Seaside Radio

Address: 44, Hull Road, Withernsea, Holderness, East Yorkshire.
Nature of Business: Community Radio Station and Media Training organisation
Project Manager: Lyz Turner
Telephone: (01964) 611427
Website: Seaside Radio

Background

As a radio station and new-media training organisation, Seaside Radio contributes to the development of the Holderness coastal area, through learning and creative activities. It involves all individuals, groups, organisations, businesses and industries.

The Withernsea and Southern Holderness Rural Achievement Zone funded the first Seaside Radio broadcast in the year 2000. The station broadcasts from towns and villages along the coast within a seven- to 10-mile radius.

A series of workshops in local schools and community venues have given people the skills to produce and present radio programmes for and about local people.

Since it began Seaside Radio has organised five community radio broadcasts, involving a range of local people and organisations.

Soon the station hopes to be on the air full-time, and supporters will also be able to listen to programmes on the internet.

Project Manager Lyz Turner says Seaside Radio is an inspirational community project which had her hooked from the beginning.

“At the time I was Editor of the local newspaper and I was asked to come along and contribute to the project,” she explained. “When I saw what was going on I knew it was something I wanted to be involved with and, when my contract with the Single Regeneration Budget ended, I came here.

“This station helps to support some of the remotest communities on the East Coast of Holderness and brings people of all ages and backgrounds together.”

Support and Advice

Seaside radio became a social enterprise last year and currently has a licence to broadcast twice a year for up to a month at a time. For the rest of the year Lyz concentrates on new media training for volunteers, primarily to build a skills base to draw upon for the future.

“The aim is to have plenty of trained volunteers so that if we get the full-time licence we will have enough content for the station. Community Radio is content greedy and we have a lot of people, particularly the over 65s, who are interested in getting involved,” explained Lyz.

Seaside Radio was put forward by Social Enterprise Humber, part of Business Link Humber, for the DEFRA-funded Building on Success project, which offered 30 grants to social enterprise organisations to increase access to business advice in rural areas across North Lincolnshire and the East Riding of Yorkshire.

The organisations who took part were offered either £750 or £1,000 grants to enable them to implement action plans identified by a professional business advisor.

The project was delivered by Business Link Humber and its partners, Goole Development Trust, East Riding of Yorkshire Council and Community Economic Regeneration Team (CERT), with the support of the Rural Forum.

“Business Link has been very good to us right from the outset and it is always my first port of call if we need advice,” said Lyz.

“This current project has helped us with marketing the training courses to a wider audience and with publishing leaflets and slides. We have a web site already, but it is our aim to bring Seaside Radio to as many people as possible and to do that we need funding.

Future Plans

“Currently there is myself, a part-time driver trainer and a part-time administration assistant, but we do have funding applications in place for extra staff should we be successful in gaining a full-time broadcasting licence.

“We can’t do one without the other so we are in limbo at the moment, but we are hopeful.

Having the support of Business Link Humber and projects such as Building on Success is crucial to the survival of rural organisations like this and we are grateful for their assistance,” said Lyz.