Live from the Stadium - Chalkhill Community Radio

They called them Pirates. They called them Illegal Broadcasters. Just because they played what the people wanted. The DTI tried to stop them, but they couldn’t. 

It’s how it often works. When you’re excluded from a club for no good reason, you decide to make your own new club and, going back decades, the media of community radio has been huge in UK culture.

Those in the know will recognise the cultural reference above, a rebellious kick back at authorities desperate to control and decide what content was important and what they’d allow to be heard. There was no licence; there was no chance of a licence; there was no relationship with the DTI; there was no listening ear from the DTI as to why there should be community radio stations that reflected local audiences, lifestyles, cultures, or tastes.

In so many ways, community radio had to grab hold of the joystick to fly UK culture to unchartered territory, where the view was far more enriching than licenced output.

How many people are still telling stories about tuning into stations to get meeting points for a warehouse or ‘acceeed’ party? What about the artists whose creativity would never make the Beeb playlist who are now award winners, household names and global stars? Or the innumerate number of presenters, across the entire spectrum of UK media, who grace our devices and have very successful careers that started as a ‘Pirate’.

What was unappreciated by the government was that these demonised stations were also vital messaging systems into localised audiences that didn’t tune into mainstream outlets (think of the demonisation of mobile in 2011). However, they carry essential information into these audiences, raise vital discussions, and, if embraced, can feedback collective viewpoints to the very people who need to know what’s happening on the ground.

Resilience, resourcefulness, and drive.

No Jolly Roger is flying over Chalkhill Community Radio. The station is 100% licenced and legal, but the same ethos of knowing and responding to what the audiences want is helping both the radio station and their new partner, Wembley Stadium, deliver change.

Dig a little deeper, and it’s playing a role in the ongoing story of 1000’s of young people who, down the years, climbed the rooftops to mount antennae that would give talent in their neighbourhoods a voice beyond it. Wembley has had so many of those DJs, Engineers, Talk Hosts, Newsreaders, Ad-makers, Voiceovers, Schedulers, Promoters, and Producers. Blessed with resilience, resourcefulness and drive to play what the people want.

Music Producer , Presenter and ex-‘Pirate’, Flexx Powell

We wanted to create simple and relevant links between the Stadium and young peoples’ passion for media, and Chalkhill Community Radio was an obvious choice. Based in the charming Grade II listed ‘Grange’ in Neasden, and barely 10 minutes from the Stadium, and with a local audience it had built up over the years, the station is known and trusted locally. Not only did it broadcast, but it was delivering an accredited media training programme within the building for young people.

And what does partnership make possible?

Partnering with the station means Wembley Stadium is now able to play a role in supercharging these interests and talents, in the context of 21st-century media, infinitely wider than the Pirate ‘clubs’ that were the only option in my day.

The Stadium provides its Media and Press rooms for the station to deliver accredited Media training courses. The courses will now also have guest speakers from within the FA media and communications teams, able to give a real insight to young people of the ‘what’s’ and ‘how’s’ of a career linked to their passion.

And as always, my favourite ‘you can’t be what you can’t see’ piece; 20 young people will get tours of the Stadium and its operations. Added to this, 200 young people will have the opportunity to go to events at the Stadium. All Shots will be free and accessible via Chalkhill Radio and FA hubs on Slenky.

The radio station also recently held its strategy planning day in the FA boardroom.

This link-up brings together the Stadium’s infrastructure, personnel and expertise, and its younger community, all via the ‘Pirates’.

The needle’s right in the groove.

 #achangeisgonnacome

Next: Hearts of Talent