Swindon 105.5

Swindon 105.5

Broadcast area	Swindon
Slogan	Daring to be Different
Frequency	105.5 MHz, and Online [1]
First air date	15 March 2008
Format	Community Radio
Owner	Community Radio Swindon
Website	www.swindon1055.com

SWINDON 105.5 is a community radio station for Swindon, Wiltshire fully licensed by media and communications regulator Ofcom^[1]. The station is run by volunteers (with the exception of the station manager) and obtains its funding by donations from the public and local companies and from Ofcom grants. The station is currently not permitted any form of on-air sponsorship or advertising by virtue of its location entirely within the coverage of an existing commercial broadcaster.

Contents 1 History 1.1 SCB Radio 1.2 Community Radio Swindon 2 Swindon 105.5 2.1 Launch 2.2 Programmes 2.3 People at Swindon 105.5 2.3.1 Management 2.3.2 Presenters 2.4 Trivia 3 References 4 External links

History

The original project was founded by Ian Rowe, Johnny Robinson, Richard Grace & Greg Stevens in 2004, who were all presenters at Swindon FM at the time. Shirley Ludford, former employee of both BBC Radio Wiltshire and GWR FM, was subsequently appointed Station Manager.

SCB Radio

Swindon Community Broadcasting was an RSL (Restricted Service Licence) set up in order to discover whether a community radio station could feasibly work in the area. After positive feedback about the station's success throughout the 28 day broadcast it was decided the project would proceed to the next step and apply for a full Community Radio Licence from Ofcom.

Community Radio Swindon

In 2006 the group applied for a community radio licence for the Swindon area. In total, two groups applied for the licence, Swindon FM Community Radio, which had run a local DAB only service in Swindon since 2002, and Community Radio Swindon.

Ofcom decided in favour of Community Radio Swindon and was awarded a licence in February 2007^[1].

Swindon 105.5

Launch

Swindon 105.5 was launched on March 15, 2008^[2] with the Town Crier of Swindon, Fred Ferris. The inaugural show was presented by Shirley Ludford with former BBC Radio Swindon broadcaster Peter Heaton-Jones.

The Station was launched at The County Ground, Home of Swindon Town F.C. The station moved to its current location at The Bentley Centre, Stratton Road, Swindon in the summer of 2010. The move to much larger premises allowed the station to expand to three Recording/On Air studios and a large administration/training area.

Programmes

Most of the programmes between 8 am and 10 pm are live, with some repeats of certain shows in the daytime. Other programmes are repeated during the 'Nightshift' time - usually from 10 pm until around 8 am.

Pre-recorded programmes are sent to the station from local schools and colleges, the Swindon Talking Newspaper and the local Tamil Association.

Swindon 105.5 was the first legal radio station to have a regular Drum & Bass show in the UK outside of the BBC.

People at Swindon 105.5

Management

Name	Title	Programme
Shirley Ludford	Station Manager	Shirley 'Meets' & Roundabout Swindon
Ian Rowe	Duty Manager & Original co-founder of Swindon 105.5

Presenters

Name	Role	Programme
Lew Lawton	Presenter & Technician	It Came From Memphis
Ron Travolta	Presenter & Music Team	Breakfast Show
Phil Wheeler	Presenter	Lunchtime & Memories Made Of Hits
Albert & Deivi	Saturday Evening Presenters	Latin Hot
Len Morphew	Presenter	Blue Notes
Ray Bewes	Presenter	Easy Sunday
Keith Vowles	Presenter	The Music Box
Mike Ganley	Presenter	The Crooked Road
Donna Reader	Presenter	Motown and More
Nick Anderson	Presenter	The Big Weekender
Barry Harris	Presenter	The Big Weekender
Various Presenters	Friday Night Drum & Bass	The Friday Night Mix Project
John Milford	Sunday Afternoon Presenter	Show Scene
Martin Upfold	Sunday Afternoon Presenter	Touch Of Brass
Richard Scott	Sunday Morning presenter	Your Shout
John Nartey	Sunday Morning presenter	Your Shout
Grant Barnes	Sunday Morning presenter	Your Shout
Nick Smith	Sunday Night Presenter	The Late Gig
MC Ranks	Sunday Evening Presenter	Caribbean Vibes
Dan Pratt	Sunday Night Presenter	The Late Gig
Mr Lee	Presenter	Saturday Night Party Mix
Cleo	Presenter	The Good News Show
Al Burston	Presenter	Rolling Records Session
Luke Winton	Presenter	Luke Winton Show
Nick Taylor	Presenter	Saturday Leisure Show
John Ratcliffe	Presenter	Rhythm and Rhyme
Ian Pugh	Presenter	May Contain Nuts
Dave Woods	Newsreader	Local News
Ann-Marie Stanford	Presenter	Health Matters and Girls About Town
Christina Strang	Presenter	Health Matters

Trivia

• The station’s first officially played song was the 1964 Martha & The Vandellas single – Dancing in the Street

• The first regular show to air was The Johnny Robinson Show at 7-9 pm on Saturday 15 March. Robinson was apparently “tired and shattered” after helping out the rest of the Technical Team, and had gone without sleep for 36 hours before presenting the show.

• The station's appointed broadcast facilitation company, transplan UK, together with the station's own Technical Team, had worked continuously for two days to ensure that the station’s equipment was functioning correctly in time for the Official Launch at 10 am on Saturday 15 March 2008.

• The studios were situated at Swindon's County Ground, the football stadium for Swindon Town Football Club. The station formerly shared the studio with ITV Thames Valley until it vacated the building following the 'ITV Local' restructuring programme.

• Martin Upfold, who is a volunteer at the station appeared on a Sky News feature, focusing on the recession in Swindon. Martin created a video diary, and was also interviewed live by leading Sky News anchor Jeremy Thompson.

• Christina Strang, (co-presenter with Ann-Marie Stanford) of Health Matters attended an international scientific conference in Australia and presented a research paper on handwriting in disease.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Ofcom awards new community radio licences
2. ^ Perrin, Ben (March 16, 2008). "New radio station switches on". Swindon Advertiser. 

External links

• Swindon 105.5 Website
• Ron Travolta's Website
• Christina Strang's Website
• Ann-Marie Stanford LinkedIn Profile