PR Lead | July 25 – present

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Youngwilders

Securing a front page Guardian feature for youth-led rewilding charity, Youngwilders.

A woman with glasses smiling and making a peace sign outdoors near camping tents with an inflatable sleeping pad.

The Client

Youngwilders is a youth-led nature recovery non-profit focused on accelerating UK nature recovery and centering young people in movement. Built by a group of friends in 2020, the team’s mission is for every young person in England and Wales to be within one hour of a youth-led nature recovery project in the next three years.

The Project

Fast becoming a prominent ecological summit, Overgrowth South is Youngwilders' annual gathering of young people camping, connecting, and creating together. Speakers range from up-and-coming leaders to seasoned ecological activists, and workshops include nature walks and ecological learning to campaigning group brainstorms.

My Role

I was bought on board to lead all public relations operations for the weekend event. While the small team knew they were doing incredible, unique work, they didn’t have the resources or comms background to spread the word.

My goal was to reach untapped audiences through traditional press coverage, boosting attendance at Overgrowth, increasing the charities visibility to attract new collaboration and funding opportunities, and solidifying Youngwilders’ authority.

My Process

Through consultation meetings with the team, I identified the newsworthy narrative of the event: the new equity push. The past year had seen more funding made available to make the event accessible to young people from underprivileged backgrounds. I crafted a press release that maintained sensitivity. In the months preceding the event, I shared this press release with journalists, leveraging both mine and Youngwilders’ warm network. This press release secured the attendance of an in-house Guardian journalist to the weekend event in Sussex.

A graphic showcasing the PR process.
Group of young people sitting at a long outdoor table during daylight, engaged in conversation, with a natural background of trees and tents.

Page 1 of Overgrowth 2025 Press Release

Results

The Guardian press visit snowballed into a front page feature in the Guardian focusing on the Youngwilders team’s wider mission.

As a one-woman press team, this outcome exceeded my expectations, giving me confidence in my ability to use my comms experience for projects that mean something. I learnt how to marry my management skills from other sectors with my experience in PR agencies, bringing my unique strengths to a vital collective mission.

This was just the beginning of my relationship with Youngwilders, and we continue to work together on Overgrowth 2026.

Group of six smiling young people outdoors under a wooden shelter, some wearing jackets and beanies, with trees in the background.
Front page of The Guardian newspaper featuring a headline about a debt scandal inquiry and a photograph of a man named Jimmy Cliff with a red cap, glasses, and a broad smile.
Front page of The Guardian newspaper featuring a headline about a debt scandal inquiry and a photograph of a man named Jimmy Cliff with a red cap, glasses, and a broad smile.

Ready to get yourself seen? Let’s chat!

Email me at mimi@mimifrancis.co.uk, or fill out the form below.