The Media Trust is to stage four more Speedmatching evenings during the next 12 months after the success of the first event.

The inaugural evening, hosted by the Media Trust's corporate partner Channel 4, paired charities with media professionals who want to volunteer their skills.

It attracted 21 charities, including the National Missing Persons Helpline, the Elephant Family and Peace Brigades International - and 19 marketing, public relations and journalism experts from the BBC, agencies, newspapers and in-house departments.

It ran on the same lines as speed dating. with each charity having five minutes with each media advisor.

Every charity attracted several media advisors wishing to help them and the overall response was so good that three days later the Media Trust's staff was still finalising the best combination of matches.

Media Trust chief executive Caroline Diehl said: "This is a big opportunity to help smaller charities and we have already made some great matches.

"We have immediately committed to hosting more events over the next year.

"The format was fun and it brings a new dimension to the Media Trust's existing online matching scheme."

The Media Trust is seeking a partner to sponsor future events.

Caroline said: "We think there is an opportunity to get a sponsor involved. We've created an event which has a huge potential to attract many more journalists, marketing and communications people to putting a few hours a month behind a charitable campaign and this is especially relevant in the run up to the 2005 Year of the Volunteer."

The first event, last week, was hugely oversubscribed and those charities lucky enough to attend were delighted with the range and commitment of the media advisors.

Elephant Family charity spokeswoman Ruth Powys said: "I was really impressed by the calibre of help on offer and the evening had me smiling all the way home."

WATCH - Women and the Church - head of PR Christina Rees said: "It's a brilliant idea that the Media Trust did really well and I can't think of anything that could be improved."

To sign up for the next event or to find out more about other Media Trust services e-mail Dominic O'Reilly on dominico@mediatrust.org.

Charities that attended were West London Friends of Earth, The Eve Appeal, ERIC, Global Ideas Bank, Hearing Concern, Stagetext, National Council of Voluntary Child Care Organisations, Azafady, The Wall Trust, Learning for Life, The Passage, National Missing Persons Helpline (UK), The Elephant Family, Peace Brigades International (UK section), CAMFED, MyShoes Campaign To Fight MS, Depression Alliance, St John Ambulance. British Eye Research Foundation, Women and the Church (WATCH).