Over the past week, Reform Radio teamed up with Gaydio to produce a one hour live pride show. Working with The Proud Trust, young creatives have produced content ranging from debates to spoken word and music tracks.
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EP1: The Politics of Being a Woman
To celebrate 100 years of the women’s vote, this explores topics such as strength, resilience, breaking steroetypes, gender pay gaps, and policy, through spoken word, music and debate.
EP2: The Politics of Being Homeless
There are so many factors that can lead to a person becoming homeless, and in these times of austerity so many people find themselves sleeping on the streets or sofa surfing.
In this episode Lily and Jonah from Love For the Streets were invited to talk about the issues of homelessness. Expect also discussions on some of the main causes of homelessness, a conversation with a women with first hand experience and an investigation what is being done at a policy level.
EP3: The Politics of Being a Voter
The #womanchester statue of Emmeline Pankhurst being unveiled in December inspired this episode to focus on the history of the Suffragettes who fought to get the women’s vote.
Episode 3 takes the listener out onto the streets to find out if people are using their rights to vote and why. The episode also introduces some of the key players and their manifestos, before heading to the Chamber of Secrets to understand a bit more about the voting process.
EP4: The Politics of Being in Brexit
The Politics of Being Political group traveled down south to visit the Houses of Parliament, to investigate all things related to Brexit. The team interviewed protesters for leave and remain, and women to discuss how they will be impacted if Britain leaves the EU.
EP5: The Politics of Being Healthy
Whether it’s looking at your diet or thinking about your mental health, we all want to start 2019 with a fresh outlook.
The final episode of The Politics fo Being Political delves into physical and mental health, support services available and as always going to the Chamber of Secrets to find out what’s going on at policy level.
Get Started with Radio (Liverpool) 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”.
Free Sound Artists
Funded by The Prince’s Trust
A colourful Wave of creativity comes all the way from the North-west of England right to your ears! With the support of the Prince’s Trust and Reform Radio, Young people from the Lancashire and Liverpool area have created an avant-garde series of mini-podcasts that deal with a whole range of relevant topics for today’s society.
Their creations take on the inspiring challenge of creating a demo of a Podcast during lockdown– which was put forward by BBC Radio 1’s Dj, Podcast-explorer, and Radio genius Annie Mac. The result is knitted together in this special with an interview with the Podcast Producer and Radio personality Louise Mason.
Hope For Health
In partnership & funded by NHS at 70, The Prince’s Trust and The National Lottery
A group of young people have put together their own original content surrounding the themes of the NHS and mental & physical health. Expect original music, discussions lead by members of the group, interactions with the people of Liverpool and spoken word inspired by the NHS.
Homes Without Borders
Funded by The Prince’s Trust
A group of young creatives in Liverpool have put together a show packed full of original music, informative podcasts and debates surrounding the topics of leaving home.
Scouse Takeover
Funded by The Prince’s Trust
In the Scouse Takeover, expect interesting discussions on Scouse slang alongside exclusive interviews with Liverpool talent who also showcased their new music.
Get Started with Radio (Manchester) 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”.
Scroll down and listen back to all the shows that have been created through this project so far.
Superior Mind Blowers
Funded by the Prince’s Trust, Children In Need and Young Manchester
The project brought together a huge group of 16 – 18 years olds from a care experienced background. They created a one hour live radio show, where all the skills, content and production were developed and created over only one week.
The group created debate shows, new tracks and features that challenged everything from, ‘Stop and Search to Knife Crime’
The Buzz Show
Funded by the Irene Taylor Trust and the Prince’s Trust
The project delivered a week of music workshops where a group of young creatives jammed together and produced their very own masterpieces. Thrown into this show is some tracks that inspired the young people to create the music they showcase on this show.
Stop Me if You’ve Heard This One Before
Funded by the Prince’s Trust
Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One Before’ is the show where we explore the history of one of Manchester’s greatest nightclubs; Sankeys. This show is filled with interviews with the DJs that played there and the people that partied there. There will also be a creative pieces made by Manchester’s young talent as well as the public’s opinion on their musical experiences.
Universal Vibes
Funded by the Prince’s Trust
Packed into this broadcast there’s a voxpop where the group went out into the public and asked the question, “If you could change the world to make it a better place, what would you change?”
The group also has a few chats about media, gaming and global warming as well as a quiz about facts to do with the world. Don’t forget live performance’s by James Lyons and participants on the course too.
Conspiracy Theory Takeover
Funded by the Prince’s Trust
This time the cohort created a show with live performance, poetry, discussions on conspiracy theories and a competition which gave the listeners a chance to win a reform hat.
Get and Go
Funded by the Prince’s Trust
For one hour only the Get & Go Takeover broadcasted the best music, arts and culture that Manchester has to offer.
The show delves into a wide variety of content. Song covers, interviews, game shows and a special guest appearance.
Reform Squad
Funded by the Prince’s Trust
Madventure Takeover
Funded by the Prince’s Trust
Putting the mad back in Madchester to quote DRS, our first this Get Started with Radio cohort took over the Reform airwaves for an hour, covering topics of…
On Monday 31st May, Children of Zeus will be joining Jamie (Agent J) on their Reform show Groovement.
Children of Zeus has been invited ahead of the anticipated release of their sophomore album Balance that is being released through First Word Records.
Children of Zeus started their journey together playing on a Manchester pirate radio in the 90s, playing out an eclectic selection of genres spanning from hiphop and r&b to dancehall and bass music,
The duo have now performed on airwaves such as BBC and Soulection, toured the UK, Europe, Australia and South Africa, and currently have a monthly show on NTS Radio.
Tune into Reform from 19:00 – 21:00 (BST) on Monday 31st May to hear tracks from the upcoming LP and Jamie’s interview with the duo.
WOH Thursdays is a 4 part series, premiering all the performances from Reform’s Stage at We Out Here On Line & On Air Festival. The stage gave Soundcamp graduates the opportunity to perform alongside…
On Friday 28th May, performances from KING, Sibz, Sarah Angel and Zed Bias will be going live.
KING
French Born, London based singer songwriter KING allies the musical details of French lyrical culture with the soothing tones of her soulful voice.
KING takes inspiration not only from her French upbringings but the great tradition of genre-fluidity, on a quest of sonic expansion with the trait of being experimentally audacious.
Head to Reform‘s Youtube at 20:00 (BST) to catch the performance.
Sarah Angel
Sarah Angel is a singer-songwrited and visual artist bring word play, double entendres, and her unique viewpoint of the world into her multidisciplinary artform.
Sarah Angel has a particular presence as a performer and songwriter, and is informed by her deep understanding of visual artistry, that has very much captured the attention of the Manchester scene and beyond.
Head to Reform‘s Youtube at 20:15 (BST) to catch the performance.
SIBZ
Specialising in spiritualistic hedonism and raucous beats, SIBZ‘s bold and braggadocio performances deliver emotional expressionism in a heated package.
SIBZ delivers a strong alternative vision of rap, presenting psychedelic self-produced sounds and an emotive approach to performance.
Head to Reform‘s Youtube at 20:30 (BST) to catch the performance.
Zed Bias
The iconic artist that continues to innovate and stay connected to the grass roots, traversing UKG, UK funky, Dubstep, Broken Beat and other bass sounds with DJ sets that have always been a mainstay.
Head to Reform‘s Youtube at 20:30 (BST) to catch the performance.
High Rise is a 12 week Creative Writing for Radio project where participants develop radio dramas that take a closer look at Greater Manchester’s gentrification.
Those involved will learn new digital content creation, marketing and production skills.
High Rise will start on the Wednesday 2nd June, running only Wednesday to Friday from 10AM – 4PM.
Reform will be hosting two workshops for Mental Health Awareness Week.
Feels Write will accommodate those wanting to develop their creative writing skills by creating a mini portfolio of short stories.
The round table discussion will navigate through topics centred around mental health awareness and stigmas.
See flyer below for details & to get involved.
Tandem Theatre is a creative arts charity for communities across Greater Manchester and beyond. Enriching, developing and transforming lives through drama and other participatory arts.
The organisation has extensive experience in delivering high quality arts practice for homeless adults, vulnerable women, young women and young people with behavioural and emotional challenges. Tandem Theatre aim to encourage and edify participants so they acquire the tools needed to reach their potential. Their projects take many forms depending on the needs of the various groups we work with. Working in partnership is the heart of what we do, and work alongside host organisations such as Youth Services, Homeless Support Centres, Women Centres and Alternative Education Providers to name a few.
Zhoosh*, is a project for groups of LGBTQIA young people based in Rochdale, Salford and Wigan. The groups have written and recorded their own songs with composer Michael Betteridge, written their own poetry with performance poet Jackie Hagan, and seen Kate O’Donnell, Artistic Director of Trans Creative, perform at the Birdgewater Hall, Manchester. The young people then performed their music live to launch Trans Vegas, the Trans Arts Festival by Transcreative at Manchester Art Gallery, at Salford Pink Picnic and at the biggest national LGBT+ youth festival, Rainbow Playground, by the Proud Trust.
The groups also created short films, which will be available online and screened at HOME, Manchester in the new year. All the young people who completed the project achieved the Silver Arts Award, Level Two qualification accredited by Trinity College London.
This project was funded by Youth Music, Arts Council England, Salford Clinical Commissioning Group, Superbia and the Guardian Society Foundation.
*Zhoosh is a term used in the Polari slang language popular in gay subculture meaning ‘to make more exciting and lively’.
A group of unique individuals from our most recent Music Course have come together to combine their culture, expression and passion. Oh and how can we forget about their love for dogs; more specifically our esteemed mascot Baxter Beans…
This radio-show will help you visualise the participants’ individualism, yet highlighting the colourful tastes they share in all things music. Despite being distant and collaborating online due to COVID-19 regulations, the team managed to work together and produce a professional audio project.
Special thanks to Manchester Adult Education Service for funding this project.
This course will be delving into developing skills in music production, radio production, social media and creative writing. The two week course will result in a 1 hour live radio show on Reform Radio.
The course is from 3rd – 14th May (weekdays only) from 10AM -4PM.
The taster session will take place on Thursday 29th April.
See flyer for details & to get involved.
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.
This is a partnership between Reform Radio and Sonder Radio, funded by Audio Content Fund and continued support from the Manchester Adult Education Service (MAES).
BuddyLine will start on Monday 17th May.
See flyer for details & to get involved.
Push Pad Pioneers gives schools students the opportunity to learn production skills as well as given the chance to record their own music tracks, interviews and other content for their own show.
Push Pad Pioneers (2018)
Supported by MyHub Manchester Music and One Education, the first Push Pad Pioneers collaborated with The East Manchester Academy & William Hulme’s Grammar School. It was a fantastic opportunity to get to work with these schools and educate a new generation of producers.
Listen back to their show here.
Push Pad Pioneers (2019)
The second Push Pad Pioneers radio show was presented and produced by students at Loreto High School in Chorlton, Manchester. This creative electronic music project was designed and led by electronic musician/composer Caro C with One Education Music and Ableton Ltd.
Listen back here.
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!
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 approach to press kits, contacting & pitching music releases to journalists & publications. We also hosted an accounts training session 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“.
Thank you to the Culture Team at Manchester City Council for providing the photo.
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 insightful panel 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.