Local Radio Day is back for the sixth time on Friday 15th October 2021.
Local Radio Day was started by UKRD in 2015, and since 2020 has been run by Dom Chambers, Maxine Stride and Natalie Randall from the Sound Vision team. This year we are pleased to announce that we will celebrate the theme “Love Your Place”.
Listeners and presenters will be encouraged to share their favourite locations – the special spots which have meant the most during challenging times.
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Wherever you feel you belong and wherever makes you happy, we want to know about it. This will highlight what is special about where we live; from local businesses to arts, sports, countryside, and urban spots.
Use #LocalRadioDay to join the conversation on Twitter and brighten our feeds with your participation this year.”
Maxine Stride, Trustee Sound Vision, Organiser, Local Radio Day
BBC local radio stations are taking part, along with an abundance of community and commercial services. This year’s celebration is supported by The Radio Academy, Community Media Association, Local Media Network, BBC Local Radio, RadioToday and hundreds of radio stations across the UK.
Last year saw over 150 radio stations participate, and the team hope that this year will see even more stations celebrating their local communities.
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I’m delighted that there will be another opportunity to celebrate the power of local radio during these extraordinary times. The theme of ‘Love Your Place’ feels very apt. At BBC Radio Sussex and BBC Radio Surrey, our Make A Difference initiative has seen numerous examples of local people supporting others in the community and making the area a better place to live. This has been replicated across Local BBC Radio.”
Mark Carter, Executive Editor, BBC Radio Sussex & BBC Radio Surrey
Local Radio Day is an annual event where we can celebrate and mark the achievements of local radio. There’s never been a greater need for local radio than now, and the pandemic has shown this. There are many ways we can feel connected, but radio is powerful and potent. People can tune into those locally trusted voices to hear about what is going on in their community.
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Local Radio is a lifeline for so many people in the UK. It has also been the lifeblood of our sector for such a long time.
There have been huge changes in local radio in recent years, with a lot of consolidation in commercial radio, a resurgence of community radio and the growth of local podcasting and internet stations. Understanding what local radio means today is vital to serving audiences well, and The Radio Academy is delighted to support Local Radio Day in celebrating the brilliance of local broadcasting in all its forms."
Sam Bailey, Managing Director , The Radio Academy
This year we want you to tell us where you feel you belong; with family, at a local business, or in radio, nature, sports, literacy, and arts. Whatever place you love, we want to know about it. We are looking to foster a sense of happiness, freedom, and optimism. Listeners, volunteers, and radio professionals alike are welcome to participate by sharing stories and pictures of the places they love.
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The place I love is the local pub that we couldn’t visit for large parts of the last year. But ‘Love Your Place’ could be a statement of your heart, it could be a place in your memory, your head, or your spirit. Loving a place is like that feeling you get on the radio when you play a track and it sparks a memory. Music can really do that. Radio fires the imagination, it’s a very powerful medium.”
Dom Chambers, Sound Vision CEO & CMA Chair
You can invite your listeners to participate by sharing pictures of the place they love, using #localradioday and tagging your station.
Want to go the extra mile? Listeners, professionals and volunteers can show their place some love by; meeting up at their local café or pub, organising a litter pick, taking a walk in nature, playing a charity football match, or reading their favourite book.
To find out more and sign up your station head to the Local Radio Day website.