A new online local community radio station, BA1 Radio, is holding an open day this weekend at their studios in the Southside Youth Hub, and is inviting local residents to go along and get involved.
BA1 Radio, which launched earlier this year, was set up by three former students of the Bath Community Academy who were part of the onsite radio station Phoenix Radio.
“Radio allowed us to gain confidence, learn how to communicate with people and have fun whilst doing it,” say founders Luke Nix, Tom Wyatt and Samuel Maggs.
“When the school closed, so did the station. Along with it, links to local schools, organisations and community members were lost.
“Radio gave us so many life skills, from communicating with others to raising our confidence. We felt we had lost a resource for the people of Bath.”
The team decided to launch a dedicated charity to train and educate local residents in radio broadcasting, and following a successful bid for funding from The National Lottery Community Fund last year, they were awarded a grant to run BA1 Radio for a year.
The community station has already got 19 volunteers, ranging in age from 15 to 65.
Volunteers have the opportunity to gain a range of new skills; becoming technicians, working with the social media team or being trained in video marketing and website building.
The team has already attracted support from local organisations including BANES 3SG, who offer Bath charities, social enterprise and community groups support and resources.
James Carlin from 3SG, said: “We know our members have brilliant projects and stories they want to share with people in Bath but sometimes it can be hard to get heard.
“BA1 Radio offered us recording space and technical expertise from their volunteers so we could share these stories across the community.”
BA1 Radio is based at the Southside Youth Hub in Bath, and runs 24 hours a day online at: www.ba1radio.org.
This Friday, 21st June, BA1 Radio will be hosting live interviews with local people and organisations across the city, and on Saturday 22nd, between 12-4pm, anyone interested in visiting the studio and seeing how it all works, is being invited along.
