Community radio takes to the air (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Community radio takes to the air

RADIO Bemerton once again takes to the airwaves this weekend, promising to deliver a wide range of community-based programmes for listeners.

The second four-week outing for the station will begin transmitting live programmes from Monday morning and will continue until July 9.

The broadcast is part of a community initiative supported by Salisbury College, Salisbury district council and the Learning & Skills Council, and will provide a dedicated information and entertainment service to residents of Bemerton Heath.

Listeners will be invited to join in the Big Debate every day at 9.30am and give their opinions on the issues of the day, even voting in polls through interactive telephone lines or the station's website.

Project manager Rob Maybury believes the votes could be a real chance to make a difference.

"Radio Bemerton this year promises to be more interactive than ever before," he said. "Where local feeling on a certain subject matter is particularly high, we aim to forward the results of listener polls to the relevant organisations or authorities."

Local people have been recruited over the past nine months and received training from people within the broadcast industry.

"I'm really pleased with how much time and commitment has been shown by our 20-strong team of volunteers," said Mr Maybury.

"Everyone involved with the project is tremendously focused on providing a quality service to our listeners, and with the majority of volunteers being local themselves, our programmes promise to be exceptionally relevant to our community."

Radio Bemerton will start broadcasting on Sunday morning on 106.3FM.

For more information, visit www.radiobemerton. co.uk