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: Bang Bang at the Battle of Nantwich ... and Onwards to a Scratch Panto!

The Battle of Nantwich

So, the Battle of Nantwich went off with it’s usual bang...bang...bang! I have been on the organising committee for five years and we are really pleased with how well the event went (despite the rain!) this year.

We have welcomed new volunteers, both to the committee and also on the day with marshalling duties. Students from Reaseheath supported us again by making holly sprigs to wear in celebration of the Siege of Nantwich being lifted in 1644, hence the name “Holly Holy Day”.

Thanks must go to our sponsors, many of whom have supported the event for several years and big thanks to our headline sponsor Applewood Independent, who supported the event for the third year.

The Battle takes place on Mill Island and is enhanced by the fringe activities and entertainment that goes on across Nantwich including Pike and Musket displays at Nantwich Museum, Domesday Morris Dancers and Ezra and his Plough Witches roaming around town, plus book signings in the Nantwich Bookshop.

This year we took the decision to move the RedShift Community Stage in to St Mary’s Church as heavy rain was forecast. Thank you to Rev Stephen Snelling and the St Mary’s team who were so accommodating at such short notice. We enjoyed performances from Shavington Panto, Nantwich Players, Nantwich Young Voices, Tim Lee and 17 year old Sinead D’Abreu-Hayling who came 5th in the UK Open Mic competition a couple of weeks ago.

We had two new additions to the event this year; we welcomed Sarah Callander-Beckett, the High Sheriff of Cheshire as our new Patron to the Holly Holy Day Society. We also welcomed Joseph Heler Cheese who kindly produced a special Battle of Nantwich cheese which was on sale on the town square.

Thank you to everyone who supported the event, whether it was as a volunteer, sponsor or attendee. Thank you also to BBC Radio Stoke who interviewed me both before and after the event and Granada Reports who did a terrific report on the event.  

St Margaret's Scratch Panto

Saturday afternoon gave no rest for the wicked … Michael-John and I escaped Nantwich at 3pm and raced over to Wrenbury Village Hall to take part in a “Scratch Panto” in aid of St Margaret’s Church in Wrenbury.

A Scratch Panto is a rather crazy concept, one that I am not even sure is real, or just a made up thing by the organiser Alison Long, who has an uncanny knack of hooking you in to taking part in something without you even realising you had signed up!

Actually, it was my fiance Michael-John who “forgot” about our Battle of Nantwich commitments when he agreed to be an Ugly Sister after Alison fluttered her eyes at him! Of course I couldn’t refuse to join the chaos by being the stage manager.

So, there we are, a “body” cast of 12 and “voice” cast of 10 people from 3.00 - 4.30 pm for a run through. Having dashed from the Battle with no lunch and not a lot of liquid, I found myself getting quite confused about which prop I was supposed to be sneaking on to the stage or cast member I was meant to be “directing” next!

In true panto style “it was alright on the night” and we really did bring the house down with laughter. Thank you to the Cotton Arms in Wrenbury for sponsoring the sausage butties in the interval and well done to everyone who had a hand in making the props and stage. We even had a motorised “Fairycopter” for the Fairy Godmother (Janet Palmer from Wrenbury Village Stores) to “fly” in on. A very entertaining and memorable evening which raised over £1,200 for the church.