8.1
Your charter sets out the relationship between you and the
people who use your service. The document itself is
important, but it is more important that your users know
what it contains. So you need to think carefully about how
you will get this information across.
8.2
Make sure that information on your service is available when
people first come to you, or ideally before. For some
services there is a very clear first point of contact. For
others it will be more varied. You can give out information
successfully in ways other than through a paper charter: for
example, face-to-face, through local TV or radio, in
newspaper adverts or on posters.
Publicity
8.3
Publicity is important at the launch of your charter to make
the most of its effect. Try to invite to the launch as many
as possible of your users who have been involved in
developing your charter.
8.4
There are many different ways of publicising your charter
and the standards it contains. When you consult your users
(see Chapter 3), you could ask them how best to spread the
information in the charter. You need to think about when and
where your users want to know things, and what they are
likely to do with the information. It is also important to
see how your charter fits in with other published
information about your services. But above all else, the
content of your charter, in particular whether or not it is
meeting people's needs, will determine the success or
otherwise of your efforts.
Distribution
8.5
Try to make your charter and its contents available to users
and potential users at times when they are likely to need
it. Make sure you give everyone who works in your
organisation a copy, or summarise it and display the
standards prominently, through posters - but make sure
everyone knows how to get a full copy. Good communication
within your organisation is also important for a successful
launch.
8.6
Consider using a combination of the following methods to
publicise and distribute your charter:
 | press releases
when you launch your charter (consider a
photo-call), or when you report on achievements;
|
| articles in
newspapers, radio or television interviews.
Publishing your charter (or the standards it
contains) in newspapers may be a good way of getting
information to new users as well as to existing ones;
local radio can be a particularly effective way of
getting the message across;
|
| send a copy of
your charter when you write to users, or include
it with forms or other information. The average person
receives so much mail that they are not likely to keep
hold of a simple charter leaflet. So it could be an
advantage to include charter information in documents
that they are likely to keep for some other reason, for
example, in phone directories, diaries, on calendars and
timetables;
|
| hand out
complaints forms (highlighting the standards you
aim to achieve) when something goes wrong;
|
| put up posters
and display leaflets publicising your charter
wherever your users are likely to see them, for example,
in your reception areas. Make sure they are clearly
presented, written in plain language and regularly
updated. Supply charters at reception points and where
people sit and read information, for example, in waiting
rooms;
|
| send information
and copies of your charter to special-interest groups,
advice agencies, for example, Citizens Advice Bureaux,
and libraries. Offer to provide further training
or workshops on the contents of your charter;
|
| put it on the
Internet;
|
| place information
screens in public areas; and
|
| tell people in
your organisation about the charter and the
standards it contains through staff newsletters, team
briefings and noticeboards, well in advance of its
publication. They should also be reminded a day or so
before the launch. Your staff should know exactly what
you expect of them once the charter is published. They
may have to handle questions from the public about the
charter straight away. |
