Out & About: Interviewing Laura Smith MP at UTC and RedShift's #BigBroadcast

It’s been more “In and Around” than “Out and About” this week: I have enjoyed staying close to home and studio, avoiding the grotty weather and thanking my lucky stars that I have not had to do much travelling in the snow this week.

I did venture to the Crewe Engineering & Design UTC to interview MP Laura Smith during her visit to the University Technical College. It was also my first tour of the full site since the final phase of the build and what an incredible facility it is.

Having an education establishment here in Crewe that offers such a broad range specialist STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) training opportunities with industry standard equipment is quite remarkable.

The UTC has harnessed very strong links with local and national organisations such as Bentley Motors, Air Products, Arriva Trains and Siemens, all providing ongoing support and training to students with a specific desire to follow a career in STEM subjects.

You can hear my interview with Laura Smith and the students on Friday morning between 9-10am as part of #SunnySideUp, our new breakfast show hosted by yours truly and Jasper my trusty companion.

#BigBroadcast

On Monday we began our #BigBroadcast which is a 28-day trial of full time broadcast output (8am - 11pm everyday) until 31 March. As an internet station we have always respected the fact that listening to us has not been as easy as if we were on traditional FM radio.

Now however, with the arrival of wifi speakers, wifi in some new cars and mobile apps supporting our streaming, tuning into your local community radio online really has never been easier.

We are trying really hard to reach out to our community and ask you to give us a listen and give us feedback that will help us to keep improving. Already for this month's #BigBroadcast we have over 70 guests booked in and four key themes. Our theme until Sunday is #ApprenticeshipWeek, followed by #LocalMusic week, then #LocalSport week and March wraps up with #HomeGarden week.

I should mention perhaps, for those who may not use or know about social media, my use of #hashtags is relevant to the way we promote and discuss our programmes and themes in the online world.

On my #SunnySideUp show I will be joined by various RedShift presenters all ready and able to teach me a thing or two about music (I am rubbish at remembering names of songs or bands!)

I am also looking forward to having guests Barry Ellams and Andrew Cain from the Chronicle join me every Wednesday between 9am and 10am to talk exclusively about the news they have published.

Following SunnySideUp each morning, Helen Gregory will host a #FeelGoodDaily show from 11-midday. Helen will be keeping listeners motivated with great music and interviews with people from our community, as well as tips and tricks for feeling the best you can every single day.

Steve Bebe will steam into another new show, an extension to his #WhatsHappening show that he usually presents on a Tuesday, which now becomes a daily programme between 12pm and 2pm.

With the usual programmes and varying guests and themes, I feel confident that we appeal to lots of people in our community, so please give us a listen and let me know what you think. My email is hello@redshiftonline.org and phone number is 01270 440 750 if you would like to get in touch and share your views.

RedShift Annual Quiz

Finally, our Annual RedShift Quiz takes place on Friday 23 March at Nantwich Town Football Club. We are proud of our unique style of quiz that includes food and a LIVE music round for just £8 per person.

To enter your team, please visit redshiftonline.org/redshiftevents and click on the QUIZ link. This year we are raising funds to run another Football Commentators' course and replace equipment so we can train more commentators to support the club with home and away commentary.

Final mention this week has to go to my sister Poppy Philiben to wish her happy birthday and my Mum to wish her Happy Mother’s Day on Sunday!

Out & About

Win a Google Mini Speaker!

#ClimbKili2017

It’s been a long time coming, but finally we have gathered in all the remaining donations for our #ClimbKili2017 campaign and I am delighted to announce that the total raised by the 13 walkers was £18,752. This total has been split equally between four organisations so CRY for Matthew, Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Charity (the Dementia Appeal), the Wingate Centre and our Youth Activities at RedShift Radio, have now received a donation of £4,688 each.

At RedShift, we are using the funds to continue the opportunities we provide for 8 - 18 year olds to help improve their confidence, communication and collaboration skills by training them to produce and present radio shows, learn how to use industry standard media software to prepare them for (or support in) further higher and education and employment. This will allow us to work with eight young people this year.

On behalf of all the organisations, once again I would like to say a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone one who donated, sponsored and supported us walkers in our challenge of a lifetime. Thank you also to each of the walkers who made the commitment to each raising at least £1,000 for our campaign. Kilimanjaro has left a lasting impact on all of us (especially my hip!) and really was a gruelling challenge.

#ListenOnline2018
At the beginning of January we began our #ListenOnline2018 campaign to deliver 365 days of engaging, uplifting and informative community broadcasting. Now we have completed the first month, I think it is time for a review.

We use the #hashtags so when on social media, all the conversations relating to each theme and show can be found easily. Try it for yourself and have a look on Facebook and Twitter to see who we met during our #WellbeingFortnight and our #HistoryCulture, #WildlifeNature and #StorytellingTheatre weeks.

Highlights for me include interviewing Doug Butterill on the #CharitiesToday show with his amazing bird box and hedgehog home. Doug was joined in the studio by Graham Dodd from Nantwich Museum and we had a good chat about the history of Nantwich Mill and the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch last weekend.

Ben Rafferty from Residence joined me on #BusinessDay and failed in his attempt to knock me off my Dry January challenge by bringing in a very tempting array of gins!

I enjoyed listening to Lucy Siebert from Hack Green Secret Nuclear Bunker chat to Chris Ridge from Air Products on the #BigBangQuery giving us numerous reasons to visit the hidden gem in our South Cheshire countryside.

We also welcomed some animals into the studio in January with Jess Wood from Zoo2U who

Ben Davies, presenter of
Musical Monday with
the Zoo2U kestrel

brought in a kestrel and tiny little hedgehog-like creature called a Tenrec and Lisa Webb, who runs canine behaviourists Canine Thinking and who brought her gorgeous dogs in for a grilling by our teens Orlanda and Harvey.

Going into February, the whole month is #LoveYourCommunity and we are aiming to have guests on the radio from all walks of local life. Pamela Adams who runs Kane Funeral Services in Crewe and Steve Lawson from Nantwich Bookshop will both be on #BusinessDay on Wednesday 7 Feb from 12pm and Betsy Clewlow, a very interesting local octogenarian who was an army PE instructor and subsequently a jazz singer, poet and actor will be appearing on #WellbeingWeekly at 5pm on Sunday.

Don’t worry if you have missed one of our shows, we repeat everything once a week and most programmes are available to #ListenAgain via links from our website. Pop on to www.redshiftonline.org/listenagain.

Did you know that listening to RedShift online has become so much easier with the advent of Smart Speakers such as Amazon Echo (Alexa) and Google. You simply say “Play RedShift Radio” and hey presto, RedShift will begin playing! If you don't yet have a smart speaker, you can still tune in online at www.redshiftonline.org/player or on your mobile via the TuneIn app.

This brings me on nicely to the launch of our competition for February. Each week, we are giving away a Google Mini speaker worth £45 to one lucky listener. To enter, visit the competition page on our website and tell us the answer to this question: Who sponsors our "What's Happening" show and what is the presenter's name?

Submit your answer via the contact form on the website by midday on Thursday 15th February and we will announce the winner on Thursday's Big Bang Query at 6.45pm.

Out & About: The First of Liz's Two-Part Look Back Over Her Hectic 2017

Battle of Nantwich

It's that time again of the year... my two-part special looking back at my highlights of 2017.

January always starts with the Battle of Nantwich, an event for which I have been on the committee for five years. This year I have taken on the role as Chairperson following in the footsteps of the fabulous Keith Cafferty. Last year, as every year, the Battle was fought on Mill Island between the Parliamentarians and Royalists. If you don't know who won then be sure to come and support the event between 10am and 3pm on Saturday 27th January. 

We are doing a recruitment drive for volunteers so if you would like to help, please sign up to our Volunteers Briefing on Wednesday 10 January at Nantwich Museum.

February was the month I braved the slopes and experienced skiing for the first time. I can think of other ways I would prefer to spend my hard-earned holiday time, but with my other-half being a very serious (if not slightly kamikaze) skier, I felt I owed it to him to have a go!

March saw the first of my Kilimanjaro training walks up a very dank and dismal Snowdon but it gave me a good opportunity to meet some of my fellow walkers and determine my baseline level of fitness!

April is when my calendar entries begin to multiply like rabbits, beginning with the Nantwich Show Luncheon and the annual RedShift Quiz which this year raised £600 for our #ClimbKili2017 fund. 

Donkeys at St Mary's, Nantwich

We took donkeys Betty and Anne to St Mary's Church for the Palm Sunday service and we always enjoy the Bluebell Walk at Combermere Abbey. 

Beans, Berries & Beer Festival

New this year was the Beans Berries and Beer festival at the Crewe Heritage Centre hosted by the super team at Offbeat Brewery.

Our Spring Community Expo, sponsored and hosted by Rookery Hall, was the best one yet and featured an interactive demo by our resident Science Ambassador Chris Ridge from Air Products who hosts The Big Bang Query - a unique show on RedShift Radio all about STEM (Science Technology, Engineering & Maths). We are delighted to be heading back to Rookery Hall in April 2018 and are taking bookings for exhibitors and sponsors now.

Highlights for May would have to be the hilarious Spamalot at Crewe Lyceum featuring past and present RedShifters Chris Ridge, Adam Goode and Ben Stubbs. We also hosted our first Hustings event which was attended by over 100 people, all keen to hear what the local political candidates had to say about why we should vote for them.

Also in May, the #ClimbKili2017 training continued with a Zumbathon organised by walker Lydia Sharkey and led by ex-RedShifter Sharon Burrows. I can safely say I tried my best, but in the words of my sister “our Southall bottoms are not made for this wiggling malarkey!”

Cry for Ceri Abigail

With the RedShift RoadShow out at Middlewich Makers Market, the Young Farmers Rally at Reaseheath, a tea dance for the over 70s in Alsager, we certainly covered a few miles! I also attended a super fashion show in aid of CRY for Ceri Abigail and my nephew's first Communion which was just lovely.

We began June with a great event that I am hopeful to make an annual affair – Whose Wine is it Anyway?, hosted by Rodney Densem Wines at Residence in Nantwich. We has a great time and raised over £600 for our #ClimbKili2017 target. Speaking of which, a second walk up Snowdon saw a distinct improvement in my fitness (and the weather) from just a few weeks before.

Fig Pie Rolling

Fig Pie Rolling, the Middlewich FAB Festival Dance Display and Nantwich Town Sports saw the PA kit in and out of the RedShift van and frequent checks of the weather forecast. The Cheshire Show, Gin Tasting at Dorfold Hall, Lightning Seeds at the FAB Festival and celebrating presenter Paul Boniface's 65th birthday meant there was plenty of social activities going on too!

June was however a sad month at RedShift as we said goodbye to a very dear friend and volunteer, Vic Harris who sadly passed away. Vic had presented our Rotary RoundUp show and really was one of life's good eggs and we all miss him greatly.

July was equally busy so I will pause there and save that for next week.

All that's left for me to say in my final Out and About of 2017 is a BIG THANK YOU to all the RedShift followers, listeners and friends who have been part of our journey this year and special thanks to everyone who has taken the time to tell me they enjoy my weekly ramblings here, hopefully there will be plenty more next year!

This article appeared in Crewe Chronicle on 27th December 2017.  Please look out for my "Out and About" page each week in the Crewe Chronicle. For more information about any of the items in this article, please email us here at RedShift or call us on 01270 440 750.