Pictured left to right: Steve Hyde, Presenter and Treasurer of Irvine Beat FM, John Kelly, Chairperson of CHA, Dawn Jamieson, Volunteer and Presenter of Irvine Beat FM and Frank Sweeney, Group CEO of CHA
On Tuesday 26th April 2022 both John Kelly, Chairperson of Cunninghame Housing Association (CHA) and Frank Sweeney, Group Chief Executive of CHA presented a cheque for £1,000 to Dawn Jamieson volunteer and presenter and Steve Hyde, presenter and treasurer at Irvine Beat FM.
Irvine Beat FM is a local radio station who received their full-time community broadcast licence from Ofcom in 2013. The project is a registered charity run by a group of 30 volunteers from the community with a diverse variety of skills and abilities and is governed by the Board of Charity Trustees. Irvine Beat provides entertainment, local information, weather and news, however, the output lays particular emphasis on improving the health and general well being of residents in the communities of North Ayrshire.
Now with Covid restrictions easing the station is reintroducing live information segments from representatives of the DWP, NAC, NHS Scotland and Police Scotland amongst many more that have been contacted and hope to introduce them very shortly on air. Irvine Beat is fully committed to supporting local schools, community groups and charitable organisations by providing an on-air platform for these parties to connect directly with listeners. Irvine Beat offers volunteering opportunities and is committed to recruiting volunteers from the communities of North Ayrshire in a bid to advance inclusion and education through the provision of training in broadcast media, radio production and administration using hi-spec industry standard equipment.
To provide such an invaluable service comes at a cost, therefore the funding provided by Cunninghame Housing Association will help support the running costs, specifically the phone and wi-fi expenses. This is particularly beneficial at this time, due to recent Covid restrictions, which have had a detrimental effect on any potential income that would normally be earned through local businesses on-air advertising,
The funding for Irvine Beat came from the Associations “Making Our Communities a Better Place Fund” which operates throughout the year (1st April 2021 to 31st March 2022) until the allocated funding is exhausted.
The Association are pleased to support Irvine Beat FM given the hard work of the volunteers to provide a first-class radio station to the communities of North Ayrshire.JOHN KELLY, Chairperson, CHA
Local Groups or individuals interested in finding our more about the Associations “Making Our Communities Better Places” Fund can do so by following the link below or downloading the application form.
MOCBP FUND TEAM
The “Making Our Communities Better Places” fund team are happy to answer any questions you may have.
