Beyond Radio, Lancaster & Morecambe’s Community Radio Station, is seeking crowdfunding support from local people ahead of its launch on FM radio early in 2016.
The station, which is the community run and led replacement service for the very popular Diversity FM, is currently broadcasting a music only service via its website in the run up to its full launch on FM. The team behind Beyond Radio includes key members of the team who developed and delivered the Diversity FM project on behalf of the YMCA until the station closed in April 2012. Since then this group has been working to return community radio to the district.
Funding
Because of the way the station is run there are no salaries or shareholder bonuses to pay. The management team and other staff are all volunteers – passionate about what community radio can do. As a not for profit organisation they are pledged that any income will go to support the project and improve the service offered to local people.
Beyond Radio are currently seeking funding to enable the station to launch. Some of this has already been secured through fundraising and small grants but the project needs to raise about £6,500 to launch and sustain the station for the first 12 months. They are asking local people to support their newly-launched crowdfunding initiative. There are rewards for those who pledge to the project and they will be supporting a great community resource that aims to help improve the lives of local people and bring our community closer together.
The Beyond Radio crowdfunding page can be found at:
www.crowdfunder.co.uk/beyond-radio-community-radio-station and pledges start at 10 pounds. Beyond Radio would welcome any financial support local people can offer in its quest to bring the station back to air.
A great community resource!
Duncan Moore, chairman of the group behind the project said, “Each week we take a few steps further forward in our quest to bring a great local community resource back to life. We have a great management team and a willing group of volunteers who are itching to get behind the microphone and start to deliver the type of locally sourced programming we know our community wants. That was shown through the popularity of Diversity FM.”
Beyond Radio will deliver a mix of programming that will include specialist music shows and feature local musical talent alongside more mainstream music. It will air feature led programmes covering local history, drama, poetry, politics, environment, wildlife, comedy, documentary and more. Whatever the local population want to hear, Beyond Radio will seek to deliver that programming.
Local focus
Duncan said, “We are in a unique position in the radio industry, our programming is produced in order to entertain and inform our listeners and it has a truly local focus. Those programmes will be produced and presented by local people who are invited to register as volunteers through our website www.beyondradio.co.uk. We’ll give them the skills and support they need to produce great radio shows.”
A main focus of the station will be to support other community and voluntary groups and charities. These will be able to access free air time in order to promote their work to a wide audience and get their message out into the community much quicker than relying on other forms of promoting their services.