TV presenter and journalist Mariclare Carey-Jones has teamed up with award-winning Cardiff public relations agency Weltch Media to offer special media-training days.

Ms Carey-Jones, a familiar face on ITV Wales News for many years, and also a regular on ITV National News, BBC TV and Real Radio, is joining Weltch Media founder Andrew Weltch, a former newspaper journalist, to run the sessions in January and February.

“People in all kinds of organisations are keen to get their message across to the media, but are often understandably nervous about it,” said Ms Carey-Jones.

“These sessions aim to put people at their ease by explaining what the media are looking for, by giving real practical experience in front of the camera, and our top tips to take away.”

The training days are scheduled for Thursday January 23rd and Thursday February 20th in North Cardiff.

At a cost of £150 per delegate, including lunch, coffee and off-street parking, the training days are designed to appeal especially to small-to-medium-sized businesses and non-profit organisations, but are open to anyone.

They will include mock print and broadcast interviews around a fictional scenario, and are intended to be fun, as well as informative.

“When we’ve run similar sessions for clients, we’ve found people worry about making a mistake or looking foolish, but invariably they enjoy the day and want to do more,” said Mr Weltch. “It’s a terrific confidence-booster, and a real help to people who may face the prospect of a media interview.

“Even if they never actually face an interview, the day provides an interesting insight into the media, and helps people’s general communication and presentation skills.”

Weltch Media provides PR, editorial, social media and training services from the Village Studio in Rhiwbina, which it shares with graphic designers, The Info Group.

Earlier this year, Weltch Media’s PR team became the first in Wales to win in the UK-wide BestFor PR awards.

Places on the courses are limited. For further details or to book a place, please email info@weltchmedia.com