Spark pick up four nominations at Community Radio Awards
Written by Tyler Selby on 21st October 2022
Image credit – Community Radio Awards
Spark have picked up four nominations, including Station of the Year, at this year’s Community Radio Awards.
The awards recognise the great work done within community radio stations across the country.
Making the shortlist alongside four other community stations for Station of the Year, there’s also individual nominations for Megan Hayward for Young Person of the Year, Lottie Steele for Be The Sea in Arts and Creative of the Year, and Jay Sykes for Hills Are Alive in the same category.
James Rowe, Spark’s intern who spent the previous year as the station’s Head of Programming, said: “I am absolutely thrilled for the whole team at Spark for being nominated for Station of the Year.
“We work very hard day and night to ensure we are covering the stories that matter to our audience and it is amazing to see our hard work being rewarded in this way.”
https://twitter.com/MrJamesRowe/status/1579103155823919105?s=20&t=aqhU6r5jP3t4v0Sqd176MA
Megan said: “After finishing my Masters, I was so glad I could continue volunteering at Spark, even remotely after moving back home.
“I’m so excited to be a finalist for Young Person of the Year as community radio has been a great way to learn even more and helped me become a better audio producer! Thank you to Cameron Conner for nominating me and all the shows that I’ve been able to contribute to this past year!”
https://twitter.com/TheMeganHayward/status/1578820624155574273?s=20&t=aqhU6r5jP3t4v0Sqd176MA
Lottie said: ”Be the Sea was a radio documentary I produced following an event hosted by Seascapes in which they used hydrophones to listen to the sounds beneath the sea and recreate these through art and music.
“I interviewed people involved with the workshops and used some of their underwater recorded sounds to create this documentary giving it an out of this world, experimental feel to it.
“To have this piece recognised and nominated for a Community Radio Award is amazing! I think it truly shows how you can integrate local events into community radio.”
https://twitter.com/_yungloti/status/1579077125310939136?s=20&t=fG1KdV0629OFtp2m5g1kbQ
Jay said: “Hills Are Alive came together when I hooked up with Norfolk Street Arts to share memories of an old Sunderland book shop, which had been there for over a century. By bringing people together, we did a series of creative writing, which I turned into a wall installation.
“Part two of the project was making an audio piece from those stories. I hired five voice actors, most of whom had never performed before in paid roles, and created a sound art piece in response to mixing together those different readings of those stories.
“It’s wonderful to be nominated for this and an honour to see that work recognised, and I’m really looking forward to the awards and meeting other representatives from community radio stations across the country.”
The ceremony will take place at Kings’ House in Bedford on Saturday, November 19.
