Herald Express (Torbay, Brixham & South Hams Edition)

24 hours on airwaves by radio cheesemeis­ter

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RADIO DJ Chris Bowden has just completed an amazing 24 hour On Air Challenge on THE Access All Aerials radio station at Hannahs at Seale-Hayne, Newton Abbot.

Chris, who has Cerebral Palsy, was supported by his brother Craig and the AAA team. Also known as The Cheesemeis­ter, DJ Chris hosts his own weekly show on Access All Aerials, which is run by volunteers and people with disabiliti­es at Seale-Hayne.

Chris is one of 40 DJs who present 28 shows between them. The station is celebratin­g its fifth anniversar­y and now receives 231,000 listens and has 1,500 followers.

Chris, who is 35 years old and lives in Exeter, has difficulty speaking and cannot independen­tly use his arms or legs. Being a radio DJ on Access All Aerials means that Chris is living his dream.

His 24 hour On Air Challenge was his biggest challenge yet. He was delighted to be joined by local radio presenters Andy Gilbert from Exmouth Air and Matt Rogan from The Breeze.

He also received really supportive messages from renowned radio presenters Ken Bruce and David Hamilton as well as Jono Colman from Australia.

The marathon was listened to by people from all over the world. Several of the regular AAA DJs did shifts throughout the day and night as well as DJs from Cedar in Exeter who have a show on AAA once a week. Cedar is a charity which provides social and learning opportunit­ies for disabled people.

Chris’s brother Craig said: “The whole experience has been both exhilarati­ng and exhausting and a lot of fun!

“It has been Chris’s lifelong ambition to be on the radio and a more recent ambition to do a radio marathon. He was hugely inspired by Chris Moyles’ 52 hour radio marathon which he listened to and watched.

“Chris is passionate about radio - how it works and how he can connect with the audience. We both want to say a big thank you to AAA for all their support and to everyone who has given donations. It is fantastic we’ve raised over £1,000 to date!”

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