Hands Across the Water is a charity developed in response to the devastation of the 2004 tsunami, which affected several regions in Thailand. With the primary purpose of providing love, food, shelter and education to orphaned children, Hands is continually seeking to raise awareness of its operations and where appropriate, encourage donations towards the continuing work of the organisation.

WordStorm PR worked with Hands Across the Water on an ongoing basis over several years, to raise awareness of the charity, its initiatives and events. In order to secure quality coverage we were very targeted in its approach, tailoring pitches and story angles according to the demographic of each targeted publication. For example, 18 year-old Kelsey Baines’s fundraising initiative for her HSC project was pitched to young female publications and featured in Girlfriend, Dolly and Body + Soul. However, when pitching a bicycle rider as a case study WordStorm targeted their local paper as well as their state’s metropolitan news. This approach has resulted in a range of high-quality coverage for Hands and its initiatives.

Media coverage of Hands Across The Water appeared in outlets such as Body + Soul, That’s Life, Canberra Weekly, Practical Parenting, Peppermint, KidSpot, Sydney Morning Herald, Brisbane Times, WA Today, The Age, Canberra Times, The West Australian, The Sunday Mail, BRW, SMH.com.au, Inner West Courier, Examiner Newspapers, 4BC, ABC radio, Oxygen Magazine, Girlfriend, MiNDFOOD, and NBN.

Over the three year partnership, WordStorm PR took Hands Across the Water from an unknown entity to an established charity, with increased awareness, engagement, donations and credibility.