Community Radio reporters wanted

Somer Valley FM, the local community radio station is looking for Community Radio Reporters to help it reach more listeners in the towns and surrounding villages of the broadcasting area.

What they need is people in each community - it could be an area of Norton Radstock, an estate or a village or hamlet, to act as the link point and community reporter for the radio station.

Rupert Kirkham, producer, says, "This will make sure your community has a spokesperson when anything happens that you would like to tell other communities about.

"We can contact you on the phone, you can come into the studio and say what you need to say live, or we can train you use the portable recording equipment we have at the studio and you can take it out into your community and record your messages 'on location'."

Rupert adds, "With a trained Community Radio Reporter in your area, we can make sure your location gets a fair airing on Somer Valley FM and that people all over the region know what you're up to."

With its Outside Broadcast Unit, Somer Valley FM also has the capability of beaming live programmes from any part of the region - so anyone can take part, on the spot. Last year an outside broadcast took the Somer Valley Sports Team to Yeovil to witness Welton Rovers win the Somerset FA Cup and the station has done live broadcasts from festivals, open days and public events all over the region in the last twelve months.

The station also has a full training schedule for young people, with regular courses running every week and they are already booking students from local schools to do work experience in the summer.

Station Manager, Dom Chambers reports that the station is, "involving more people from all walks of life in the community every single day, from volunteer presenters to Corporate Sponsors, but we're still looking for more sponsors and are developing some great incentives for programme and station sponsorship."

In the next few weeks, the station is launching a new show for families at home in the mornings.  The target audience will be mums and dads, grandparents and childminding professionals who are 'at home' in the mornings, between 10 and 12 am. Produced and presented by local volunteers, the programme will look at a whole range of topics from family care, food and health issues to stories for the toddlers, competitions and quizzes.

  If you would like to be a community reporter for your area or takwe part in any of our programmes, sponsor the outside broadcast facility or become a programme or station sponsor, call Rupert or Dom on 01761 411755 have a chat. Or you can email the station studio@somervalleyfm.co.uk.

Somer Valley 97.5 FM can be found in St Chad's Avenue, Midsomer Norton, BA2 3HG and online at www.somervalleyfm.co.uk