - millions of people are caught in crisis. But their stories are missing from headlines, or forgotten by governments, and ignored by those in power. But silence can be powerful, when we choose how to use it. Sound has always been a force for resistance, from storytelling to protest songs and pirate radio, it brings people together and challenges injustice.  That’s what our Radio Silence campaign is all about, and it’s inspiring to see volunteers like [Your First Name] helping us turn up the volume.”

Oxfam will be bringing its Radio Silence campaign to Glastonbury and other major UK festivals this summer, and [Your Name] will be right there in the thick of it.

Learn more and add your voice at oxfam.org.uk/radiosilence.

Radio Interview Key Messages

Please remember to let us know if your local radio wants to interview you so we can support you.

Intro / About You

  • I’m [Name], from [Town/City], and I’m volunteering with Oxfam at Glastonbury this year.
  • I love festivals, but I also care deeply about global issues, so volunteering with Oxfam was the perfect way to combine both.

What the Campaign Is About

  • Oxfam’s Radio Silence campaign is shining a light on humanitarian crises the world is ignoring, not always in the headlines, and too often met with government inaction, in places like Sudan, Ethiopia, and the DRC.
  • There are millions of people living through hunger, conflict and climate disaster, but we don’t hear their stories. That’s the ‘radio silence’ we’re trying to break.

Why Sound and Festivals

  • Sound has always been part of resistance, protest songs, pirate radio, spoken word. It brings people together and gets messages out when nothing else can.
  • At a festival, everyone’s connected by music, so it’s a brilliant place to use that energy to raise awareness and inspire action.

The Oxfam spaces people can get involved in?

  • Oxfam have created an amazing space where people can listen to powerful stories, get creative, and literally help stitch their voice into the campaign.
  • There is the Milaya project, a beautiful fabric artwork inspired by South Sudanese tradition, telling hidden stories through embroidery.
  • There is paint by numbers where a message will slowly be revealed. The message is hidden during the day but revealed at night through UV.
  • Oxfam will also be encouraging people to record a line of a poem which will be put together to create a powerful track linked to the world’s hidden or neglected humanitarian crises.

Why It Matters

  • When the news goes quiet, people can feel forgotten. We want to show that they’re not.”
  • Even small acts of awareness, stopping to listen, telling someone else, taking part, can break the radio silence.

How people can help

  • You don’t need to be at a festival to get involved. Head to oxfam.org.uk/radiosilence to find out more.
  • Just sharing the stories, talking about what’s happening in Sudan or Congo, is a way of resisting silence.

Also in this section