Future Radio has released a charity single, This Fine City, in the same week that Local Radio Day was celebrated throughout the country. The single is to raise funds to relocate the radio station, following the loss of their offices and studios when their landlord’s premises closed.
At the start of lockdown, Future Radio’s landlord, Open Youth Trust, sadly closed its doors, and the community radio station has been operating remotely since then. Now work is underway on the long and costly process of relocating the station to a new home.
In a magnificent effort, Future Radio’s volunteers have been pulling together to help raise funds for the move. The ambitious idea to create and release a charity single was put forward by the producer of the station’s Future Vegan show and local singer/songwriter and host of Future’s Afternoon Session, Lisa Redford stepped up to the plate.
The song has been written by Lisa as a tribute to Norwich and produced by Andrew Todd, a volunteer presenter at Future Radio. As the project came together, it drew in more and more musicians from the local music scene. The track features the talents of 10 leading local musicians alongside Lisa.
Lisa said “I was delighted to be asked to compose the single as a tribute to my home city, for the radio station I love. The song is a tribute to Norwich and how we’re getting through such a challenging time. Future Radio, which is facing some tough times itself, is such an important part of the life of the city, I hope people will enjoy this anthemic celebratory song and help the station to move to a new home.”
With other local radio stations across Norfolk recently having been taken over by a national brand, Future Radio is now the only local station in Norwich other than the BBC, so the team is eager for the station to remain rooted in the city centre, where it can be easily accessed by volunteers, guests and artists.
Christopher Remer, Income and Volunteer Coordinator at Future Radio, who pulled the project together, said “This has been a fantastic effort by Lisa, Andrew, their fellow volunteers and local musicians. We’ve been really touched by all the hard work everyone has put into this fantastic single. Although we still have a long way to go, we hope sales of the song will mean we’re able to reopen Norwich’s community radio station for our volunteers, guests and listeners as soon as possible.”
The song costs just £1 to download and all the proceeds will go towards raising funds to relocate the station to a new home. To get hold of This Fine City by Lisa Redford and Friends, go to www.futureradio.bandcamp.com from Friday 16th October.