John Gill – RIP
It’s with a heavy heart that we bring you the sad news that BCB’s John Gill died on 6 December. Many people will remember John from the radio training he patiently delivered to hundreds of volunteers over the years. John joined BCB as a trainee around 1997, became an active volunteer at BCB and then went on to become our Radio Development Worker. This was a role that he successfully fulfilled for many years, encouraging community groups and individuals from across Bradford to become broadcasters on BCB.
John was very active in setting up and supporting our outreach project, Shipley Community Radio, with the visit of the legendary John Peel to open the Shipley studio. John also worked with Radio 119, encouraging people with learning disabilities to have a voice on the radio.
Unfortunately, John started with a period of ill health around 2011 and was unable to return to work after that. With his distinctive radio voice, and a love for roots music, John was a long-term broadcaster on BCB. As well as anchoring our sports broadcasting, he was a regular presenter of ‘Drive’ and his ‘Mixed Bag’ music programme. He gave so much of his life to BCB over the years, a real believer in Community Radio and the power of broadcasting. We’ll miss you John.
BCB’s Youth Music project aims to showcase music created by young people from around the district. So each week we’re featuring a track by a local artist on our About Bradford and Bradford & Beyond shows.
BCB will be supporting young people to develop more opportunities for young musicians to perform live in Bradford, in venues appropriate for young people from diverse communities and backgrounds. Find our more about our Youth Music project.
As a part of a recent exhibition at the Science and Media Museum, our BCB volunteers were invited to talk about their lives and the various ways BCB has played a part in them.
This is Shamim’s story:
To hear more stories visit our Above the Noise project page.
