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Local Radio Project

by Haddenham Webteam – 6th September 2015
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Community group wants your views as they bid to bring a full time radio station to the airwaves of Haddenham, Thame and the surrounding villages.

The team behind a series of short term radio broadcasts to support and promote Haddenham's summer beer festivals, wants your help as it campaigns to secure a full time licence to broadcast.

Red Kite Radio, based at the Haddenham Garden Centre, needs to convince Government regulator Ofcom of the need for a full time community radio station in this area.

Broadcasting to Haddenham, Thame and all of the surrounding villages, the team of volunteers, with professional backgrounds in national and local radio, has operated three highly successful short term broadcasts supporting and promoting the Haddenham summer beer festivals (Summerfest).

"Summerfest Radio began over three years ago after a conversation in a pub and has grown ever since, heavily supporting the beer festival which has grown significantly during the three summers we've been on the air," said Pete MacFarlane, General Manager of Red Kite Radio. "We are independent of the Haddenham Beer Festivals Trust but have formed solid links with the trust and the many organisations with which it is associated, giving Red Kite Radio a solid footing in our community."

If awarded the five year licence, the team will be able to promote not just one but two beer festivals annually...In addition a full time station will promote local schools, charities, groups, sports teams and many more organisations at the centre of life in our area. Red Kite Radio will provide a platform to bring our communities together at a time of growth and dramatic change and it will also offer local businesses, both large and small, a means to reach out.

The team is also planning to offer radio training opportunities to local people: "Successful participants in our training programmes will get a chance to broadcast on Red Kite Radio," said Pete MacFarlane. He believes the key to the station's future success is listening to local people: "We really want to hear from residents in Haddenham, Thame and the villages located within the proposed 5 mile broadcast area."

A listener survey is live throughout September on the station's website: www.redkiteradio.com. It takes 5-10 minutes to complete and will help shape the station's application which is due to be submitted to Ofcom in October. "We really want to hear your views to help us lobby the regulator. Any comments you make will help form the foundation of our application," Pete MacFarlane added.

If awarded a full time radio licence, Red Kite Radio will broadcast 24 hours a day with community news updates & information, interviews with politicians, local people and organisations. It will entertain with music and chat from studio space which has been kindly donated by the Haddenham Garden Centre.

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