Mentally, 2022 has had its major ups and downs - but it's also been one of the busiest and most exciting both for me personally and for our little radio station in its second full year on-air.
As an autistic person who finds comfort in routine and familiarity, equally, embarking on new challenges to do with my focused interests is always exciting.
In June, I produced a 7-hour live outside broadcast from the Platinum Jubilee Fete. We became an all-50s station for the day, which I had been tasked with programming, and celebrated long-established members of the community who’ve contributed so much to the town over the years.
As well as working behind-the-scenes, I love using my voice. Being autistic means face-to-face interactions aren't always the easiest, but give me a mic and a crowd and I'm in my element! Compering onstage at Petersfield Community Fair and in the box at the South Downs Show this summer was a blast!
Our development day in September was an opportunity for volunteers to acquire and/or enhance their skills.
There was Paul Chantler with essential Legal & Compliance training, Steve Martin on interview technique, John Ryan on preparing news bulletins and I was delighted to host a couple of sessions (one on music presentation, another on editing audio).
We also took our championing of local musicians to a new level this winter by running a contest to find young talent from one of the local schools to sing lead vocals on a couple of cuts from our new jingle package.
After the winner, Daisy Browning, had received world-class session singing coaching, Ignite Jingles director Chris Stevens joined us down the line for the recording at Churcher's College music studio. Thanks to all involved for making this possible!
What else happened? Petersfield's Shine Radio was crowned Digital Station of the Year at the Community Radio Awards 2022! I attended the ceremony in Bedford together with three of my presenter colleagues (Blake, Noni and Kate) and had the honour of delivering an acceptance speech on behalf of the whole team.
Not only this but Noni's Shine Radio Recipe scooped up the bronze and Kate's Dogs with Jobs won gold in the Best Podcast category!
As a team of dedicated volunteers, we're extremely proud of what we do but to come out on top despite fierce national competition (and having won the silver prize last year) was beyond our wildest dreams.
The vast majority of volunteers have no prior media experience upon joining - they're just people who love where they live and want to give something back to the community - and the most rewarding thing about my role is helping colleagues develop their technical and presentation skills, allowing them to connect with fellow residents using our powerful, unbeatable, medium.
I can't wait for whatever bigger and better things 2023 has to bring!
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