Supported through ESF‘s funding, BuddyLine is a series of intergenerational phone calls that were born out of a need to combat loneliness, and to improve well-being during these tough periods of lockdown and self-isolation.
The calls for BudddyLine were due to finish before Christmas. However with the ever-changing government imposed restrictions and the prospect of some of our pairs unwillingly facing Christmas alone, we were eager to keep the conversations alive over the holiday period.
Our young Reform volunteers and Sonder Radio Buddies continued chatting on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, as well as New Years. As ever, the conversations meandered through a variety of wonderful topics.
Here’s what the Buddies and Reform volunteers had to say about their experience:
“The calls were really interesting, I was able to speak to people who I normally wouldn’t get the chance to and I learnt quite a lot”
“I loved talking to my buddies at Christmas, it’s perfectly natural to call your family and friends to wish them well and it was lovely to include my buddies from Sonder Radio too.”
“It was nice to have someone to speak to on Christmas day, I was spending Christmas on my own because of the lockdown.”
Head to Reform Radio’s Mixcloud to listen to the episodes.
If you want to get involved in this wholesome project, gain skills and experience producing radio and build up your CV, be sure to see the flyer below to see how you can get involved.
September saw the conclusion of the Digital Production Management course we delivered with SharpFutures and the airing of a podcasts created by the cohort that took part in the project.
SharpFutures is a social enterprise that supports diverse talent into employment in the creative digital and tech sectors, by offering a range of interventions including volunteering, work experience and apprenticeships.
Through the support of Reform Radio, the collective have created Sharp Talking, a podcasts which ranges from the humorous and at times cringe-worthy right through to the investigative and thought-provoking
In response to a challenge set by BBC Radio 1 DJ, Annie Mac, within the week the cohort also interviewed Kate Cocker, the presenter coach.
With big thanks to Adam, Angelika, Stevie and Sam for their support, encouragement and insights shared into audio production!
Get Started With Podcasting is a week-long workshop designed to provide digital skills to young people in its respective area, notably of course from their homes which has provided a new dimension of learning for all involved.
In light of this our support Lead, Adam Seymour, remarked that “within five days a group of strangers have done so well to unite during lockdown to create a show packed full of really important and prevalent issues”.
The Prince’s Trust funded week-long workshops were designed to provide digital skills to young people in its respective area, notably of course from their homes which has provided a new dimension of learning for all involved. In light of this our support Lead, Adam Seymour, remarked that “within five days a group of strangers have done so well to unite during lockdown to create a show packed full of really important and prevalent issues”.
Those who signed up for the workshop learnt how to create, structure, edit and produce a podcast, and they were given some encouragement by none other than Reform Ambassador, Annie Mac. She had set them each a task to create their own individual pilot podcast in less than a week.
Lockdown Link is the latest show to come out of the Get Started w/ Podcasting project series.
Lockdown Link is a collection of short podcasts, as well as an interview conducted by the young people with lead Audio Producer at the Guardian, Max Sanderson. Adam further commented that “it was so impressive to see the level of quality produced by the whole group and we’re all looking forward to hearing future episodes soon we hope”.
Arts Council England’s Cultural Recovery Fund was part of the Government’s £1.57billion package to help protect UK’s culture and heritage sectors from the economic impacts of Covid-19.
Thanks to the Arts Council England Cultural Recovery Fund &Grassroots Fund, in November, Reform had the fortune of running some workshops to specifically support Reform’s family of DJs, Resident Hosts & Artists.
Balraj Samrai of Swing Ting ran a PR & Marketing workshop that focused on a DIY approachto press kits, contacting & pitching music releases to journalists & publications. We also hosted an accounts trainingsession run by Steve Price, MD of Inspire, for freelancers, those interested in freelancing, or who are applying for funding.
The ACE fund has not only contributed to Reform’s inner community but also their outer. Reform were able to start Arts council Wednesday workshops, which ranged from sessions that explore different forms of songwriting, to how to develop your own branding.
Scroll down to see some of the workshops that were delivered.
The Cultural Partnership Agreement grant supports an organisations’ core running costs to allow them to continue their work with different communities in the city. The funding has been awarded to organisations that have a strong offer and track record of delivering cultural opportunities for people of all ages, experiences and backgrounds.
Awards have been given across a wide range of art forms to reflect the broadest possible range of cultural opportunities. Visual arts, music, theatre, dance, craft, museums, and heritage organisations are all represented amongst the organisations that have received grant funding.
Five of the organizations receiving the grant will be doing so for the first time in 2018. They include Reform Radio, Company Chameleon, Quarantine, Streetwise Opera, and The Men’s Room.
Reform Radio were also awarded with the Best Business Partnership award for the partnership between ourselves and Allied London. Massive thanks to Allied London for their fantastic and continuous support over the last five years.
As Reform’s own Lewys Stocks put it in his acceptance speech, “We have felt so welcome and supported ever since we moved into the Old Granada Studios and we’ve just continued to grow and expand thanks to the hard work of Tanya Grady, Mike Ingal and all of the Allied London Team“.
Grassroots Music Fund was a £2.25 million funding scheme by Arts Council England, which aimed to support England’s music and multi-art venues that were at risk of insolvency due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Reform Radio was one of the many venues that received this fund which was used to upgrade the live room’s kit.
With help from the Arts Council England Fund, Reform were able to create a Jäger x Reform stage at this year’s virtual presentation of We Out Here Festival. As reported in DJ Mag, Resident Advisor and The Vinyl Factory, Reform Radio teamed up with the crew at Giles Peterson’s We Out Here Festival and Worldwide FM, to throw a digital festival to raise funds for Black Lives Matter associated charities.
The weekend was successful in safely programming over 20 hours of live music, poetry, dancing and DJ sets from over 20 Manchester based artists. The festival on a whole was filled with a massive array of the arts; music, films, panels, workshops, kids activities and more.
DJ Paulette who blessed the Jäger x Reform stage with her high energy house set participated in a brilliantly insightfulpanel discussion about racism in music industry, action and change with Jenna G and Pops Roberts from Lovescene.
The broadcast alone was an all time highlight for us at Reform. However we are extremely pleased to inform everyone that the festival crowdfunder raised £7,508 for the charities People Dem, Tomorrow’s Warriors, Black Cultural Archives, Black Minds Matter, Abram Wilson Foundation and The Black Curriculum (special mention to Mr Scruff & MC Kwasi for their final fundraising drive, extending their set for donations).
Thanks to Jägermeister & Arts Council England for helping make this happen, as well as We Out Here for the opportunity. There are many more who we wanted to thank that could fit here, so see our full post on Facebook.
Please also head to the document that was created to support all the artists that played.
During November 2020 we hosted some great guest speakers during our Work Club. The session is supported by Manchester City Council.
Work Club aims to help those who are hoping to move forward in their career, sharing exciting opportunities, career advice from Manchester Adult Education Service & CV, and offering application support from the National Careers Service.
For those that weren’t able to make it, you can watch the session above which includes all information on projects here at Reform Radio, The WEA, CodeNation and 42nd Street.
You can also refer to our Useful Links & Opportunities section for a roundup of the opportunities these organisations discussed.
Thanks to MAES, we were able to host two free online Facilitation Training sessions in November 2020. The workshops were an opportunity for freelancers looking to deliver their own workshops or those that were looking to become Youth Workers/Leaders in the Future.
The workshop explored topics such as radio in employment, how to work with partners, project planning, facilitation, funding and evaluation.
AudioLab creates a space where young emerging creatives from different backgrounds can interact with science, and creatively learn about, explore, question, and express their voices within the field.
In 2019, The University of Manchester nominated AudioLab for the Making a Difference Awards 2019 for Outstanding public contribution.
The project presents a way of working that takes a step towards greater diversity and inclusion among both the audiences and producers of public involvement in health research. The new connections made through AudioLab resulted in 12 of the participants progressing to employment, training and voluntary roles within health, research, creative and communications environments.
Facilitated by the project leads, the emerging young talents connected with science in a series of culturally- and personally-relevant and creative sessions, culminating in their production of digital content and a one-hour live radio show.
Lets checkout 3 of the wonderful shows created through this project!
Brainwaves (2017)
The first Audio Lab was created in parter with the Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS.
Brainwaves focuses on the themes of science, creativity and mental health. The episode delves into these topics through numerous ways, such as the participants critical reviews on their experience at the Manchester Science festival, a documentary that explores the demonised and stigmatised condition of schizophrenia, and a nail-biting game on the periodic table.
Catalyst For Discovery (2018)
Funded by The Welcome Trust, with support from the NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Centre, the second instalment of AudioLab was officially partnered with Manchester Science Festival.
Participants for the 2018 AudioLab went live from the Museum of Science and Industry, to create the show Catalyst For Discovery. Listeners will be guided through the world of science through music, an interview with the Manchester Science Festivals director Antonio Bernitez, and an investigation into the legend of Bigfoot…
The Inner Scientist (2020)
Partnered with The Wellcome Collection and live from London – the most recent instalment of AudioLab was delivered for a week in Manchester and a week from London’s Wellcome Collection where the group had a live audience of researchers.
The Inner Scientist explores how to make science more accessible through live performances, exclusive spoken word pieces, and a discussion with a panel of scientists!
At the start of 2020, in partnership with GMCVO, Reform Radio began running a programme within the Tameside area called Hidden Talent.
The programme aims to help provide opportunities for young adults aged 18 – 24 who are not currently employed, in education or on benefits by offering access to a variety of creative workshops and one-to-one support for mental health, CV writing and job applications.
Reform also offered the possible option of providing some financial support to help overcome barriers to employment including travel costs, training courses, and clothes for interviews.
What does a good death really mean? The Life and Death podcast, brought to you by Ashgate Hospice, is a 6 part series which does not shy away from this question, and faces it straight on through honest conversations between both givers and receivers of end of life care.
Ashgate Hospice Care’s senior physiotherapist Stephan Rumford, hosts each episode and helps the listener to grasp a deeper understanding of what the experience is like from both ends of the spectrum. Ashgate Hospice is a charity that provides free specialist palliative and end of life care across North Derbyshire to patients with a life-limiting illness, and offers support to their families.
Stephen brings together Ashgate’s patients and professionals to chat about their unique relationships, hospice life, and dying well. Each episode follows a different pair and another side of hospice life.
The response to the launch was absolutely amazing. The podcast was in the Top 20 in Personal Journals and Top 100 in Society & Culture on the UK Apple Podcast Charts following the release of the first episode.
Scroll down to find out what each episode explored!
Episode 1: Stephen and Roy
“You’re on this earth to live, and the dying side sorts itself out“
Physiotherapist Stephen, and his patient Roy, explore what it means to live and die well, and what Ashgate Hospice care means to the both.
Episode 2: Sarah and Lynette
“All my patients have an incurable illness but like Lynette they are very much about living.”
Dr Sarah Parnacott and her patient Lynette, who is living with an incurable tumour, chat about their relationship, providing care for patients with complex needs, and the importance of dignified death.
Episode 3: Liz and Sarah
“I think bereavement starts before somebody has died”
Sarah, whose partner Jackie died in 2017, and her bereavement counsellor Liz, come together in episode 3 to talk about loss, coping with death, and how they have worked through Sarah’s grief together.
Episode 4: Carl and Tom
“You’ve got the fuel with what you’ve been through to be able to do it”
In Episode 4, Tom, who has been a passionate fundraiser since his Dad died in 2018, sits down with fundraising manager Carl to discuss family, loss, and the incredible cycling challenge he completed during lockdown.
Episode 5: Stephen and Barbara-Anne
“There are some people that just get under my defences”
Ashgate’s senior physiotherapist Stephen, chats with the hospice’s Chief Executive Barbara-Anne. They discuss the person behind the title, their views of life and death, and how their perspectives have been shaped by working the hospice sector.
Episode 6: Arlene and Ellie
“I learnt to let go of that guilt for feeling ok“
The final episode of podcast series invites Arlene and Ellie to discuss their personal experiences of bereavement, grieving at Christmas time, and how singing has helped their mental health.
If you’re interested in having a podcast produced for your organisation then please email podcasting@reformradio.co.uk.
Reform’s first program as an independent production company was broadcast on 19th October 2016 on BBC Radio 2. The program was a full length documentary presented by Welsh singing legend Max Boyce. The show explored the horrific events of the Aberfan disaster which happened 50 years ago on the week of broadcast.
More specifically, as an ex miner and choral singer himself, Max took a very personal look at the Ynysowen (Aberfan) Male Choir. The choir was formed in the village in the wake of the tragedy and still remains strong to this day.
Part of Reform’s strategy as a CIC is to develop the next generation of radio and digital professionals to gain new experience and open up new revenue streams for themselves. For this documentary we reinvested our production budget into supporting our DJs, and Kelvin Brown to develop his first professional radio production.
Thanks to the support and guidance from Nija Dalal-Small.
If anyone has an idea they are keen to develop please email podcasts@reformradio.co.uk
Produced by Kate Cocker and Broadcast on BBC 1Xtra on 12 November 2017, this specially commissioned programme featured three young people, Duke, Sophie and Michael who were currently engaged in projects at Reform Radio.
A documentary-style show was created in order to follow the young people who had all of experienced of growing up in care, and to explore the role that creativity played in these young people’s journeys and its importance in helping them seek careers.
Working with 1Xtra, the young people were set the task of creating a new piece of work that they would have to perform live at a BBC outreach event at MediaCity. The documentary follows them as they prepare and perform at this event.
True to our values, we wanted this programme to serve as a vehicle for positive change for those involved, so much of the production budget was spent on providing the young people with mentors, who continue to work with them to this day. Kate met with the young people regularly and asked them to keep audio diaries to ensure they were happy with how the process was developing. She went above and beyond in ensuring the young people were aware of what they were embarking on and she gave them full editorial control of the final piece to ensure this.
The documentary was chosen for Radio 4’s Pick Of The Week, but more than that, the legacy of this documentary has been felt by all the participants. Duke now has a support network so he can continue his life in music and Michael has launched his own radio station specifically for care leavers. Sophie is consulting for the BBCs Tracey Beaker and has just one a place on the prestigious Lloyd’s School for Social Entrepreneurs Programme; developing a creative workshops business to help former sex workers.
The program was presented by current BBC 1Xtra daytime presenter Yasmin Evans, who is originally from Manchester and it has been specifically commissioned as part of 1Xtra’s outreach work in the area ahead of 1Xtra Live.
With the support from Audio Content Fund, we were able to team up with Hit Radio Pride to create Tough Talks, a show where people in the LGBTQ+ community relive and reflect on a tough talk from their past.
In these intimate and revealing chats you’ll hear from them and the person they had the conversation with, covering topics such as gender, sexuality, and identity. Hits Radio Pride is the UK’s first national LGBTQ+ radio station from a major broadcaster.
Here are the first three episodes of Tough Talks below – listen to all episodes at planetradio.co.uk .
Episode 1: Rachel & Norah
Rachel, who is a transgender woman from Manchester, chats with her 83 year old Mum, Norah. They reflect on the moment Rachel told her mum about her true identity and how they moved forward from that conversation.
Episode 2: Alfie & Rachael
Alfie, who is a transmasculine person, chats with their partner of 8 years, Rachael. They reflect on the moment Alfie told her they were questioning their identity, and how it changed their relationship.
Episode 3: OneDa & Kyle
OneDa, who is a rapper from Manchester, talks with her childhood best friend Kyle. They look back on the moment she told him she was a lesbian woman and how religion had stopped her from coming out earlier.
BuddyLine is a series of intergenerational telephone conversations between people from the Sonder Radio Community of over 60s and the Reform Radio Community of under 28s. Taking advantage of the technology available to us, the conversations were recorded from each of their homes during isolation.
Through these honest conversations, our listeners enter into an intimate and genuine meeting between two people who would not otherwise interact in everyday society.
We will match people with stories that will enlighten both the listeners and each other, and demonstrate that isolation does not have to be isolating, and can create long-lasting friendships.
Buddyline was set up in order to help combat loneliness during these tough periods of self-isolation. Our aim is to improve wellbeing through the power of communication by pairing two complete strangers and starting a regular phone conversation. Let have a look into some of these conversations!
Episode 1: Racheal and Stevie
Over the next hour, you’ll hear our first pair, Rachel and Stevie talk about many topics- from Gender Identity to Eurovision!
Episode 2: Kitty and Graham
In this episode, Kitty and Graham discuss family history during the Second World War and the power of social media.
Episode 3: Olivia and Sarah
Our next pair of callers, Olivia and Sara, explore all sorts of topics – from their experiences as women growing up in different periods, to guessing what the other might look like!
Episode 4: Tony and Michael
In this episode, Tony and Michael dig into reggae music, their life ambitions, and the value in talking to new people.
Musicals, lockdown, Lebanon and The Care System…Sounds enticing? The cohort from Get Started with Podcasting Programme stewed up a melting pot of ideas and creativity in their hour long radio show.
The first-ever all-female MC collective coming straight from the North. HERchester is a Manchester Female Collective made up of 7 Strong Manchester MC’s.
Massive thanks to Arts Council England for funding and all the talented female MCs in the collective.
Reform launched their Cypher project in May 2019 which focused on bringing female MC’s from Manchester together to work alongside multitalented Oneda towards a Cypher. In the process the collective was born.
In the video below, we catch performances by OneDa x The Mouse Outfit and HERchester ladies from the 2019 Manchester International Festival.
Reform Radio launched a pilot project, focusing on finding Female MC talent. Due to a lack of woman coming forward and a lack of gender diversity, we developed a pilot project with support from Arts Council England to respond to this.
This Project gave female MCs across Manchester the chance to work side by side with OneDa. We Followed the emerging Female MCs over the time period of the project, watching them transform from strangers into HERchester.
Rhythm Lab is an opportunity for up and coming artists to team up together to produce original tracks.
Remote Rhythm Lab 2020
Remote Rhythm Lab is a project in which we have partnered Manchester based artists with four artists from around the world, challenging them to explore virtual methods of collaborating and creating music. The project was made possible with support from Arts Council and Jägermeister.
The four tracks were released on Friday 19th June 2020 on Bandcamp – 100% of all Bandcamp and Rhythm Lab’s share of sales on the day were donated to NAACP Legal Defence Fund in support of the BLM movement. You can listen to these tracks on Bandcamp and Spotify.
Each of the artists involved have documented their experience, offering an insight into how music production can transcend borders. The image above is a still from episode 3 from music producer Imaginary Part who spent lockdown residing in Yorkshire.
EPISODE 1: Angel Bat Dawid & Berry Blacc
Chicago based composer, clarinettist, pianist and vocalist Angel Bat Dawid paired with vocalist and hip-hop/Jazz producer Berry Blacc.
Despite the physical distance between them, their creative spirits clearly aligned in their emotive encapsulation of the current moment with their tribute to ‘George FLoyd’
EPISODE 2: Contours & KMRU
Contours – whose sound explores the spaces, rhythms and textures that sit between House, Jazz, Afro, Latin, broken-beat and Hip Hop – will collaborate with KMRU, a field and sound artist, producer based in Nairobi renowned for his evocative electronic music.
Watch how they overcame the distance beteeen them of over 6000 miles, to create a bridge between their musical worlds, resulting in ‘Portals’
If you want to see the other episodes for this project, head to reforms youtube channel here.
Rhythm Lab Volume 1 2018.
The original Rhythm Lab in 2018 took five pairs of musicians and producers into the studio to give them the space collaborate.
Episode 1 : Denis Jones and Luke Leadbelly
The Ninja Tune affiliated Denis Jones partnered with exciting new bass influenced producer Luke Leadbelly.
Episode 2: Sam Healey and Feral Mittens
During day two, prolific jazz man Sam Healey met with experimental noise maker and experienced collaborator Feral Mittens.
For more episodes, head on over to the Reform Radio Youtube Channel here, and once gain head to Bandcamp or Spotify to listen to the tracks produced!
Co-Lab Theory is a collaboration project, creating trios out of eight upcoming artists paired with eight different music industry mentors and eight varied visual artists. Made possible by support from Jägermeister and Arts Council England, each trio created an exciting, original audio-visual work.
Industry mentors involved with the project include the pioneering production duo Swing Ting, internationally renowned creative Mr Scruff and spoken word artist Malik Al Nasir, mentee of the late Gil Scott Heron.
The project has provided a fantastic opportunity for young, upcoming music and design talent to learn from experienced music industry professionals as well as reap the rewards of being associated with such renowned creatives, profile-wise.
With the project now complete, the tracks and audio-visual pieces have been released by Rhythm Lab and Reform Radio. You can listen to all the tracks on Bandcamp and all other major platforms.
If you want to get a glimpse into the production process, head over to our Youtube channel to watch the Co-Lab Theory documentary series!
Escape the four walls you’ve been confined to for months with Masks Off, Breathe Out – a show hosted by a variety of creative Manc-based minds from all (socially distanced) walks of life.
From music to literature, from comedy to technology, this is the antidote to your isolation, the cure to your boredom.
AudioFORM was a 12-week project, kicked off by Annie Mac and delivered by Reform Radio, that provided room to breathe and a gateway into the wonderful world of podcasting and audio production.
Masks Off, Breathe Out showcased six brand-new short productions created by an eclectic bunch of sound geeks. Each team was given just 72 hours to come up with their very own innovative podcast, from concept to execution.
AudioFORM was part of GM Fast Track’s #FastTrackFund, and was supported by Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport & Lancashire Skills Hub.
