Welcome to the BCB newsletter for May. Here’s just a few things that have been going on at BCB and some events that are coming up:
BCB RadioBox at Bingley 25
BCB’s “RadioBox” mobile studio, which is touring the district to celebrate our Bradford 2025 UK city of culture year, was officially launched in Centenary Square on Thursday 10th April with a 3 week residency, where we broadcast a special launch show, our magazine programmes About Bradford and Bradford & Beyond, our Round Table discussion programme and the UK City of Culture Catchup Show with the Bradford 2025 team. We chatted live on-air with lots of interesting guests including Bradford 2025 event origanisers (including Creative Director Shanaz Gulzar) the new team behind Bradford’s latest entertainment venue Bradford Live and lots of visitors to the district as well.
The RadioBox was then transported to Bingley Arts Centre for the Bingley 25 Festival, from 2-5 May, where once again we got the chance to interview lots of guests live on-air and chat to people about getting involved in BCB as volunteers, contributors or guests this year.
We’ve had lots of great feedback from everyone who’s visited the RadioBox so far, including the Bradford 2025 team, who we’re working in partnership with to celebrate our City of Culture year.
The RadioBox will be returning back to Bradford city centre soon, before being transported over to Saltaire for the Saltaire Arts Trail from 23-27 May.
As well as broadcasting live from the the RadioBox at events and venues across the district, we’ll also be delivering radio workshops and fun activities as well. If you’d like to be involved in future events with the RadioBox please email jonathan.pinfield@bcbradio.co.uk.
Developing Confidence in Community Journalism – change of date.
We have had to move the date of the next session in BCB’s collaboration project with Leeds University School of Media. The session has changed from Thursday 15th May to Wed 28th May 1.30pm. This workshop is with Carl Hartley. It will be more slightly production focused and he will be giving us practical tips about how to make the most of our pre recorded interviews etc. We had a really good session with Andrew Edwards last month looking at managing more challenging and political interviews If you are interested in attending this session with Carl (and haven’t already let me know) please contact mary.dowson@bcbradio.co.uk
Bradford Literature Festival 2025 27June – 6 July
We are starting to plan our coverage of Bradford Literature Festival 2025. This year we will have the BCB Radiobox in City Park for the Festival period. As well as our usual daily festival live programme we are thinking about what else we may be able to do – a book club programme with the author? Children talking about books? BLF attendees exploring festival themes? Etc etc. If you have any ideas for new programmes that we could do that would be great. The BLF programme should be available next week so we can explore more after that. If you’d like to be part of the BCB BLF team, reviewing events interviewing authors, talking to festival go-ers, co presenting our daily programme etc please do let us know asap carole.moss@bcbradio.co.uk mary.dowson@bcbradio.co.uk
Open Minds Re-Launch
During Mental Health Awareness Week 2025, BCB, the community radio station for Bradford, is re-launching the Open Minds project to raise awareness of mental health in the Bradford District. BCB is looking to recruit a team of people with lived experience of managing their mental health to produce a series of radio programmes for broadcast on BCB 106.6fm.
The volunteers will be trained in radio production and presentation skills. They will then be supported to produce a series of radio programmes, highlighting lived experiences of mental health as well as the support available across the Bradford District. Over the next few weeks, BCB will be holding taster sessions for anyone interested in finding out more.
The first taster sessions will be on Wed 14 May 2pm – 4pm and Thursday 15 May 5-7pm at BCB Radio studios 11 Rawson Road, Bradford BD1 3SH. If you are interested in attending the sessions or finding out more, please contact Dipak Mistry 01274 771677. dipak.mistry@bcbradio.co.uk or mary.dowson@bcbradio.co.uk
Deidre Sheeran RIP
Its with great sadness that we are letting you know that Deirdre Sheeran, the wife of Joe Sheeran, died in April. This is following Joe’s death last year. Deirdre has been a constant in the life of BCB for so many years, supporting Joe in his role at BCB and contributing to Joe’s Echoes of Ireland programme – especially presenting International Women’s Day specials! We send our sincere condolences to the Sheeran family. If you’d like details of the funeral please get in contact mary.dowson@bcbradio.co.uk
Bradford StoryHub ‘How to Fact-Check!’ Workshop – 27th May 2025
As part of the exciting offerings from the new Bradford StoryHub, in partnership with BCB, we’re hosting a free workshop designed to help you master the art of fact-checking!
Ever wondered how to fact-check stories and make sure every detail is spot on? Join Ero Partsakoulaki, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism’s expert fact-checker, to learn how to verify information and spot errors before publication. With experience in investigative reporting and capital markets, Ero will guide you through simple steps to fact-check stories, identify misinformation, and ensure your work is reliable and trustworthy. You’ll also understand why fact-checking is vital to telling powerful, truthful stories.
The workshop is 3-4pm on Tuesday 27th May at BCB Radio – 11 Rawson Road, BD1 3SH
This workshop is open to anyone 18 and over—whether you’re a budding journalist, a media enthusiast, or just curious to learn something new. Places are limited, so be sure to book your free spot by emailing johnofford@tbij.com
For more information about the Bradford StoryHub and the exciting projects ahead, visit: https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/blog/2025-02-05/beyond-the-headline-introducing-the-bradford-storyhub
Don’t miss out on this opportunity to learn valuable skills in the world of fact-checking and journalism!
Bradford City Promotion Parade
A massive congratulations to Bradford City who secured promotion to Sky Bet League One with a last gasp winner over Fleetwood Town at the University of Bradford stadium. Following the win thousands of Bantams fans gathered in Bradford City center to celebrate the fantastic win with a promotion parade. During the parade BCB’s Danielle Broadbent and John Brennan were out and about chatting to City fans about what the promotion meant to them, alongside this Pete Chapman and Zainab Gorjea were at the ground talking to Bantams boss Graham Alexander and City players.
Radio 119
It has been a busy month at Radio 119, our project supporting adults with learning disabilities to have greater access to the media. This month the team have interviewed Waddiloves, Leeds Asperger’s adults as well as spending time in the BCB studios brushing up on their desk and recording skills. The team have also been out and about visiting the BCB RadioBox when it was in Centenary Square and also they’ve also headed to Cartwright Hall.
Bradford 2025 Roundup
Our time as UK City of Culture is rolling on and we’ve been busy bringing you, and being a part of, the packed programme of events. Excitingly, we’ve just launched the BCB RadioBox for Bradford 2025! The BCB RadioBox will be touring the district for the year. As well as broadcasting live from the RadioBox at venues across the district, we’ll also be delivering radio workshops and fun activities as well, so there will be lots of opportunities to get involved. This month we were in Centenary Square for the Big Brass Blowout weekend as well as being in Bingley for Bingley 25, the celebration of arts and culture in Bingley. Every day at 5.35pm we’ve also been chatting to the people who have been putting events on for Bradford 2025.
Get Involved at BCB
Interested in Radio, Broadcasting, Podcasting and creating for Social Media? We’re always happy to train new volunteer presenters and broadcasters at BCB Radio!
Come and join us and learn how to create and deliver your own radio show in hands on workshops delivered by us at BCB Radio. We run regular will training session covering programming, editing, listening, broadcasting and presenting – equipping you with all the skills for creating your own show, whether you broadcast via radio, podcast or social media Learn how to use studio equipment, what makes an engaging presenter, how to programme music and more. Open to all abilities in a relaxed environment at BCB Studios!For further information please contact Dipak Mistry on 01274 771677 or dipak.mistry@bcbradio.co.uk
