Welcome to the BCB newsletter for April. Here’s just a few things that have been going on at BCB and some events that are coming up:
Studios Update
Studio 3 is currently our main “live on-air” broadcast studio with limited availability for presenters to record pre-recorded shows.
In studio 1, the mics, myriad, telephone and comrex are all fully up and running. the CD’s and record decks aren’t set up on remote starts just yet, but you can use your own device via bluetooth or aux cable (if you’ve got an adapter for your phone/tablet/laptop) to play your own music – so for the majority of pre-recorded programmes, you can also book studio 1.
In studio 2, for those who’ve been using the RODEcaster mixing desk, the temporary set up will be in place up until Tuesday 14th April, but from Wednesday 15th April, the temproary kit will be taken out and Rich Halfpennny will start work on setting up the permanent kit in there.
In May, all 3 studios should be fully complete, with one of the best set ups of any radio station in the U.K. Massive thanks to Rich Halfpenny on an amazing achievement.
In addition to the 3 state-of-the-art radio studios, we’ll also be setting up our “podcast’ studio for production and voice recording with Myriad, which is ideal for one person – and might even squeeze in 2!
If you’d like to book studio time, please speak to a member of staff or call 01274 771677 before you write in the studio book, so we can check you’ll be able to record your show in the way you’d like to record it in the correct studio and without clashing with other broadcast, project or training commitments.
Radio Venus on BCB – Sunday 8 March
Over 20 women took part in this year’s Radio Venus, recording new programmes and broadcasting live for 16 hours on 106.6fm on March 8th International Women’s Day. Even more came in to help run the studios for the day. As well as our regular presenters, BCB welcomed several new broadcasters and guests – across the age range – into our new studios with programmes ranging from Classical European and Indian Music, to music and aspects of life from 20th century, present day Ukraine remembering Bradford women and women speaking out on a range of issues.
Schools
Our team of young reporters from Rainbow Primary Leadership Academy completed their young reporter course with us, but they all want to come back and make more radio! This month we will welcome a new team of pupils from the school, who will be learning how to make their own radio shows and reporting on issues that are important to young people in Bradford.
We’ve also been joined by a couple of teams of children who have been working with us as part of the Pupil Voice project. The BDAT schools latest show focused on Wellbeing and featured future radio stars from Westminster Primary school. The team had a lot of fun and you can listen back to their show here; https://listenagain.bcbradio.co.uk/?pgdate=20260401
Hear My Voice
Hear My Voice: is a BCB project working with refugees and those seeking asylum – they have been broadcasting live once a fortnight and are going from strength to strength. Hear My Voice is exactly that sharing the voices of refugees and those seeking asylum they share their stories of migration and settling and of life in a new country the trials and tribulations their joys and hopes. They continue to have guests and stories from near and far. Tune in Thursdays 1.00pm-2.00pm.
Radio 119
Radio 119 is our project supporting adults with learning disabilities to have greater access to the media and they’ve had an exciting month as usual. Every Tuesday they produce a 15 minute piece for about Bradford and in the past month they’ve chatted with Epilepsy Action, celebrated Autism Awareness Week and Neurodiversity week and took us on a tour of Bradford Arts Centre. They’ve also been very busy road testing our brand new studio 1 which you can see above.
National Year of Reading
This year we celebrate the National Year of Reading and here at BCB Radio we want everybody to get involved! We really want to encourage all our volunteers to talk about reading and champion the National Year of Reading throughout 2026.
If you have any ideas of how we can celebrate/ support the National year of reading please feel free to contact hello@bcbradio.co.uk
Step Up To The Mic
10 new trainees have now completed their ‘Step up to the Mic’ Radio Training at BCB. In addition to essential radio skills with practice sessions in interviewing and working in the BCB studios, the group have been doing Vox Pops with the Bradford public, taken part in BCB programmes and made a pilot programme. Alongside the training the group have improved their self-esteem, confidence and well-being. One of the trainees said ‘At the beginning of the course, you said ‘You can do this’ but we didn’t believe you. Now we know it’s true!’
We are awaiting confirmation for our next Training Session. Let us know if you are interested in Training.
Radio Times
Radiotimes: is broadcast every Tuesday afternoon 2.15pm-3.00pm planned and presented by volunteers of a certain vintage. They discuss a whole plethora of topics from health and holidays, pensions and pastimes to tech and trends affecting those recently retired or those looking at retiring. Radiotimes are always looking for new volunteers and guests if you’re interested in joining them please contact them at radiotimes@bcbradio.co.uk
Featured Programme of the Month
Every month we tell you about a programme on BCB and this month we’re telling you more Creative Frequency. The show is brought to you by Izzie Smith every fourth Friday at 6pm:
Creative Frequency is a show tuning into unconventional routes and unforgettable stories from artists making new waves in their chosen artform. Demystifying what it really takes to sustain a creative career, one honest conversation at a time — because there are so many paths into the industry that nobody talks about.
Created by Bradford actor, presenter and producer Izzie Smith, Creative Frequency was born from a simple belief: you don’t need a degree to establish yourself in the arts. As a working class creative herself, Izzie knows firsthand the barriers, the imposter syndrome, and the brilliant community quietly earning from their craft without the celebrity spotlight.
This show is for them. A platform for everyday artists to share their stories, open doors for those finding their frequency, and prove that a creative career is not reserved for the few — it’s crafted by the many.
