The new FM and web radio project for Lancaster and Morecambe, bringing the local area a new, unique, community owned radio station.
Community Radio is a brilliant way of getting people talking at a local level. It’s a great outlet for the promotion of local music and material that wouldn’t otherwise get radio airplay. It’s a fabulous resource for the exploration of the issues that effect local people, giving everyone an equal chance to express their views, criticisms and support. Community Radio is often the only way that ordinary people with little or no experience of the broadcast media can find a way into broadcasting and we will be offering people the opportunity to do just that.
Community Radio is perfect for our district. We have a wonderfully diverse population and an exceptional cultural output for such a small geographic area. Beyond Radio, as a community led and community serving resource, will be the ideal platform through which to celebrate the area’s broad diversity and cultural mix. But it goes further than that! We want to support other organisations in our district in the voluntary and charity sectors who are also in the business of helping people. We wish to give them a louder voice in the community, a new way of getting their information out there and helping make a difference to people’s lives. We are ready to go with our project, we've got the expertise and the enthusiasm, now all we need is some funding to get us to the next stage. We hope you will support Beyond Radio as it plans to do just that, go Beyond radio.
We are committed long-term in keeping this project running and have been awarded a 5 year FM broadcast licence from Ofcom on the strength of our business planning and our desire to bring this station to our district. It will take a lot of time and effort, not only from the board responsible for delivering the project, but for the many volunteers who will give up their time to run the station. As a not for profit company, there are no shareholders and no-one will be paid to work on the project, this is being done because we are passionate about what community radio can do for both individuals and the communities they live in. The station needs to get on air in order to attract the financial support through small scale targeted local advertising and grant funding which will sustain it in the future. It's a catch 22 situation, without the start up funding we can't do what we need to to bring in the longer term funding. Our constitution doesn't allow the station to operate in financial deficit and so income through advertising & sponsorship and support from the community through our fundraising activities, from supportive businesses and other organisations is our only way of staying on air with a meaningful and relevant service. The £6,500 requested here will cover the running costs of the station for the first 12 months.