An Amber Valley community radio station is walking on air after scooping an Awards for All grant. The project is one of two in Amber Valley and 44 in the East Midlands sharing grants worth £323,830 in the latest round of awards announced today.
Amber Sound FM Limited receives £9,917 to help develop its services and training after its official launch on 4 October this year. The station broadcasts a range of music and community-driven programmes 24 hours a day, seven days a week within a five-mile radius of Ripley and is run by a group of 20 volunteers. It will use funding to help train more radio enthusiasts and school groups as well as completing a second broadcasting studio.
Glyn Williams, Sales and Fundraising Manager, said: “We’re as good as anything on the dial and now we’re a month and a half in we’re really starting to get the sense we’re pulling the community together. We’ve got loads of new listeners at home and in local businesses and more and more people are getting in touch and texting in. I think what makes us unique is that we’re a local service, delivered by local DJs, touching on the interests and concerns of local people.