More than 30 radio stations back WaterAid

Several commercial radio stations – including Kerrang!, Jazz FM, Real Radio, Lincs FM and those from the UTV and Quidem groups – are supporting an appeal from international charity WaterAid to help bring clean water to communities in Malawi.

Launched today, The Big Dig Appeal will see presenters asking listeners to donate by sponsoring them for various challenges such as presenting an all-day show without drinking anything.

The campaign is being backed by most of UTV Media’s England and Wales stations, Quidem’s Touch FM and Banbury Sound stations, Lincs FM and Rutland Radio, Silk FM in Macclesfield, UKRD’s Star Radio in Cambridge, CN Group stations The Bay and City Beat, Aberdeen’s Original 106, Brighton’s Juice FM, GMG’s Real Radio network, Bauer’s Kerrang! Radio and national digital station Jazz FM.

Interviews with people living in the areas that will benefit from the appeal will air on the stations as part of the promotion, arranged by Radioworks and media agency MC&C. All money donated will be matched by the UK Government from the aid budget, with a target of £1.2m set to help people who have no clean water supply or nowhere to go to the toilet in Malawi.

Stan Park, Chairman of RadioWorks, said: “We’re proud to have helped make this exciting partnership possible and look forward to a successful appeal that will help change thousands of lives for the better. It’s easy for us to take clean water for granted when it comes at the turn of a tap, but it’s a different story in Malawi. Gaining access to this basic necessity opens the door to improved health, education and economic prosperity.”

Mike Colling, MD of MC&C, said: “The appeal marks the culmination of six months of hard work, transforming the concept of a joint radio industry campaign to reality. A significant proportion of the UK commercial radio industry has come together to support WaterAid’s Big Dig Appeal and reach as many people as possible with clean water and safe toilets.”

Claire Wright, Strategy Consultant at the Radio Advertising Bureau, added: “This is a great example of the UK commercial radio industry working together and capitalising on the emotional relationship that listeners have with their DJs to benefit a fantastic charity such as WaterAid.”

The full list of stations taking part is as follows:

Wish FM; Wire FM; Tower FM; Radio Wave 96.5; Peak FM; The Pulse; Pulse 2; Signal 1; Signal 2; Signal 107; The Wave 96.4; Touch FM (Coventry); Touch FM (Staffs); Touch FM (Warwick); Touch FM (Warks, Worcs, Cots); Banbury Sound; Lincs FM (incl Compass); Rutland Radio; Silk FM; Star Radio Cambridge; The Bay; City Beat; Original 106; Brighton’s Juice FM; Real Radio in NW, NE, Yorkshire, Wales and Scotland; Kerrang!; talkSPORT; Jazz FM.