Tune into podcast that celebrates city
NEW SHOW AIMS TO HIGHLIGHT QUIRKY STORIES
A new podcast has been launched celebrating Sunderland.
Speak Up Sunderland, which is hosted by presenters Betty Ball and Stevie B, and produced by Jay Sykes, is aimed at highlighting projects and people in the city with an interesting story to tell.
Betty, who works as a lifeguard, swimming teacher, model and breakfast presenter on Spark FM, said: “Sunderland is an amazing city, filled with everything – and that’s what Speak Up Sunderland is all about.
“Being part of the team is nothing more than fun. It’s very local, funny, relevant and random – which I think is a great selling point.”
After less than a month, the podcast has been downloaded 378 times, and listened to around the world.
“We’re really delighted by the initial growth of Speak Up Sunderland – especially by some of the feedback we’ve received from listeners,” said producer Jay.
In the first four episodes, the team have met a group of young RAF Air Cadets who built a Second World War plane from scratch, enjoyed glass blowing demonstrations at the National Glass Centre, tested out Paul Swinney’s Mackem Dictionary with the locals, and shared the story of Joey, a Vietnamese-born man who has settled in Sunderland thanks to charity City Hearts, after surviving 17 years as a victim of human trafficking.
Abigail Harding, senior caseworker at City Hearts, said: “This job can be really difficult, so when we see the local community showing us they care too it makes things so much easier.”
Presenter Stevie B said: “Sunderland is packed full of stories and characters.
“Even by just scratching the surface, we find so much to talk about.
“We really feel that many groups and organisations would benefit from having their voices on our podcast – and we want to highlight those stories, the unheard voices.”
Jay, an academic tutor at the University of Sunderland and producer, said: “Each week, I cram in about 15 hours of editing to make this podcast special, and I’m really proud of the results.”