21 Days: Northbrook College students’ ‘amazing’ radio experience

COLLEGE students are broadcasting across the airwaves for a special project after winning a competition to set up their own radio station.
The Northbrook Student Radio team in the studio SUS-141003-090755001The Northbrook Student Radio team in the studio SUS-141003-090755001
The Northbrook Student Radio team in the studio SUS-141003-090755001

Northbrook Student Radio will broadcast live on 87.5FM for most of the 21 Days campaign, after being granted £5,000 for an Ofcom licence by the National Association of College and University Entrepreneurs.

First year music student Ollie Copper got the launch show underway, with roving reporters covering the launch of the campaign and interviewing figures such as Worthing mayor Bob Smytherman in the first few days. Ollie said: “It was a bit nerve-racking to lead the show and be that first presenter but I was really excited, so the nerves didn’t last long. I just wanted to start playing some tracks and presenting.”

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The radio station has been given a temporary frequency and will support the 21 Days campaign with live interviews, phone-in sessions and shows.

It will be dedicated to careers and apprenticeships, as well as showcasing talent from across the different curriculum areas of 
the college.

Students have been busy producing content, working alongside some of Worthing and Adur’s main employers.

In the studio supporting them has been senior music lecturer Mike Pailthorpe, and David Cunningham, from Tailor Made Radio, who has supplied the equipment and provided training.

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Mr Pailthorpe said the experience had been ‘amazing’ so far.

“I was out on my bike the other day and a van went past blaring out the radio, and it was Northbrook Student Radio,” he said.

“It wasn’t a student, just an ordinary person who had tuned in, which is great.”

Mr Pailthorpe said the project had been well-received by the students and the station will go exclusively online once the broadcast licence ends, due to it being well-received.

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He said: “It has been really exciting. The students have had to be entrepreneurial, doing things such as selling advertising space, producing the adverts and interacting with the Worthing community.

“We will be broadcasting on nsr.fm when the 15 days of the licence come to an end.”

For the full story, see the Herald and Gazette, out Thursday, March 13.

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