Female, 40 years old
I started volunteering at ALL FM after suffering a personal tragedy and it proved to be the helping hand I needed. I have completed two radio skills courses in my time at the station and my confidence has soared. I have also had several stints presenting at BBC Radio Manchester because of the work I’ve done on my own show, which is something i could never have imagined doing without ALLFM.
ALL FM is a lifeline to me and to the community it serves. ALL FM is the only radio station in Manchester that truly represents the diverse and multi- cultural population it serves. It’s an essential service both to the community and to the volunteers it supports. Without ALL FM my life would be emptier.
Female, 25 years old
When I first visited All FM, I was homeless, staying at a women’s hostel.
I was suffering from depression and severe anxiety. During my personal struggle over the past two years, ALL FM has been somewhere that I could share in good and positive experiences. I was delighted when I was given my own show, which has given me the routine and structure I needed. Without the training, encouragement and support, I have gained from the team and the volunteers at ALL FM, I believe I would not have had the confidence to improve my skills and would have given up at the first hurdle.
I am now nearly finished my college course and hope to progress to university in the future.
I now volunteer at several venues in Manchester in various roles, such as sound engineering and promotions. Due to my experience at ALL FM, I have also been enrolled on the New Deal for Musicians training scheme to get me back into employment again.
Female, 50 years old
I can not thank the staff and fellow volunteers for the marvellous opportunity given me in 2005. I had spent years at home bringing up my family and had lost a lot of self confidence. By offering me the chance to take part on a presenters course and a production course I have become an active member
in the volunteer world and society. I presented my own show “The Sound as a Pound Show” and my duties included advertising jobs for Job Centre Plus, activities and events offered by Manchester City Council and voice overs for community services. My experience has been fantastic. I worked as a station volunteer with the Central Manchester Hospitals to promote their wish to be involved in the local community. My personal experience has been most rewarding giving me an opportunity to meet people at the station with different lives, cultures and knowledge, my eyes have been opened to a whole new world that would not have been tapped were it not for ALL FM and its people.
Thanks to the radio station I applied to join a training course at Manchester Museum. I have undertaken several courses whilst there and I was part of a group to win an overall regional volunteers award. I offer visitors the opportunity to handle 2000 year old objects in the Lindow Man Exhibition.
I believe this Radio Station is a vital part in Manchesters desire for successful integration and Iwish to remain involved.
Male, 47 years old from the Iranian Community
There has been an increase in the population of my community since 2002 and I recall a listener who had reached the end of line as he spoke to us and was going to commit suicide but through our Persian Seda radio show there was a great turn around on his life and he has then become a very keen listener to the radio specially our show and has since been married and recently has celebrated his daughter’s first birthday.
Male, 40 years old
ALL FM is one of the few truly multiracial multicultural socially inclusive organisations in the area, it provides so many opportunities for people to become involved and informed in all aspects of their local community.I also think that ALL FM plays a major role in combating racism in the local area, by offering such a huge variety of different shows that help promote in a very positive way the diverse nature of our neighbourhood. If ALL FM closed I think that I would miss out on the many links into my local community that I have made as a result of preparing and researching my show about Local Transport Issues. I also feel that many people would miss out as I get so much feedback about the broad and varied programmes
that are on ALLFM, and how much people gain in information, community awareness and social inclusion from ALLFM’s output.
Male, 35 years old
Being involved as both a volunteer and listening of ALL FM the station has given me an opportunity to find out about what is going on in my local community and get more actively involved. On a personal level there is the social aspect of being involved in ALL FM where I have met people I would not otherwise have crossed paths with.
GB, Female, 50 years old
I have DJ’d in bars and at festivals and have recently set up a world music agency and gained a job at the Arts Council. I believe all of these have come about purely due to the opportunity I was given to run a world music show on ALL FM over the last four years. My show on ALL FM enabled me to produce and broadcast enough material to gain my NVQ Level 3 Diploma in Radio Production.
Male, 30 years old
The excellent training provided completely free of charge by ALL FM when I started volunteering at the station has provided me with the right skills and confidence to develop my career in media and broadcasting, a sector in which our city is set to become a real leader over the next few years (if the massive investment in MediaCity is to be the success we all hope). It has also given me a wonderful opportunity to interact, both in a professional working environment and socially, with people from other communities with whom I share my neighbourhood, and with whom I would never otherwise have had the opportunity to become friends. ALL FM is more than just an entertaining radio station or a channel for skills development; it is a force for community cohesion, aspiration and mutual understanding. These are the things that underpin tolerance, peace and prosperity in our city; they are more vital now than ever, and will continue to be so in the forseeable future. Other than the issues already touched upon, my passion for this station is musical. The increasingly bland, homogenised mainstream broadcast media, especially in the realm of radio, simply fails to represent the diversity of musical passions in our community. Where else can one enjoy disco cheek-by-jowl with samba, irish folk, polish music, reggae, jazz, blues, soca, soul and myriad other wonderful sounds? If music is the food of love, ALL FM is an organic feast. A home grown alternative to the junk food served up to us by commercial networks. Manchester and musical creativity are inextricably linked. Lose an outlet like this and we lose part of our city’s soul.
Female, 23 years old
Producing and presenting on all fm has made such a massive difference to my life and to getting a foot on the career ladder. Now I have a career I am still benefitting from the skills (and the credibility) of producing and presenting a radio show. For example, I am now working as a communications officer and I know that having ALL FM on my CV has demonstrated that I am confident, a good speaker, able to organise my thoughts coherently (as a result of conducting interviews), technically able and IT confident (desk driving skills). The fact that I volunteer for a community station has proved that I am committed, personable and a team player with a sense of the importance of community spirit. ALL FM creates community cohesion like no other activity i can think of. it allows you to express yourself through your music, your guests, conversations and interactions with other shows and presenters. We are all doing our best for the same, united goal - creating a great local radio station that is truly representative of the area. small businesses, societies and initiatives would really struggle to get their missions aired on other media around Manchester. All FM and community radio is the one outlet they have that will really get behind them and support their voice. In the current economic climate, small organisations need stations like ALL FM to exist in order to give them this support. Times are tough enough.
Male, 26 years old
I feel I have gained and developed many skills since I started as a volunteer at ALL FM.
My communication through speech as definitely improved as I have learned to be more concise and accurate in a short space of time. My speech during presentations has increased dramatically which has led to improved confidence in speech in different situations. For example, I recently fronted a presentation for work in front of potential clients and the feedback was very pleasing - even to the extent of one person asking me if I’d had special training for the situation. After interviewing a local band on the show, a band that could not get radio play on most other stations, they told us what an enjoyable day they’d had and were extremely grateful for the opportunity to be interviewed and have their songs played on the radio. I didn’t think too much of it at the time but afterwards, during a discussion with the person I co-present the show with, we realised we’d just made their day. We’d given them the chance to express their music, opinions and personalities on the radio which they could not get elsewhere which I think is the most important thing about community radio. The opportunity to express yourself whether it is through music, art, opinions, whatever, ALL FM provides unparalleled opportunities for people to express themselves and their interests and beliefs.