Volunteer Stories: ALL FM

Nadia Ali

One of ALL FM's original DJs, Nadia Ali has an unusually broad insight into what being a volunteer can offer. She is a Longsight single parent who went on air with a lunchtime magazine show The Independent Woman just two weeks after spotting an ALL FM poster in the library. "My show took up taboo issues in the Asian community like being an Asian single parent, forced marriages, arranged marriages, sexual violence and domestic violence," she says.

Nadia attended Radio Regen's 10-week short course in Radio Production course, followed their year-long BTEC, and landed the job of Volunteer Support Worker at ALL FM. "My role was to support each individual that came through that door, to find out what their needs were and to try and meet them - even if it was nothing to do with radio. For example, we discovered one of our volunteers was dyslexic and were able to help."

Joining a community radio station as a volunteer was the beginning of something much bigger for Nadia. "What I wanted out of it was to become a DJ playing bhangra and R&B - in fact I got a lot more than that." Within a year of joining ALL FM, she doubled her salary gaining a job at the Sure Start initiative supporting families with young children. She is now also a trustee of Radio Regen.

"Without ALL FM, I never would have had the guts or confidence to think that I, as somebody who was on benefits two years ago, could even think of applying for a job at this level. ALL FM gave me the confidence."

Vicky Richardson

Vicky Richardson has been a radio fanatic since the age of 10 when she turned her Levenshulme front room into a makeshift studio using a Grundig reel-to-reel tape player. She later dabbled in student radio and mobile DJing, before ALL FM gave her an opportunity to put her talents to use in her community.

Every Sunday she shows off her archive of 10,000 records on ALL FM's Retro Recipe. "I play everything from the 1920s to the Noughties; from Billie Holiday to J.Lo and Dr Dre. I think anybody who is just interested in one particular genre is blindfolded."

In addition to a regular drivetime slot, she also hosts and produces Access All Areas where she explores local health and disability issues - offering a platform to such schemes as the Drake Music Project, which assists disabled people to compose and perform their own music with technology.

"I set up Access All Areas for people who don't have any conventional means of talking about their disabilities, their issues, their talents. That's what community radio is all about for me - we've made this jingle 'real people, real stories' and that's what it should be. The music's great, but at the end of the day it's all about people." 

Ebiuwa Ozigbo

In a matter of weeks after Ebiuwa popped into the ALL FM studio out of curiosity, she was hosting he own programme. The Benin Show, celebrating the culture of Southern Nigeria in both English and Edo, was a UK radio first. "The people of Edo State have never had their own media to speak, even to say 'koyo' [hello]. In fact, it's also the first time there has been any of Nigeria's [more than 40] languages on air here. The first people to hear it assumed it must be coming from London because they thought such a thing could not happen in a small place like Manchester first."

Ebiuwa had no previous media experience and she acknowledges the Skills for Community Radio tuition and volunteer support including help with her English and computer skills she received at ALL FM gave her an opportunity she never thought possible."Journalism has been my dream job all my life and after I came here to talk to them my dream came true." She says the team encouraged her even when she made mistakes. "I did many things wrong but they didn't mind, just kept helping me. They just kept saying, 'keep it up, you will learn it'. They did a fantastic job at keeping me going when I found it so hard."

"Before she joined ALL FM, Ebiuwa said she felt as an immigrant she had no voice. Now through community radio, she says she feels valued and it has opened doors. "Although we don't get paid as radio volunteers, by doing it we gain a lot. Community radio has taught me a broad range of skills - now it's up to me what I do with them."