A Cononley university lecturer is part of a campaign aimed at attracting more young people from diverse backgrounds into the public relations profession.

Robert Minton-Taylor is working on the initiative with the Public Relations Consultants Association (PRCA), PR Week, Taylor Bennett Foundation and Intern Aware.

The ‘PR Internships For All’ campaign is calling on the top 25 PRCA member consultancies to hire interns on the national minimum wage.

Mr Minton-Taylor, of Mea-dow Lane, a senior lecturer at Leeds Business School, said: “We are committed to working with PRCA member agencies to help them source the right candidates for internships.

“PR Internships For All will give students a real opportunity to contribute to the success and vitality of the PR industry, with the best PRCA member agencies in the country, rather than being seen as a source of cheap labour. It’s a win-win situation.”

Francis Ingham, of PRCA, welcomed the involvement of the business school – part of Leeds University.

“As one of the forerunners of PR education in the UK, we believe the university has an important role to play in helping to improve diversity in the public relations profession,” he said.