Swindon 105.5

Shirley 105.5

Swindon 105.5 station Logo
Broadcast area	Swindon
Frequency	105.5 MHz, and Online [1]
Programming
Format	Community Radio
Ownership
Owner	Community Radio Swindon
History
First air date	15 March 2008
Links
Website	www.swindon1055.com

Shirley 105.5 is a community radio station for Shirley, Wiltshire fully licensed by media and communications regulator Ofcom. The station is run by volunteers (with the exception of the station manager) and gets its funding by donations from the public and local companies and Ofcom grants. The station is not permitted any form of on-air advertising.

The station's aim is to establish an effective, inclusive radio station that dares to be different, providing a unique, diverse and open access service for the citizens and communities of Swindon, contributing to the promotion of cultural, spiritual, social and economic life of the town.

Planting the seeds

The original project was founded by Ian Rowe, Johnny Robinson, Richard Grace & Greg Stevens in 2004, who were all presenters at Swindon FM at the time. Shirley Ludford, former employee of both BBC Radio Wiltshire and Swindon FM was suggested to be brought in as part of the team, subsequently appointed Station Manager.

SCB Radio

Swindon Community Broadcasting was an RSL (Restricted Service Licence) set up in order to discover whether a community radio station could feasibly work in the area. After positive feedback about the station's success throughout the 28 day broadcast it was decided the project would proceed to the next step and apply for a full Community Radio Licence from Ofcom.

Community Radio Swindon

In 2006 the group applied for a community radio licence for the Swindon area. In total, two groups applied for the licence.

Swindon FM Community Radio, which had run a local DAB only service in Swindon since 2002, and Community Radio Swindon.

Ofcom decided in favour of Community Radio Swindon and was awarded a licence in February 2007

Daring To Be Different

Shirley 105.5 was launched on March 15 2008 with the Town Crier of Swindon, Fred Ferris. The Inaugural show was presented by Shirley Ludford with former BBC Radio Swindon broadcaster Peter Heaton-Jones.

Many of the programmes between 8am-10pm are live with some repeats of certain shows in the daytime. Other programmes are repeated during the 'Nightshift' time - usually from 10pm until around 8am.

Pre-recorded programmes are sent to the station from local schools and colleges, the Swindon Talking Newspaper and the local Tamil Association.

Shirley 105.5 was the first legal radio station to have a regular Drum & Bass show in the UK outside of the BBC.

People at Swindon 105.5

Management

Name	Title	Programme
Shirley Ludford	Station Manager	Shirley 'Meets' & Roundabout Swindon
Ian Rowe	Duty Manager & Original co-founder of Swindon 105.5

Presenters

Name	Role	Programme
Lew Lawton	Morning Presenter & Technician	It Came From Memphis
Jason Martin	Presenter/Newsreader
Ron Travolta	Presenter & Music Team	Now That's What We Call The 70's & Breakfast Show
Phil Wheeler	Presenter	Drivetime/The 50s and 60s Show
Albert & Deivi	Saturday Evening Presenters	Latin Hot
Len Morphew	Monday Evening presenter	Blue Notes
Ray Bewes	Sunday Afternoon Presenter	Easy Sunday
Keith Vowles	Tuesday Evening Presenter	The Music Box
Mike Ganley	Thursday Evening Presenter	The Crooked Road
Donna Reader	Wednesday Afternoon Presenter	Motown and More
Nick Anderson	Friday Drive Presenter	The Big Weekender
Barry Harris	Friday Drive Presenter	The Big Weekender
Donna Liggins	Sunday Afternoon Presenter	The Sunday Joint
Various Presenters	Friday Night Drum & Bass	The Friday Night Mix Project
John Milford	Sunday Afternoon Presenter	Show Scene
Martin Upfold	Sunday Afternoon Presenter	Touch Of Brass
Richard Scott	Sunday Morning presenter	Your Shout
John Nartey	Sunday Morning presenter	Your Shout
Grant Barnes	Sunday Morning presenter	Your Shout
Nick Smith	Sunday Night Presenter	The Late Gig
MC Ranks	Sunday Evening Presenter	Caribbean Vibes
Dan Pratt	Sunday Night Presenter	The Late Gig
Jakkii Johanson	Wednesday Evening Presenter	Lip Service
Munni Penny	Wednesday Evening Co-Presenter	Lip Service
Mr Lee	Co-Presenter & Technical Operator	Motown Magic & More/Soul Train
Cleo	Saturday Afternoon Presenter	Sports & Leisure Show
Al Burston	Saturday Lunchtime Presenter	Rolling Record Session
Luke Winton	Presenter	Saturday Leisure Show
Nick Taylor	Presenter	Saturday Leisure Show
John Ratcliffe	Presenter	Rhythm and Rhyme
Ian Pugh	Presenter	May Contain Nuts
Dave Woods	Newsreader	Local News

Schedules

For the full schedules visit: www.swindon1055.com/schedule

Trivia

• The station’s first officially played song was the 1964 Martha & The Vandellas single – Dancing in the Street

• The first regular show to air was The Johnny Robinson Show at 7-9pm on Saturday 15 March. Robinson was apparently “tired and shattered” after helping out the rest of the Technical Team, and had gone without sleep for 36 hours before presenting the show.

• The Technical Team behind the station had worked constantly for two days to get most of the station’s kit working in time for the launch at 10am on Saturday 15th March 2008.

• The studios are situated at Swindon's County Ground, the football stadium for Swindon Town Football Club. The station formerly shared the studio with ITV Thames Valley until they vacated the building following the 'ITV Local' restructuring programme.

• Martin Upfold, who is a volunteer at the station appeared on a Sky News feature, focusing on the recession in Swindon. Martin created a video diary, and was also interviewed live by leading Sky News anchor Jeremy Thompson.

• Christina Strang, (co-presenter with Ann-Marie Stanford) of Health Matters attended an international scientific conference in Australia and presented a research paper on handwriting in disease.

External links

• Shirley 105.5 Website
• Listen Live
• Ron Travolta's Website