For any media enquiries from journalists, please contact one of our press officers using the contact information below. We also operate an out-of-hours service in the evenings and at the weekends, and an RCM spokesperson is available for interviews after 5 p.m. during weekdays and at the weekends. General media enquiries can be sent to: pressofficer@rcm.org.uk
Colin Beesley - Media Relations Manager
Royal College of Midwives
15 Mansfield Street
London
W1G 9NH
Direct line: 020 7312 3432
General Press Office and out-of-hours number: 020 7312 3456
Fax: 020 7312 3536
Colin joined the RCM in April 2007. Previously, he was the acting Head of Press at the Royal College of Nursing and worked in their press office for more than two years. While he was there, he worked on their annual Congress and specialised in covering media queries regarding, infection control, and mental health and violence issues against nurses. Prior to joining the RCN, he was a senior press officer at the British Library, in both Yorkshire and London, and has also worked in local radio for the BBC.
Before embarking on a career in public relations, Colin worked as a nurse for 15 years and was a senior nurse, running a neurosurgical intensive care unit at Hope Hospital in Salford.
He has a degree in American Studies and History and a postgraduate diploma in broadcast journalism.
Manuela Da Costa-Fernandes - Press and Media Officer
Royal College of Midwives
15 Mansfield Street
London W1G 9NH
Direct line: 020 7312 3433
General Press Office and Out-of-Hours number: 020 7312 3456
Fax: 020 7312 3536
Email: manuela.dacosta-fernandes@rcm.org.uk
Manuela joined the RCM as a press and media officer in November 2007. She is the press officer for both Scotland and London. Previously, she worked as a freelance consultant and writer for Oxfam and for various other charities.
Manuela moved into public relations in 2004 after working as a journalist for eight years in America. She worked at daily newspapers with circulations ranging from 50,000 to 700,000, including New York Newsday, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and The New Haven Register. She has received awards for her coverage of health programmes for migrant workers, 9/11, breaking news and education issues and was one of six young journalists to receive a Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation Fellowship in urban public health reporting.
She has a degree in American and Commonwealth Arts from Exeter University, attended the University of California at Santa Cruz and has a Master’s in Journalism and Mass Communications from Kent State University, Ohio. She has a professional Certificate in Marketing (CIM) from Oxford and Cherwell Valley College, is an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) and completed its postgraduate diploma at London Metropolitan University in July 2009.
Born in Uganda, East Africa, she is of Ugandan-Asian and Goan extraction; and was raised in England and lived in the United States for 11 years.
