<div dir="ltr"><div><font size="2" face="Arial">There was a special 10th birthday present for
community radio station 103 The Eye which broadcasts to the Vale of Belvoir and
Melton Mowbray on the Leicestershire-Nottinghamshire border.</font></div>
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<div><font size="2" face="Arial">103 The Eye won Community Champion 2015
at the annual community awards ceremony held by the local
newspaper, the Melton Times. In addition, the station received a
Special Recognition Award from the paper, along with a birthday cake to mark its
10 years of community broadcasting.</font></div>
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<div><font size="2" face="Arial">The awards recognised the station's strong
commitment to serving all sectors of the community, its training provision,
its support for local charities and its role in championing worthwhile causes -
ranging from promoting environmental awareness to giving airtime to unsigned
local bands.</font></div>
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<div><font size="2" face="Arial">103 The Eye was represented at the awards
ceremony by directors Christine Slomkowska and Patrick McCracken, by Mark Frisby
who is one of the longest-serving presenters, and by Councillor Jeanne Douglas,
Mayor of Melton, who is also a presenter on the station. Awards were presented
by Melton Times editor Mark Edwards and chief reporter Christian
March.<br></font></div>
<div><font size="2" face="Arial"><br>Christine said afterwards: "We were thrilled to
win the Melton Times Community Champion award at last in this, our 10th birthday
year, as we had previously won Highly Commended several times. Then they
announced the Special Recognition Award as well, which really put the icing on
the cake. <br></font></div>
<div><font size="2" face="Arial"><br>"We have a very good working relationship with
the Melton Times and we hold a weekly press conference with them to discuss the
latest news every Thursday."</font></div>
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<div><font size="2" face="Arial">103 The Eye is run entirely by volunteers and has a
team more than 50 people. It was the first community station to launch under the
new tier of radio licensed by OFCOM in 2005 and has just embarked on its third
five year licence.<br></font></div>
<div><font size="2" face="Arial"><br>Other awards it has won over the years include
the Mayor of Melton's Award Of Merit (2009), the Federation of Small Businesses
(Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland) Contributions To The Community
(2010) and the People Development Award in the Melton Times Business Awards
(2013).</font></div>
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<div><font size="2" face="Arial">Last February, 103 The Eye organised a
Community Radio Networking and Information Day, a new event
to enable operators of other community stations from across the
country to meet up, make new contacts and exchange information and support
for mutual benefit. It was so well received that the station will hold another
similar event on 16 April 2015, again in Melton Borough Council's
Civic Suite.</font></div>
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<div><font size="2" face="Arial">Picture online: </font><font face="Arial"><a href="http://www.commedia.org.uk/news/2015/11/103-the-eye-10th-birthday/">http://www.commedia.org.uk/news/2015/11/103-the-eye-10th-birthday/</a></font></div><div><font size="2" face="Arial"><br></font></div><div><font size="2" face="Arial">\\</font></div><div><font size="2" face="Arial"><br></font></div><div><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div>Community Media Association</div><div>-- <br><a href="http://www.commedia.org.uk/" target="_blank">http://www.commedia.org.uk/</a><br><a href="http://twitter.com/community_media" target="_blank">http://twitter.com/community_media</a><br><a href="https://www.facebook.com/CommunityMediaAssociation" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/CommunityMediaAssociation</a><br><br>Canstream Internet Radio & Video<br><a href="http://www.canstream.co.uk/" target="_blank">http://www.canstream.co.uk/</a><br><a href="https://twitter.com/canstream" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/canstream</a></div></div></div></div></div></div>
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