Mark Allen is an experienced journalist and PR officer seeking a new position. He has over 15 years of experience working in local government PR for Halton Borough Council and Walsall Council, where he increased media coverage and expanded the use of social media. Additionally, Allen has worked as a freelance journalist, writing for numerous newspapers. He is passionate about raising awareness of cystic fibrosis and organ donation through his work. Allen aims to utilize his strong communication and media relations skills in a new role.

1. 12, Deirdre Avenue
Widnes, Cheshire
WA86PA, UK
Tel: 0151 511 7691
Mob: 0779 1014290
mark.allen@halton.gov.uk
Twitter: @Widneschappy
Mark Allen Journalist/PressOfficer/EuropeanGoldMedalist
Background
and Objectives
I am an experienced journalist and PR officer with an enviable history of good intra-
personal skills. My work has taken me to a number of environments and countries
including reporting from Northern Ireland and interviewing Tony Blair. I have journalistic
and academic qualifications and a wide experience of living and working abroad where I
diversified and taught English. In nine years working for Halton Borough Council I have
increased its profile and coverage and mushroomed its use of social media. I achieved a
reach of 5 million people in a year for my local theatre. While waiting for and recovering
from a double lung transplant, I wrote for newspapers, magazines, websites and appeared
on TV, radio and the internet raising awareness of CF and the National Transplant Donor
Register I aim to continue using these skills – and my spirited work ethic – in my vocation.
Journalistic
PR / Experience
2007-2015 Press/PR Officer – Halton Borough Council
I broke records for coverage for HBC.. I plan publicity campaigns, put out releases, social
media, answer enquiries, release statements, write for residents’ magazine, update
website and advise members/officers on media matterl, take pics and monitor coverage.
2006 – Press/PR Officer, Walsall Council I showed enthusiasm for
local govt PR by working for Walsall on an expenses only basis to learn the craft and hone
my skills. I answered enquiries and was given my own projects to get publicity for.
2003-06 Journalist, Freelance I wrote for many newspapers, including
regular columns for the Express & Star/Mercury and had a placement on Midlands Today. I
set up a firm to manage my work and edited the Transplant Support Network news.
1996-99 Journalist, Express and Star, Stafford During three years
on this lively evening paper at its Stafford office I covered a wide variety of court, council,
call and off-diary pieces as well as features and entertainment stories. I seldom failed to
have good leads for the morning schedule, through a combination of effort and contacts.
1995-96 Journalist, The Chronicle, Wolverhampton, UK
I was responsible for two weekly editions of the paper, covering a lot of grass roots
issues in the former mining community of Cannock Chase. I increased the youth
readership through expanding the music and review sections.
1994-95 Journalist, Staffordshire Newsletter, Stafford, UK
This was my first full-time reporting post and got grounding in all types of stories with daily deadlines. I was
responsible for my own edition as well as being the major contributor to both the main edition and
supplements.
Work Placements while studying included : The Cavendish Press Agency, Manchester,
Isle Of Man Courier, Lichfield Mercury, Lichfield Post Express& Star and Staffordshire Newsletter.
I co-founded a student newspaper in Sheffield, launched with interviews with Meat Loaf, Paul Foot and

2. Tony
Benn, and wrote for the Manchester Met University magazine ‘Pulp’.
Other Work  September 2001 to April 2002 - Teacher Brainy FLI, Daegu, Korea
 December 2000 to August 2001 – Teacher ECC, Masan, Korea
 April 2000 to June 2000 – Marketing, Modern Roofing, Preston, Australia
 Jan 2000 to April 2000 - Marketing, TNG Sydney/Melbourne Australia
 June 1993 to September 2003 – Camp Supervisor, Tecumseh, USA
 June 1991 to September 1991 – Surveyor, CENTRO Ltd, Birmingham
 June 1990 to September 1990 – Construction Worker, C.E.D.O, Burton
 I have also been a paid extra for the BBC and am on an NHS Focus Group.
Education 2013 – City & Guilds, Safeguarding Children 2009-2011: Institute of Leadership and
Management. ILM 2,3 and 5
2006 – Lichfield College – ECDL Advanced (BCS Level 3)
2004/5 – Lichfield College – ECDL and Clait Plus (BCS Level 2)
1996/7 – Express & Star – GVNQ Level 4 (Newspaper Journalism)
1993/4 – Stradbroke Centre, Sheffield – NCTJ One-Year Journalism
1990/3 – Manchester Metropolitan University/Utrecht University BA (Hons)
Politics/Sociology
1985/90 Chase Terrace High School A levels: Politics, English, Economics, Gen Studies
GCSEs: Politics, English Lit, English Lang, English Oral, Economics, History,
Geography,
French, Maths, Physics, Design (all A to C Grades)
Interests I have been European table tennis champion in my class for more than five years and have multiple
local, UK and European titles. I compete at the British Transplant Games as well as representing the UK
in competitions in Lithuania, Sweden, Holland and Belfast.
I was 2014 Halton Sportsman of the Year and have given talks to schools. I carried the Paralympic Torch on the
opening day of London 2012.
I have been lucky enough to manage to combine my hobbies with my work. I love music and the arts and have
done dozens of reviews paid and unpaid for newspapers, magazines and websites.
I enjoy being in the spotlight and have been interviewed on Radio WM, Beacon Radio, BRMB, BBC Merseyside
and TV’s Midlands Today as well as being in an Inside Out documentary.
I had a regular Mp3 diary slot on Adrian Goldberg’s BBC Radio WM show and have also appeared on Central
TV, Korean TV and CNN (Hurricane Emily)
I came runner-up in the The Midlands ‘Big Brother’ contest – living with four others in a see-through container in
Cannock.
I spend promote awareness of the CF Trust and have spoken at meetings about my experiences. I have a blog
where I documented my wait for the transplant. It had 13,000 hits one year.
I have visited many countries including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, China, Japan, Guam,
most of Europe and Canada. I have lived in Australia, Korean Holland and USA.
I play piano to Grade 4 level and bass guitar. I played keyboards in Manchester band Anorexic Fetish and Gifted
Organs. I write songs and poems – many have been published and recorded. I recently recorded at Peter

3. Gabriel’s Real World stuidios with The Gifted Organs. A band of transplantees. We recorded an EP and video.
I have a habit of bumping into celebrities in unusual places!