Moss Side & Hulme FM

"We're not broadcasting to the people of Moss Side and Hulme, we are the people of Moss Side and Hulme," said Chris Stoneham, Station Manager at Moss Side & Hulme FM at the start of 2004.

Radio Regen initiated its Moss Side & Hulme FM project after the success of ALL FM provoked residents of these two neighbouring districts of urban Manchester to demand their own station too. As with the Salford Project, the idea was to train and prepare local people for a full-time Community Radio licence.

Although the station's remit covered a relatively small area, it was one rich in cultural expression. And with the talent and drive of locals Chris and Stevie Fly as joint station managers, Moss Side & Hulme FM was guaranteed to have a buzz. Over 2002 and 2003 under Regen's guidance, the project succeeding by offering training opportunities to the unemployed, improving the area's image and bolstering community pride.

Unity in the Community

"It's a mixed area but with greater understanding we'll all get on well," Chris said, explaining the station's slogan "Unity in the Community". "If you're fed up by how you're portrayed by people who don't care about you, who are making media to sell adverts, listen to us because we truly represent the people."

Demand for a voice here was high as the area had suffered from continual negative press with local people given no chance to answer back. While Moss Side's riots and gun crime made global headlines, Hulme was notorious for the terrible state of its run-down Crescents and tower blocks, before it witnessed one of the country's biggest ever regeneration schemes. Community radio provided a chance to highlight the positive for a change. In April 2003, a live simulcast between Moss Side FM and a BBC Radio Five Live show on gun crime and culture gave the temporary station a national audience and an opportunity to dispel myths.

"We tried to redress the image of Moss Side as 'Gunchester' as the media likes to portray it. People enjoyed having the platform to say that 99.9 percent of our lives never has anything to do with gun culture," said Chris.

Stevie said the trouble-free operation of the station itself was proof that the stereotype of Moss Side as a place so dangerous you can't walk down the street was totally baseless. Moss Side & Hulme FM kicked off with a two-day public broadcast from the Zion Arts Centre in January 2002. "To give the residents a sense that it was their station, we put it where they couldn't miss it and where they could easily walk in off the street, bring a record down and introduce it and dedicate it to somebody."

2003 was a busy year for the team with them facilitating Hulme FM in January and Moss Side FM during April, before coming together again for a grand three-week broadcast at the end of the year. The idea was this would give them the know-how to secure them a full-time licence through their application in November 2004, independent of Radio Regen.

Moss Side & Hulme FM was been able to draw on a potent radio and musical legacy. This included a strong Afro- Caribbean identity, the area's place in the history of Manchester's globally-renowned music scene, and a pirate radio culture which championed black music of all styles in the 1980s and 1990s. "It's a very multicultural area where people's talents are vastly underestimated," explained Stevie. "People need a platform to promote themselves, which is why pirates existed previously as people weren't given a chance. They've got so much positivity to give, so it's about time someone like us came along to give them the chance to be legal."

Opportunities for All

The schedule combined veteran DJs with shows by people from all walks of life. "We try and mix a blend of experienced DJs we've used before with newbies who we give six to eight sessions with a trainer," said Chris. "They will be taught what it takes to make a radio show from scratch, including making a running order, identifying music choices, setting competitions and how to interview people."

Not only did Moss Side & Hulme FM generate great radio with a keen listenership for several weeks of the year but it gave trainees a new start. "If they never thought they could be a radio presenter and within six to eight weeks they've had their own show, it can give them the confidence to take on other new challenges in life."

Station managers Chris and Stevie themselves both began by studying Radio Regen's BTEC radio course while unemployed. "I heard they were training people from different ethnic backgrounds in radio production. That's something I'd wanted to do all my life but all the doors had been shut, especially to someone like myself from a disadvantaged area. So I thought 'yeah, that's for me, I've got a lot to offer and I need to be given a chance," says Stevie.

There were opportunities for all at Moss Side & Hulme FM. Even local MP Tony Lloyd, the patron of Radio Regen, got to have his own show along with the local police and children from Trinity High School. Partnerships were also been formed with parent, teen and junior groups. "During the summer 2003 broadcast we turned over 500 guests, 100 presenters and over 120 different shows in the space of two weeks," said Stevie."When you think 95 percent of presenters and guests were from Moss Side or Hulme, we gave a large portion of the population a chance to speak. The area has so much potential and energy and desire that all we're doing is tapping into that."