OFCOM Report June 2009-March 2011
Since 2004 the Hillz FM has successfully work with/trained over 6000 registered users of our facilities and we expect this number to increase in the months to come.
We were the leading internet community radio station in Coventry from 2005-2009. We broadcasted on 102.6 fm with several restricted service license, which highlighted the needs of a Community radio station in Hillfields.
In 2009, the Hillz FM was granted a 5 Year Full time broadcasting license (CR183) which allowed us to broadcast on 98.6 FM throughout Coventry & Warwickshire.
The Hillz is accessible to the community in all its areas of activity – broadcasting, training, volunteering, management and participation. Our current training facilities and studio are free to use for all registered members.
Our music output is mainly outside the mainstream, a high percentage of this falling under the category of alternative or international, and less than 5% are currently in the top forty charts. It includes music produced by local artists and musicians, and music for displaced communities in additional to specific genres such as soul, rock and indie.
Our speech output includes community news and information, interviews and discussions, and occasional features on issues of local interest such as health, disability and environment. Some programmes are broadcast in community languages addressing local community issues and news from other parts of the world.
Our output is broadcasted in English as well as other community languages such as Turkish, Kurdish, Polish, Punjabi, Hindi/Urdu, French and African languages. These community languages featured may vary from time to time depending on availability of volunteers. The Hillz FM is live for at least 8 hours per weekdays and all of our output is locally produced.
We target and seek to involve people facing disadvantage, social exclusion and deprivation, people from minority groups, and culturally under-represented; those who consider themselves consumers engaged with and wishing to be informed about these cultures; and persons who live in socially or linguistically isolated communities.
The Hillz FM provides demand-led relevant media coverage for the large number of people who are currently underserved or excluded by existing media.
Our broadcast can be accessed by approx 660,000 people in and around the Coventry & Warwickshire area to include parts of Birmingham on 98.6 FM. We have 54 Countries that listen online via links on www.thehillz.net, Facebook, Twitter, Bebo, Myspace and other internet radio sites. On www.thehillz.net we are now getting over 100,000 hits per month.
We are an accredited NOCN & ASDAN training centre offering young people an opportunity to gain GCSE School credits to support their school results.
Community Radio Fund: Grant Report Form
2.1 Station details:
Licence Number
CR 183
Station Name
The Hillz
2.2 Please set out the purpose of the grant and the amount awarded. If the grant was for more than one purpose or post, please set out the different purposes and the amount allocated for each.
To fund the salary and associated costs of a Fundraising and Marketing Development Worker.
2.3 Please explain how the grant was spent, setting out the details separately for each post or purpose. If it was to fund a member of staff, please include a summary of work carried out and the main achievements of the post-holder (see also section 2.5). For example, if it was for a fundraiser, please say how much money he or she has raised. If the grant was awarded for any other (non-staff) purpose(s) please provide a detailed breakdown of costs incurred with the date of the relevant expenditure.
Prior to obtaining this grant, any fundraising or marketing for the radio was on an ad hoc basis, incorporated within the overall organisational strategy and subsidised through the organisation. However, upon receipt of the broadcasting licence, there has been an obvious shift in emphasis with a need for the radio to generate more income to the point where it will eventually be self sustaining. Now, with a specified person in place we have been able to begin to make the first steps towards this becoming a reality.
Since taking over the responsibility for the post, the postholder has transformed the website to make it more user friendly and ensures it is updated regularly. This in itself has resulted in more ‘hits’ on the site, not only locally but nationally and internationally as well. He has been responsible for promoting the station throughout the local community and across the city, introducing the service to a diverse and multi-lingual neighbourhood, which has resulted in an increase in volunteer presenters for the station delivering programmes in a variety of languages. Presentations have been made to various organisations and representatives, such as the local Round Table, who gave a small donation in return, local community groups and service providers in the city. Following research into similar and commercial operations, the postholder has, in conjunction with the Trustees and management, introduced a scale of charges for advertising on The Hillz. However, he has recommended a degree of flexibility within this, to take into account the need to balance the community with the commercial (income generation) needs of the station. By using his experience and knowledge, and working alongside existing staff, a range of training programmes, both accredited and informal, have been developed to attract a wide range of clients from a variety of sources such as schools, colleges, the community and other service providers. He regularly attends at numerous venues across the city to ensure that the radio station reaches as wide a range of people as possible, both listeners and potential advertisers/sponsors. At his recommendation, an event was held in the local Village Square to celebrate the first year of our licence. In order to fund this showcase, the postholder negotiated successfully with local businesses to sponsor the marquee, stage, sound system and Hillz fm t-shirts and persuaded local artists to perform on the day, an event that would have cost at least £2500, had we had to pay. He has also been responsible for promotion of the project through TV and newspaper reports and there is a distinct possibility of further television coverage in the near future.
A wide network of friends has been developed to support the radio station in a variety of ways, from presenting programmes and helping with events to assisting with surveys. To attract a wider audience, the post holder has linked The Hillz in with social networking sites, Myspace and Facebook. Between them there are over 3,200 friends and 1,100 fans.
It was always recognised that it would be no easy task to sell the services of the radio station because for several years, prior to gaining our licence, the majority of what the radio (and indeed the whole organisation) offered was at no cost, so it has taken a while to alter the mindset that the radio must acquire income to secure its’ future. In this current economic climate, it has proved to be difficult to secure regular advertising or sponsorship deals, especially in this particular area, which is one of the most deprived in the city. As previously mentioned, Gino did secure sponsorship for a specific event and is working hard to further develop contacts with a view to securing regular sponsors, either for individual programmes or the station in general. We are beginning to see some success in selling advertising on the station and are confident that the opportunities will increase over the next year or so. Our local football team, Coventry City, have named WATCH as one of its Charities of the Year and we are currently looking at the possibilities of the radio station working alongside them to target and provide for the different communities that may have a common interest i.e. sport and music, something which they are very keen to do.
The postholder has spent a lot of time researching in order to identify potential grants to support all of the the station’s operations in the immediate future, whilst it establishes itself further. Applications to Comic Relief, Connexions, Fouracre Trust, Foyle Foundation, Peter Cruddas and John Paul Getty Junior Trust have been unsuccessful but at the same time encouraging as some have given positive feedback which can be built into future applications. We know that it is an incredibly difficult time with grant making trusts being swamped with applications and appreciate that even though projects may meet the criteria, not every organisation can be funded. There is currently an application to Children In Need pending and hopefully the outcome will be known before the end of the year. It is envisaged that an application will be made to the Reaching Communities Fund (Lottery) within the foreseeable future. The postholder has had success in obtaining sufficient funding to secure his post for a further six months, which will provide the opportunity to build further on what has already been achieved. To go alongside this funding, there is also the promise of additional help and support with future fundraising applications from business professionals, something that we would not normally contemplate because of the costs involved. (Information on this funding is currently under an embargo and details will be made available as soon as we are able to publicise them). Research into other potential funding is an ongoing process. As previously stated the aim is to become less reliant on grant funding and to look towards increased income generation activities and services.
The postholder is, at present, collaborating with a local drama group with a view to a joint funding initiative combining community radio and drama. Recently he has made positive links with the PR department of Coventry University, which hopefully will provide another opportunity for promotion of the service and possibly some collaborative working in the future by linking in the radio station to the media courses that they provide.
To date, through this funded post, £16,935 has been secured through selling advertising, training and fundraising and approximately £2,500 sponsorship for the aforementioned event. There is currently £1,000 worth of advertising being negotiated between The Hillz and a local mobile phone provider and there is also the possibility of up to £2,000 worth of broadcasting that is available to follow up on the Coventry Peace Month, in which the radio station contributed during early November.
2.4 The Panel is interested in how the grant has made a difference to the operation of your station. Please give us your comments.
The grant has made a difference in that it had provided the funding to secure a person whose role is to promote and generate income for the radio station. Prior to this it was encompassed within the whole organisational strategy. This has enabled a renewed impetus and emphasis on promoting and selling the radio as a separate service, whilst still remaining under the umbrella of WATCH.
Whilst not being solely responsible for all fundraising, it is extremely beneficial to have one person who can dedicate more time to research potential opportunities applicable to the radio project.
It has provided the opportunity for someone to spend more focussed time on further developing existing relationships within the community and the city, as well as seeking new ones. This obviously offers the potential of future collaborative working, which will benefit a wider range of people.The radio station is now widely known across the city.
We now have a dedicated member of staff who is responsible for, and capable of, updating the website to ensure it is of interest to the public. Also, currently the website offers the opportunity for local artists to promote themselves free of charge but it is hoped that as it becomes more established we can seek paid advertising and sponsorship that runs alongside the radio programmes.
There has been an increase in the number of volunteers who are willing and capable of supporting the station. Because of this, there is a wider variety of shows being broadcast.
The radio has provided the community with a voice to share their cultures, which has added to greater understanding and better cohesion.
Training opportunities have been further developed and increased. Schools are now beginning to show an interest in the Asdan accredited courses as these count towards GCSE points and can be achieved in a relatively short time frame.
More people and businesses in the city are aware of the station. Not only does this boost the listener base but has the added benefit of increasing the advertising and sponsorship potential. (For example, the sponsorship obtained for the event in the Village Square in June 2010). People are beginning to realise the potential that a community radio station has for reaching a wider range of people, including those who may not listen to mainstream broadcasters.
With the additional funding recently received, it is now hoped that the momentum created will continue, the modest start will be improved upon thus adding to the viability and success of The Hillz to date.
