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Frome FM – Act Two

Happy Christmas to all our listeners – in Frome and around the globe!

Our move to temporary studios at the Old Police Station on Christchurch Street is complete and most of the gremlins have been kicked out! Programmes from Cell #1 are being transmitted live and pre-recorded as normal now and we plan to give you an improved and expanded schedule which will hit the 96.6fm frequency early in the New Year.

In the coming months we will be asking for your support to enable us to re-equip our community radio facilities before we move into the newly-refurbished Town Hall in the early summer of 2017. Watch this space and the local press for details from January 1.

Next year, our license comes up for renewal by the broadcasting regulators, OFCOM. We’d like to share with you the comments made about Frome FM by some people in the town in support of our application to OFCOM for a further 5-year license for Frome FM from June 2017.

Frome FM have worked really hard towards playing a key role in the Town Council’s aspirations to communicate better with Frome.  Their live coverage of some key meetings and recent recording of main council meetings opens up a new era for us – we believe it’s incredibly important that the public are well informed in order to build trust in democracy.

We’re really hoping that having Frome FM in the same building as council meetings will ramp this up and take us into a new phase of transparency which further helps erode the gap between the council and the wider public.

Peter Macfadyen

“I would like to put on record our thanks to Frome FM for the support they provide the Town Council and the community as a whole and look forward to an ever-closer relationship.”

Paul Wynne, Town Clerk, Frome Town Council

Bob Ashford, Chair of Fair Frome – a local Frome charity which runs the Food Bank and other projects designed to meet the needs of people in crisis said:

” Frome FM provides an invaluable service to Frome based charities. We have worked on programmes with Frome FM which have given us the opportunity to advertise our services and get our message across to people in the town. Having local presenters with a knowledge of the town has also been critical in understanding our needs and those of service users in Frome. As such we would wholeheartedly support Frome FM’s bid to extend their licence.”

From Glenda Collier, Mendip YMCA

We have been working with Frome FM over the past two years with the aim of giving disadvantaged and vulnerable young people a voice in their community, and building understanding and connection between young people and their communities. Frome FM supported a radio project where a number of young people engaged in making a radio programme about issues that face young people in today’s society. Outcomes for the young people involved were very good – developing skills, confidence, presenting and team work. One vulnerable young person went on to make programmes herself and staff saw a big increase in confidence and life skills. She is now running her own business. Our aim is to continue to operate an informal partnership with Frome FM to further the aims outlined above.

From Sarah Stobbart, YMCA Routes Project Manager

We have found Frome FM to be a fantastic resource and they have provided our young people with a forum to raise awareness of the issues they face in the local area, the opportunity to gain skills and experience in radio production, which in turn has helped to develop their confidence as well as providing a creative and positive activity for them to engage in.

From Gavin Ball, Principal of Frome College

Frome FM radio station has had a huge impact in Frome.   It is loved by  the community and  Frome College, where our students aged 13-19 are actively involved on a regular basis including recording their own programmes.

Working with Frome FM has had a very positive impact on students’ broader education and for them in considering their ‘next steps’.   A lot of our work in secondary education centres around students’ future employment.

We at Frome College are huge supporters of this local radio station and really value its contribution to the people of Frome.

I am absolutely in support of Frome FM’s radio license extension application.