Community radio stations are providing trusted news, companionship and cultural representation across the UK but struggle to measure and report impact, according to new research.
The research, carried out by Wavehill and released by Ofcom, confirms that these volunteer-led services offer valuable support to communities both on and off-air.
The study highlights how community radio provides hyper-local news, especially during crises, connects with audiences underserved by mainstream media, and supports people at risk of isolation. Stations are also seen to back local arts, tackle social issues and create real-world impact through events and volunteering.
But while more than half of community stations say they try to measure their social impact, many struggle to do so consistently. Only 56% of stations currently attempt to record social gain, and around a third have no estimate of their audience size.
The biggest challenges are lack of time, funding and staffing to collect and analyse feedback.
To help address this, Ofcom has now published practical tools for stations to use. The new resources include a listener survey, case study template, volunteer outcome tracker, and a calculator to help value social benefit in monetary terms.
These are not mandatory, but are intended to make it easier for stations to evidence their role in the community when applying for funding or engaging with supporters.
The UK Community Radio Network was a direct research partner of Wavehill as it drew on the initial “Listening locally” research that they published last year.
Martin Steers Director of the UKCRN, said “It was a pleasure to work with Wavehill on this research to further develop the ways we measure and demonstrate the social gain of Community Radio.
“We look forward to working with stations to see these tools develop and be implemented, working at a sector level to draw the data together for a national picture to present to the Government.”
The full guidance, toolkit and report are available on the Ofcom website: ofcom.org.uk.