Help Radio Buena Vida Build Its New Home

REAL QUICK: 

We're asking for your help with the final remaining fit-out costs to get the doors open at Radio Buena Vida's new home.

WHO ARE WE?

Radio Buena Vida is volunteer-run, independent online community radio station based in Govanhill in the south side of Glasgow, Scotland, broadcasting diverse, non-commercial music alongside conversation & community, arts & creative-oriented content 24/7/365 at buenavida.co.uk. 

Our ethos is to champion emerging as well as established talent across all independent genres of music and the arts from Glasgow, wider Scotland and beyond, and to provide a platform for under-represented voices. Our goal is to create a community where artists, DJ’s and hosts can learn, explore, create, collaborate, connect, experiment and flourish irrespective of race, sexual orientation, gender, disability, religion, experience level or socio-economic status.

Our current home is in the window of local record shop, Some Great Reward, at 520 Victoria Road in Glasgow’s southside, where shop owner and legend, Olly and his team have welcomed us in and given us a temporary residence since the station launched in October 2020.

WHY WE NEED YOUR HELP

We didn't want to impose on Some Great Reward for too long and always had our sights on a place of our own, Buena Vida Radio Café, which could one day become a self-sustainable, exciting and unique creative hub and café for the community. 

A year and a half after first going on air, the ideal place - directly across the road at number 535 Victoria Road - came up for rent, so we jumped at the chance.

Work has already begun on ambitious plans to make Buena Vida Radio Café a functioning, welcoming and accessible space for DJs, show hosts and the general public…but after spending much of our limited savings already on rent and works undertaken so far, we really need your help to raise the remaining £7,000 to allow us to get our doors open (£5,000 minimum for the fit-out costs and £2,000 for the Crowdfunder fees and the production costs on the rewards you'll receive in return).

WHERE YOUR MONEY WILL GO:

Your generous donation will help us build our new home by contributing to: 

• A purpose-built, soundproofed radio booth (in window) with a height adjustable deck stand for universal accessibility. This will be used for live radio broadcasts and as a studio space to practice & record mixes, podcasts or radio shows and host workshops. 
• Building a Fully Accessible toilet including Plumbing & Sanitary ware (timber frame, plasterboard, plaster, paint, accessible toilet, sink, alarm, handrails...)
• New electrics to booth/window area & rewiring of main space. 
• Soundproofing the ceiling in the entire unit (rockwool, timber, plasterboard, acoustic plasterboard, green glue, plaster, paint) 
• Acoustic panelling in main space to maximise listening quality and further noise cancelling. This will enable us to create a community café/events space where people can come together to continue celebrating our local creative talent. 
• Fit Out of Kitchen/Food Prep Area (timber frame, plasterboard, plaster, paint, countertop/work surface, shelving)
• Kitchenware & appliances (glassware, sink, crockery, fridges, dishwasher, other small appliances)
• Rent whilst works are carried out. (We've covered it since obtaining the keys in February but we're looking for help towards the £1,600 remaining before our doors can open).

EXCLUSIVE REWARDS

You may not be looking for anything in return for donating to our Crowdfunder, but we do have some exclusive rewards in the form of new t-shirts, tote bags, artwork, stickers (see pics below) and an incredible 35 track digital album featuring new music from our beat-making residents such as Alex Smoke, KTAB, Artex Scar, Praize 4G, OOFT!, Han, The Primevals, Anna Gram, T-Kidd, Ten Years Lost and many, many more.

MORE ABOUT US

We passionately believe in equality and diversity, which is reflected in our programming each week. We have now broadcast in excess of 2,000 shows worldwide, have over 100 resident DJs with more than 300 other individuals having hosted one-off or semi-regular shows. Our public-facing radio booth, together with our audio-visual online stream has created a buzz in the south side of Glasgow and sent ripples further afield.

Community radio is a platform that creates opportunities for all those involved – be that in the form of gigs, bookings, skills development, training and collaborations. It also builds confidence, creates a sense of belonging and has a positive effect on mental health, with no greater example of the latter than the feelings experienced by all involved when we launched at the height of the COVID pandemic with DJs and show hosts escaping the confines of their homes for a brief socially-distanced moment of "normality". 

It is important to continue shining a light on the talent within the Govanhill community and Glasgow – both on & off air - and to make a safe, non-judgemental space where people can come together, connect, collaborate and create.

We also work with local charities and community groups such as The Sound Lab, Greater Govanhill Magazine, Ando Glaso & Scottish Refugee Council to shine a spotlight on their people and projects and help to empower people through skills and training.

Despite being a full-time endeavour, the station in its current form runs as a not-for-profit social enterprise. We do not charge any of our DJs/hosts subs and are free of advertisements. We, David & Suz, as co-founders, have worked on an unpaid, voluntary basis and have poured our own savings into the day-to-day running costs, supported by the generosity of a handful of Patreon supporters and donors and a small amount of funding, in order to grow the station to the point it is at now.

We cannot thank owner, Olly, and his team at Some Great Reward enough for being absolute legends by giving us a temporary home & physical presence in the community while we got things up & running over the last 1.5 years. It has very much been a match made in heaven, but our new space will allow us to do so much more.

It isn't easy for us to ask for help like this... but if you've got love for RBV already or like the sound of our project enough to say you helped get its doors open and realise its potential then we would be hugely grateful for your support.

Thanks for reading and thanks in advance for your help.

Radio Buena Vida is a registered Community Interest Company (Companies House No. SC633630).

Below, in order, are the full colour, high quality gsm A2 poster (same as the sticker version), t-shirts and tote bag designed by Waldemar Stepien, the Molly Hankinson sticker and the super-limited prints of "Seamus" & "Zain" by Simon Murphy, taken on the streets of Govanhill.