Will the next Wogan please stand up?

By Chris Evans (no relation), Express & Star, Aug 5, 2003

It's hard to listen to most local radio presenters without a certain uncharitable thought echoing through your brain. The thought that you could probably do it better yourself.

What most of us in the Wolverhampton area don't realise is that we're better placed than most to find out if we could, and whether all that chattering, chairing phone-ins and bantering with the weather girl is really as easy as it sounds. (And I know from bitter personal experience that it isn't).

Wolverhampton Community Radio (WCR) has been around in one form or another since 1986. You may have heard the weekly Sunday evening programme they make for Radio WM. Launched in 1989, it remains the only example in the UK of a community radio group broadcasting regularly on the BBC.

If you're a student at the City of Wolverhampton College, you may have caught WCR's round-the-clock broadcasts of rock and indie music. And now, if you're on the internet, you can listen to them anywhere in the world on WCR1350.co.uk. Already they've heard from satisfied listeners from as far afield as Scandinavia and Trinidad.

Admittedly, none of this exactly makes WCR a threat to established stations like The Wolf or Beacon. But as chairman Pete Whitehouse tells me, that's not what they're about.

"We provide three services," he says. "There's the programme for Radio WM - which mainly focuses on positive local news stories and events and is aimed at an audience aged 50-plus. There's the campus radio station, which has been on-air since 1999. And then there's the training side, which is a very big project we set up a couple of years ago."

The station operates from remarkably well-equipped studios in Wolverhampton College's Newhampton Centre in Whitmore Reans. Its facilities are the equal of any BBC or commercial station, adds Pete, and he's probably right when he boasts: "You can't find another training facility like this anywhere in the Midlands."

Here anyone of any age can be trained in every aspect of broadcasting, from filing details of records played all the way up to on-air presentation and production. Various groups for unemployed people also use the facilities, along with students pursuing media courses at Wolverhampton College.

But the station wants as many people as possible to come along and get involved for as many or as few hours as they like. All they ask is a passion for radio and a willingness to start by doing the less glamorous jobs around the studios.

Martyn Haynes was a student when he joined as a volunteer a year ago. He's still an enthusiastic presenter, but now he's also in charge of training, one of only three full-time staff employed by WCR.

"There's much more to radio than just presenting," he says. "There's interviewing technique, organising interviews, setting up live performances and liaising with record companies."

It's all good preparation for landing a broadcasting job in the world beyond WCR, as evidenced by the number of former volunteers and students who have gone on to succeed in radio and TV. The presenter of the station's R&B show, for instance, recently netted a plum job with BBC Radio 1Xtra in London.

Presenter Ian Warren confirms the station's supportive policy towards new recruits. "The good thing is that when I recorded my demo, other DJs would come in and offer helpful advice, and that really helped me."

Martyn adds: "As much as you practise, nothing compares to the moment that red light comes on and you know you're on-air."

WCR's immediate aim is securing a licence from the Radio Authority that would allow it to broadcast on FM to the whole of the city for 28 days. It doesn't sound like much, but both Pete and Martyn are adamant that it would be a major leap forward for the station's development.

"It would raise our profile by making more people aware that they could hear us on the web, and how many media courses the college offers," says Martyn.

Ultimately, the hope is that WCR will one day be granted a licence to broadcast to the city on a full-time basis.

But there's a veritable minefield of funding to be negotiated before that can become a reality. The cash that keeps WCR afloat comes from a dizzying array of sources, ranging from Europe to Wolverhampton City Council, and every grant has to be fought for - not always successfully.

Meanwhile, your community radio station wants to hear from you. That is unless you're under the impression that being a local radio DJ will make you as rich as Chris Evans or Terry Wogan.

"Most people are shocked to find out what a shoestring most local radio stations are run on," concedes Martyn. "But what you get out of it is that buzz when you know you've just done a good programme and connected with a lot of people who enjoy what you're doing. It's good fun, too."

• If you're interested in joining WCR call Martyn Haynes on (01902) 572260.

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