Lancaster’s Bailrigg FM Sweep Student Radio Awards
Capping off what can only be called a stellar year for Lancaster University’s student radio station, Bailrigg FM managed to score four awards at the Student Radio Association’s show in November. Commemorations span from from the station’s output to the talent behind it, and mark the best year in recent memory for its members.
Taking place at indigo at the O2 in London, student radio stations from up and down the country gathered for a night of fizz and fancy as BBC Radio 1 Breakfast host Greg James and Capital FM Breakfast host Jordan North celebrated the rising stars of university radio who look set to join the big-time radio waves of the BBC and Global.
For Lancaster’s BFM, the night concluded with the taking home of four awards, including two for the soundscape serenades of ‘the Sound of Nature’ and the bronze Best Station award,
Among the accolades from the night was the silver winner for Best Presenter, Erin Strom (they/she), who I caught up with to ask about their time at Bailrigg FM. Describing it as life changing, they said, ‘As someone who does a lot of things but not for very long, keeping with radio for all my 3 years of uni has made it click like, "Oh, this is what I want to do."‘
When I asked them about their reaction on the night, the response I got was one of gratification, recognition, and relief. Said Erin, ‘It’s strange to start off giving yourself that credit. Everyone wants you to have pride in everything you have and everything you’ve done, but the SRAs are strange in that it’s someone else validating you, and it’s this fear that somebody else finding out that this wasn’t enough. And I was relieved to find out that, no, somebody professional thinks this is good.’
Speaking to Anna Foster (they/she), creator of the two-time award-winning show ‘the Sound of Nature’, I wanted to get into the inspiration behind a show recognised for its uniqueness as well as its quality. Anna spoke to me about their passion for science communication, saying,
As students at a student radio station, we’re all fully aware of the climate crisis and don’t need to be educated and reminded of it so I wanted to create something for me and for other people, targeting nature and wellness and providing science communication content about UK nature which I’m really passionate about.
Taking on such a project is a herculean task, and when I asked about it, I found that the entire show had been mapped out solo. Anna said:
Hearing back from the SRAs on the quality of editing was really rewarding as a result, because it was entirely mine. While I did have people in the station to bounce ideas off of and to answer some of my questions, it was almost entirely mine and that made the whole experience so unique.
From a station that truly made its mark this year, picking up bronze for Best Station on the awards night, I wanted to get the thoughts of the management of this close-knit community as I was certain that ‘proud’ wouldn’t even begin to describe it.
Asking the Station Manager for last academic year, Georgia Platt (she/her), what overseeing the blossoming of Bailrigg FM over this past year, she said, ‘It’s been a journey. I remember joining in 2022 when the station was five people and a dream. Since then, it’s been a journey of growth for both me and BFM, but it’s been so gratifying to see people fall in love with the station.’
I also wanted to ask Lizzie Coopland (she/her) the same thing, having taken up the reins just this past summer and following closely in Georgia’s footsteps. Lizzie remarked:
It’s been lovely to see the station go from strength to strength and have links with the wider student radio community, and it’s amazing to find recognition both among student radio and locally. I’ve loved seeing people have a great time in the radio station and creating things they love, and while it is difficult and not everything always goes to plan, when I look back I love to see the products people have made and the friendships that have come from it.
This must be the overture then, summarising the whole year in just two words: gratification and recognition. Now an alum, Erin hopes to continue in radio as a profession, now working the show ‘Loud Women’ and hoping to make headway in the commercial radio world. ‘I don’t want to get lost in the crowd a bit, and I have found that I’m very good at getting my name out there where people now know who I am before I’ve even introduced myself. I’m planning on using this win to keep doing what I love doing and hoping that gives me a little bit more credibility.’
Georgia and Lizzie seek to continue the momentum of the past year, ‘bringing these opportunities to members and deepen links to the industry, which is why the SRAs are an amazing opportunity for us. It’s always a place to have fun, but it also serves as a launchpad for a cheeky career in radio.’ Georgia adds, ‘The core tenets of what BFM is about as a station is community and giving the members what they need. We encourage the members to do what they want to do and support them in creating what they want to make and keeping those as core ideas to sustain the growth and adding on new opportunities, like Lizzie said.’
Anna was able to network with the likes of Radio Academy on the night, who specialise in promoting excellence in UK broadcasting and media production, as well as important names inside the BBC. With the station’s awards cabinet rounded out, she spoke a few words that resonate with the message of the year: ‘Hearing my show be awarded bronze, after realising that science communication was something that I wanted to do, meant that it wasn’t something I wanted to do in the future anymore; it was something I was already doing.’