Find a copywriterKathy Sharpe MCIPR
Kathy Sharpe MCIPR

Kathy Sharpe MCIPR

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Freelance Education Copywriter and Communications Consultant
● Available for work Copywriter Code signatory Yorks and Humber

Freelance copywriter for the education sector and organisations striving for positive social impact.

About

Sharpe Communications offers freelance copywriting and communication consultancy, specialising in the education and skills sector. I also work with organisations striving for positive social impact - from charities and not-for-profits to combined authorities and arts institutions.

I have worked in marketing communications for 20+ years and am passionate about helping organisations which focus on positive social change. I specialise in education copywriting, awards bids, proofreading, editing, public relations, and crisis/change planning.

Graduating from the University of Birmingham in 2000 with an MPhil research degree, I worked in the PR and Marketing Departments of a range of charity and public-sector organisations from the Federation of British Artists to King's College London.

In past roles, I had responsibility for corporate communications, working alongside Human Resources, Senior Management, and Support Services teams. I promoted the work of individual faculties, business projects, and enterprise start-up companies, most recently leading a communications team in the further education sector.

I have lots of experience in the field of corporate communications (internal and external), change planning, and have written text for annual reports, prospectuses, and promotional brochures, alongside creating copy for smaller publications, social media, and websites. I also delivered seminars at national education conferences such as the Association of Colleges (AoC) annual event and given communications training to marketing teams.

I launched my copywriting business nine years ago and now primarily work with clients in the further/higher education and skills sectors. These include colleges, universities, local and combined authorities, charities, and skills not-for-profits.

Projects include prospectus text, editing and proofreading reports, press release writing and distribution, and awards bids for colleges and other institutions, including a PRWeek ‘Decade of Achievement’ Award for Internal Communications, a national Planning Award, and an International Downtown Association (IDA) Excellence Award, collected in Texas, USA, by LeedsBID.

Please get in touch to discuss where I can enhance your existing work.

Portfolio

See their full portfolio
Website copy

Ascola Ltd website

Ascolta Ltd provides executive consultancy support for education and business sectors, helping to secure growth in times of significant change. With experience in both government-funding bodies and sizeable further education colleges, Ascolta offer expert support in many areas, from Apprenticeship Levy compliance and contractual requirements to Quality Assurance and Ofsted support. For this project, I was asked to review the existing Ascolta Ltd website and research Ascolta’s competitors, revise and rewrite several pages and create fresh content for others.

Education

Planning Awards Bid 2018

In March 2018, the awards bid written for LeedsBID/East Street Arts for the national Planning Awards was announced as a finalist. The application was shortlisted for the ‘Arts, Culture, or Sport in Placemaking’ category for the striking ‘A City Less Grey‘ project, which includes the phenomenal Athena Rising mural.

Sport, travel and leisure
Article

Welcome to Leeds

The new Welcome to Leeds website (managed by LeedsBID) was launched in January 2018 profiling the best of the city, from what's on information to features and articles about Leeds past and present. A range of copy has been produced to help populate sections of the website including articles about the Tech sector in Leeds, new restaurants in the city, and blue plaque highlights.

Science and technology
Website copy

#ChristmasInLeeds

Recent work has included writing copy for sections of the 'Christmas in Leeds' website. #ChristmasInLeeds is a LeedsBID project designed to guide people around Leeds city centre by showcasing local creative talent and sharing festive moments. This project is one of many initiatives brought to the city by Leeds Business Improvement District (LeedsBID). I work with the Marketing, Communications & Brand team on a weekly basis. LeedsBID is a business-led, not-for-profit organisation and represents 1,000 organisations.

Charities

CIM Awards Bid

I was asked to research and write a public-sector category bid for the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) Marketing Excellence Awards 2018. The award focussed on the 2016-2017 recruitment and enrolment campaign and the innovative ‘Journey’ creative of a Marketing team in education. The work involved pulling together 35 different documents and various sources of evidence; the shortlist is to be announced in January 2018.

Education

Copywriting Training

A Further Education Marketing Department recently asked for some copywriting training to be delivered as part of their staff development programme. The session needed to be relevant to both experienced staff, but also those who had fewer years of experience in the field of Marketing & PR. A half-day session was created with a presentation covering some of the basic tenets of copywriting, top tips, real-life examples, alongside videos and group copywriting tasks and discussions.

Education