[CMA R] Community radio a force for change as 15 more stations licensed!

[Alan Fransman]

Community Media Association

News Release

15th June 2005

Community radio a force for change as 15 more stations licensed!

Ofcom announced today that 15 more community radio stations have been 
awarded full five year licences. This brings the total number of 
community radio stations licensed to 20. A list of the new stations follows.

Diane Reid, Director of the CMA, said: “The community media sector is 
growing fast. These radio stations have huge potential to make a real 
difference to the lives of the people in their communities. Programmes 
are made by and for local people who will at last have a voice.”

Community stations are a new tier of not-for profit radio stations, 
owned and run by local people, mostly volunteers, which enable 
communities throughout the UK to use the medium of radio to create new 
opportunities for regeneration, employment, learning, social cohesion 
and inclusion as well as cultural and creative expression. For more than 
20 years the CMA and its members have campaigned for community station 
licences, achieving this last year, when the Community Radio Order was 
passed.

There are currently 14 pilot community radio stations operating around 
the UK and applications for the first wave of full time community radio 
licences were invited in September 2004. Ofcom received 194 applications 
for full five year licences to be issued in 2005 and is currently 
assessing those applications and examining frequency availability options.

-ends-

For further information visit the Community Media Association website:
http://www.commedia.org.uk

List Of The New Community Radio Licensees

• Unity 24 (Southampton)
Unity 24 aims to provide a community radio service for those living in
deprived communities, in particular Asian and ethnic minority communities,
in Southampton.

• Skyline Community Radio (Hedge End, Botley and West End, Hampshire)
Skyline will provide a community service for the three villages of Hedge
End, Botley, West End and surrounding areas of the southern parishes of
Eastleigh, Hants.

• Express FM (Portsmouth)
Express FM will provide access to the airwaves for the learning community of
Portsmouth enabling school, college and university students, and other
volunteers, to make their own radio programmes; giving voice to young
people, the city’s education providers and the wider community.

• Angel Radio (Newport, Isle of Wight)
Angel Radio plans to provide a radio service specifically aimed at people
aged over 60 living around Newport, Isle of Wight. It will provide an
entertainment-based format focusing on the music and memories of 1900 to
1959, as well as up to date information of relevance to the target
community.

• Awaz FM (Central Glasgow)
Awaz FM will serve the Asian (Indian sub continent) population in Glasgow,
delivering entertainment, community information, local, national and
international news broadcasting in Urdu, Punjabi, Hindi and English. It will
be the voice of Glasgow’s ethnic communities and their respective faiths.
Awaz FM is one of the pilot access/community radio services and began
broadcasting in April 2002.

• VIP On Air (West End of Glasgow)
VIP On Air will provide blind and partially sighted people with news and
information in an accessible format, presented in an informative and
entertaining manner. Programming is broadcast and produced by and for blind
people.

• Sunny Govan Radio (Govan, SW Glasgow)
Sunny Govan Radio aims to be pro-active in encouraging participation from
the local diverse community. It will develop learning opportunities, promote
equality, creativity, volunteering, and community empowerment, “giving a
voice to people who are seldom heard”.

• Revival Radio (Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch)
Revival Radio will broadcast locally-produced programmes from a Christian
lifestyle perspective to Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch.

• Radio Faza* – Asian Women’s Project (Nottingham)
Radio Faza aims to empower individuals within the South Asian community
through the provision of education, training, advice and information in
several community languages, and contribute to building an enterprising
community which values its people.

• Faza FM* – Karimia Ltd (Nottingham)
Contact: Dr Musharaf Hussain, 512-514 Berridge Road West, The station 
will provide a platform from which social, economic & religious
issues of concern to the Muslim Community (Pakistani, Kashmiri, Bengali &
Indian) will be addressed. The service aims to promote the regeneration and
confidence building of the community through entertaining, inspiring and
educational programmes.

*The Asian Women’s Project and the Karimia Institute currently jointly
operate one of the pilot access/community radio services and began
broadcasting in March 2002. They have now successfully applied to run
separate services.

• NBC Live (Nottingham)
NBC Live is aimed at the African Caribbean community and the wider community
in Nottingham. It aims to combat discrimination, connect communities and
foster a cohesive environment.

• Radio Ikhlas (Normanton, Derby)
Radio Ikhlas plans to target the Asian (primarily Pakistani) community and
the growing population of asylum seekers in the Normanton area of Derby.

• Takeover Radio (Leicester)
Takeover Radio is for children and young people. It is characterised by the
involvement of the young people they serve, who receive training and produce
programming with energy, enthusiasm and originality. Takeover Radio
currently operates one of the pilot access/community radio services and
began broadcasting in March 2002.

• Harborough FM (Market Harborough, Leicestershire)
Harborough FM aims to provide a sustainable, informative, entertaining and
relevant community radio service for the Market Harborough area.

• The Eye (Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire)
The Eye will broadcast to the rural community of the Vale of Belvoir in the
heart of the East Midlands.

-- 
Alan Fransman
Community Media Association
15 Paternoster Row
Sheffield
S1 2BX

+44 114 279 5219

www.commedia.org.uk

Access to the media for people and communities