New radio station will focus on community

A SOUTH Wales radio station is getting ready to take to the airwaves at last – after a decade-long campaign.

Members of Rhondda Radio are preparing to broadcast on FM after being awarded a radio licence by regulators Ofcom.

Formed in 2007 as part of the Rhondda Cynon Taf Community Radio Project, the community radio station is currently available online and has been broadcast on FM three times since its creation.

It is run entirely by a team of 20 fulltime volunteers, with shows including jazz, rock and Welsh language programmes.

Radio director and volunteer Emyr Webster said: “The whole idea of community radio is that it’s hyper local so we can get local people to have a chat about things like local theatre productions, businesses, the WI.

“We want to try and bring the Rhondda together. This is huge, for the last seven years we’ve been moving along towards this.

“The internet is not like the coverage you get with FM, now we can catch people travelling to work and we should be able to cover from Treherbert to Porth.”

Members of the diverse group of volunteers include two partiallysighted presenters who are said to have developed a large following over the last four years.

Now, with the start of broadcasting to a wider audience, it is hoped more people will get involved to produce new shows.

Emyr, 46, from Treorchy said: “I don’t think people always realise what community radio is so hopefully now we can encourage people to get involved.

“The idea is to work with schools and with Treorchy Comprehensive to get the media department to get down.”

Based in Treorchy and Cwmparc Boys and Girls Club, the station will also work with GTFM radio station in Pontypridd to share programming.

The launch is planned for the end of July, with the radio station frequency to be announced closer to the date.

Before the launch, two public meetings will be held for anyone interested in joining the group.

Anyone interested is asked to meet at The Lion in Treorchy on Monday at noon or the Arts Factor in Ferndale on Tuesday at 7pm.