Free content for Community Radio Stations
Six of the projects funded from our recent Winter Loneliness funding round are being offered to Community Radio Stations for broadcast free, before the end of March 2021.
While bids to the Audio Content Fund must come with guarantees of broadcast at the time of application, we are always eager to help producers grow their broadcast network beyond their initial bid if its possible.
With this recent funding round having urgent aims around combatting loneliness during this Covid Winter, we’d love to see this content reach as widely as possible and support as many listeners as it can.
The six projects on offer are:
Soundlife (6x 10min)
Contact: kate@soundcommunities.co.uk
A six-part series of short radio features, made for and by young
people about youth loneliness. The aim of the features will be to: connect
young people; encourage the expression of feelings and vulnerability; reduce
the stigma around loneliness; help young listeners to recognise if and when
they are lonely; and to develop coping strategies to help them if they do. The
features will support creativity, inspire social action, be entertaining and
help young people to feel part of a community of listeners across the UK.
Lightning Birds: A Game of Sonic Tag (1x 1hr, on 8 March)
Contact: alice.eleanor.armstrong@gmail.com
A unique, fast-paced radio production challenge, responding to the 2021 International Women’s Day theme of ‘Choose to Challenge’. 30 artists from around the UK will make a short radio feature in a day. Creating meaningful connections through remote, artistic collaborations, this format is designed to fit with women’s overstretched lives and the increased pressures of being isolated at home during lockdown. The format asks 30 women from a network of artists and community radio practitioners to each make a two-minute, original piece from their own home. Each will have heard only the piece that comes before hers – and won’t hear the others until the broadcast.
House Rules (20x 13min, from 1 March)
Contact: jdotknox@gmail.com
Every morning for a month, House Rules will highlight issues and negative thoughts that might be going through the minds of listeners, and respond to them with ideas for ways to cope. Each day will present a different topic, followed by short, sharp, practical tips, with an underlying message of positivity. Bored of the same four walls? We’ll show you that you’re not alone, and invite interior designers to give advice. Not sleeping well? You and millions of others – we’ll bring a sleep specialist on air to help. The style and format will be short, exciting and motivating, incorporating advice from experts, and success stories from relatable individuals.
The Wellness Workout (24x 4min)
Contact: peter@c60media.com
Imagine a Joe Wicks workout for the mind. The Wellness Workout will be a two-week series of twice-daily features with mindfulness experts at breakfast and in an evening or weekend spot. Highly produced packages, designed to absorb the attention and focus the mind for a few minutes each day, will act as a talking point for presenters and bring mindfulness, mental health and wellbeing into the soul of each station.
Homeschool Helpers (15x 3min)
Contact: callum@listeningdogmedia.com
Presenter and mum-of-two Helen Skelton is joined by different education and home-schooling experts, to help parents discover the best ways to manage home schooling their children. The series of features is designed to give very clear, practical help and advice to support home-schooling during this difficult time, when many parents are feeling isolated with the challenge of full-time parenting and teaching. Expect tips and tricks to keep your kids focused, alongside guidance on how to look after your own mental health during this challenging time.
I Have A Dream (20x 3min)
Contact: dreams@risingstarsnw.com
A series of honest and heartfelt conversations with young people sharing their goals, dreams, aspirations, influences and hopes for the future, as way of connecting listeners across long distances at a time of isolation that challenges livelihoods and mental health. The project will target college and university students, musicians, creatives, writers, radio presenters, artist managers, event promoters, DJs, notable figures and personalities across Greater Manchester, Midlands, and Yorkshire, all sharing what steps they are taking to realise their dreams in challenging conditions.
