Blog Post

Kids taking over the airwaves

  • by Derby Sound
  • 09 Feb, 2021

Express U Youth Radio sessions train kids to host their own shows

Amplifying Derby & Derbyshire’s young voices - our fortnightly virtual workshops have supported youngsters to express themselves about their experience of Covid-19, to pick up new skills and gain confidence.

Budding young radio presenters have been honing their radio hosting, audio editing and interviewing skills through Express U, a series of virtual youth radio workshops. 

Derby Sound Community Radio is delighted to work with M-prez Enterprise Ltd, with funding from the National Lottery Community Fund COVID-19 Community Led Organisations Recovery Scheme (CCLORS), to run youth radio sessions for 6-18 year olds after school, and to enable the young radio-makers’ creations to be shared over the airwaves. FREE funded places can be booked online via eventbrite 

The youngsters created their first show, A Christmas Special now available on mixcloud, taking over the station for an uplifting hour on Christmas day with their favourite festive songs and Christmas cracker jokes, and they are now working towards creating a two-hour Easter special. 

Feedback from the budding radio stars has achieved a 100% approval rating of the fun factor at each session with enthusiastic comments including:

"This is the best thing I've ever done!" "I love these sessions!" "I look forward to this every time"

"This is really good, it's the only thing I'm getting involved in at the moment 'cos of lockdown and I actually get 'to people' again!"  

And a parent said: "Really looking forward to this excellent initiative (Christmas special show by the kids) to get kids into radio in Derby. Not only has my boy learned new skills, he's gained loads of confidence with new older kids before secondary school next year. BRAVO @MprezEnterprise @DerbySoundRadio & the brillo kiddo DJs!"

Vanessa Boon, Chair/Presenter/Producer at Derby Sound and fellow Presenter Tomar Beh, CEO of M-prez Enterprise, co-deliver the sessions with lots of fun activities, encouragement and a chance for the youngsters to record radio announcements. Tomar started out in youth radio as a teenager and has gone on to DJ-ing and hosting regular radio shows, including a Friday night Afrobeat and pan-African music show on Derby Sound. Vanessa grew up around radio from a young age, enjoying hanging out in the studio when her Dad was on air and seeing the power of radio to connect people. Both Tomar and Vanessa are passionate about making radio a force for social good and a place for young people to find their voice.   

Guest speakers who are both local Derby folks and award-winning radio presenters and producers have also given inspiring talks on the sessions, providing relatable role models and an insight into radio roles and careers .

Launched last November, the project continues to harness radio as a vehicle to help young people in the community to express their hopes and fears during the pandemic and their feelings and experiences during Lockdown. They also have the opportunity to share their passion for music, try out audio production and interviewing techniques, meet other young people, gain confidence in using their voices and have fun too.

Once lockdown restrictions are lifted there will also be visits to Derby Sound Community Radio station with opportunities to record and broadcast in the studio.

“I love how radio can offer a supportive space for young people to find their voice and express themselves” says Vanessa Boon, Chair and Presenter at Derby Sound Community Radio, adding “we initially ran a taster workshop for young people and at first some were very nervous and self-conscious about speaking on the microphone but by the end of the session it was a joy to see them beaming, speaking with confidence, taking the lead and not wanting the session to end! It has been great to make the virtual sessions happen during lockdown. It's been a lot of fun for us all at a trying time and wonderful to see the young people to turn their ideas into real radio broadcasts made by, for and about them. At a difficult time that can leave us feeling overwhelmed and powerless, these sessions are giving young radio-makers the chance to experience the power of broadcasting, to take control, speak up and feel good”. 


by Derby Sound 24 Jul, 2023
You can claim yourself a fun radio-related reward by backing your Derby volunteer-run radio🎧 for social good! From youth radio to airplay for local artists, reducing loneliness and connecting you to local happenings, plus specialist music genre shows with local flavour that you can't hear anywhere else, you can help us do more good for Derby by backing our crowdfunder via  http://crowdfunder.co.uk/derbysoundradio  

Our volunteer-run station is ready to grow and we want you to be part of it. We're about local radio for social good, made by and for the community. Help us to keep sharing local stories, amplify the local arts and music scene, and empower volunteers and youth groups onto the airwaves. 

Derby deserves a truly local radio station  for our city, where there have been cutbacks to local BBC radio and specialist music genre shows. Big corporate media companies have bought up local radio stations, often airing regional and national content, overlooking what's happening in Derby and not offering opportunities for people to learn radio skills, as a hobby or new career path. Radio can help keep the community connected, like an audio version of a noticeboard of local news and events, with friendly local voices to keep you company and a place for youngsters to get their first taste of broadcasting.

We want to open up the airwaves and give more people the chance to participate in radio made by and for Derby.   We are delighted to be part of the successful Derby DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting) bid to bring a new system to the city  by 2024, enabling Derby Sound and other small or specialist stations to be heard on DAB radios, in addition to listening via the internet. This will reach more people and help us to grow, but we need your help to get through these costly times and make it all possible. Did you see our story   in the local news?  

Your donations can help us to -

* recruit, train, mentor and supervise more volunteer presenters and community reporters  (we can't keep up with current demand, but how great is it that so many people want to get involved?!)

* cover running costs  (price rises in this economy, hey?) such as broadcasting bills, news and weather report service, studio space and license fees to play music

* get ready to broadcast on the new small-scale Derby DAB+ transmitter, with additional license fees, reaching people without internet access/confidence who can tune in on a DAB+ radio  

Longer-term - exciting plans ahead!  We are also working on grant applications and raising income via radio advertising and sponsorship so that we can recruit staff to run our station, keep up with demand, fill the 24/7 schedule with great hosts and content, plus investing in mobile / outdoor broadcasting kit to support local events and do more of our youth radio workshops and Love Music Reject Hate roadshows  with local artists and venues.


by Derby Sound 15 Jul, 2023

The people of Derby will soon be able to tune in to a wider range of radio stations via their DAB   (Digital Audio Broadcasting)radios. DAB   has increased significantly over the last decade, as a modern, greener, more energy-efficient platform than FM and AM analogue radio. 

Ofcom, the radio regulator, considered applications to build a transmission service that could revolutionise local radio and chose Derby DAB to make it happen. Derby Sound is delighted to be part of the successful Derby DAB bid.

Vanessa Boon from Derby Sound said " We are proud to amplify the city's music scene and provide a microphone for local voices by training up volunteers and running youth radio workshops to give more people a chance to get on the airwaves. We were really moved by listeners’ response to us keeping them company, reducing loneliness and lifting spirits during the pandemic. The chance to reach beyond internet broadcasting and also be on people’s DAB radios across Derby, in their homes and on the move, will enable us to connect with more people and grow our grassroots station further. This will help us to keep filling the gap in truly local, diverse radio content that you can't hear anywhere else. The lower energy consumption with DAB supports our aim of radio for social good and will help us to support Derby's ambition to be a modern City of Culture".  

Derby Sound contributed efforts to the bid to bring the small-scale DAB transmission service to the city and has a 5% share on the Board of Derby DAB  which will also open up opportunities for other broadcasters such as student radio and local specialist language and culture stations too. 

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More than 30 volunteers in and around Derby are broadcasting from home to keep you company in these trying times.

Derby Sound Community Radio has seen a 74% increase in listeners as more people stay at home during the lockdown. More and more people are seeking the company of a human voice, good music and keeping a sense of connection to the local community.

Offering companionship, the restorative power of music, entertainment and information on local Corona Virus support groups, food banks, and wellbeing activities, the friendly local hosts are dedicated to keeping the station on air. Volunteers are hosting shows from their own homes using virtual technology. 

"I am so proud of the team" says Vanessa Boon, Station Chair & Volunteer Presenter, "Our volunteers are passionate about the vital role that community radio can play at this worrying time.  I wish to say a huge thank you to all our volunteers who are keeping the station on air 24/7. Their hard work and dedication to keeping folks company through this crisis, whilst many of our team are dealing with shielding or isolating themselves, and broadcasting from home, shows inspiring community spirit. Thanks to our volunteers both on-air and behind the scenes, our supporters, advertisers and listeners, though we may be social distancing we can still feel socially together over the airwaves". 

The station continues to bring a variety of music, news, topical chat and fresh new interviews with Derby characters including community difference-makers via zoom. In the mix are specialist shows spanning rock, Latin, synth, retro, indie, Afrobeats, chart and eclectic music, with something for everyone. And if you miss a show there is also the on demand service via Mixcloud.
 
To keep lifting people's spirits and be a vehicle for social good the station is sharing local sources of help in regular bulletins, showcasing local artists who have felt the effects of event cancellations and venue closures, and is planning a virtual open mic event to gather people together online.

Always dreamed of being on the radio? Amplifying the voices of Derby, the station is also inviting people to create and send in content for broadcast such as recorded greetings, messages, original poems and songs and interviews. "With smartphones, or a laptop and USB microphone, offering good quality sound recording functions many people can join in and create their own audio content" says Vanessa "and we are adapting our popular radio skills taster workshops to run online offering e-learning opportunities to people keen to gain a new skill such as audio editing or presenting. With our help, participants can develop their ideas for radio features, bulletins or even hosting their own show from home".

Derby Sound is part of the local charity Disability Direct and is also playing its part in helping disabled volunteers and listeners to access local support during isolation. 

Listen live via www.derbysound.org.uk  and click the Listen button
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Or find Derby Sound on TuneIn

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