Wymondham Magazine lettering

The Little Station With Big Ideas

South Norfolk Radio

Published: 29 April 2022

Facebook iconTwitter iconWhatsApp icon
Montage of presenter faces and logo

You could be forgiven if you've not heard of South Norfolk Radio. Broadcasting from a small studio in Griffin's Court, just off Wymondham High Street, SN Radio has been running since 2018, initially as Radio Wymondham, and has gathered a roster of presenters from all over Norfolk with wide individual music tastes and interests, and the station now has big plans to go DAB too.

"It's a community radio station in every sense" says Radio Station Manager Anthony Woods, known to all by his DJ initials simply as 'AJ'. "Not only do we go out to the South Norfolk community at different events such as Wynterfest and The Mulbarton Festival, but there's also a fantastic community spirit amongst the DJs and presenters, who listen in and support one another, both on-air and off." says AJ. "For this year's Red Nose Day for example, the team staged a 24-hour live and fully presented broadcast - a first for the station - which raised over £250 for Comic Relief."

The station's DJs and presenters are all volunteer 'members' contributing a monthly membership fee of £25 to the funds of the Community Interest Company. All non-professionals when it comes to broadcasting and programme- making, South Norfolk Radio gives each of them the opportunity to present 'their' show with their own favourite types of music, and so there's a huge mix of music to be heard at various times on the station, ranging from classical, country, Drum and Bass, to choice tracks across the decades from the 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's and onwards plus some of the latest sounds from today's pop charts. "And if the thought of appearing behind a microphone to chat on the radio seems a bit too daunting, then we've a million and one other tasks that need to be done too, including looking after our various social media accounts" says Anthony.

"Whatever your skills, we can use them on South Norfolk Radio", he says.

"It's great and I'm really enjoying it." says Hannah, who presents 'Lust for Life' at midday on Wednesdays. "I have the freedom to present the show I want and I never really thought I would ever have my own radio show" she says. "But, after some important but fairly rapid training, SN Radio has given me the chance, and there is always room for more people to join us too!" In fact Hannah has already expanded her own horizons with a new occasional series called 'Backstage' where she chats to music acts, often those with local connections, about their current projects, their upcoming tours and of course Hannah plays their music too. "Having guests in the studio with us was something we missed a lot during lockdown times" says Anthony Woods.

The station has just been successful in obtaining its DAB Broadcasting licence from the regulator OFCOM, who oversee all broadcasters in the UK. "Once we can expand our horizons from purely on-line and begin actually broadcasting on the DAB network through our local 'platform provider', this will hugely increase our ability to reach out to over 40,000 potential listeners across the area" says Anthony Woods. "But expansion comes with significant costs and there's no doubt that funding a small station with big ambitions is a real challenge", he says. "But we have to look at the benefits", he continues. "Local businesses will have a fantastic platform to advertise, all targeted within the region. We have some very competitive advertising packages of different sorts on offer and we'd be delighted to work with companies to get their promotions out and 'on-air'. There are opportunities for show sponsorship and website links with a customer's own sites and social media accounts too" says Anthony.

To listen in, and to find out more about how you can join the team and turn your radio presenting dreams into reality or to become a valued advertising partner visit https://snradio.uk/a-little-help-from-our-friends, text only on WhatsApp to 01603 863097, send a DM on the station's social media or use the contact form on the website at www.snradio.uk. And watch out for news of when the station expands from being a purely on-line service to broadcasting over the DAB airwaves as well!

Facebook iconTwitter iconWhatsApp icon

Read our March E‑Edition in full:

Latest issue