6 • EdenLocal
Eden107.5
New studio for Eden FM in Carlisle computers and lights on because for any station to be successful it has to be seen and not just heard in the community, it has to be active and engage with the community it serves.
Eden Dunn, Stephen Dunn, Nigel Peacock
Recently, I was asked a question related to the origin of the name Eden for Eden FM radio and Eden Local, the main cover of the Cumbrian Local Publications. It’s not a mystery. We are in the Eden valley, we are in the Eden District. But that’s not the reason, it is simply based on the River Eden. Regional branding is very important; this I learnt from a previous project. The first community radio station I set up was called Meridian FM and the first real glossy publication I produced for the company you see now, was called Meridian Sport and Events in 2007. The publication was linked to a Tuesday night and Saturday afternoon Sports and Events show on Meridian FM. The radio studio was based in a town council building on the top floor in an attic room. The building itself probably bigger than Mansion House here in Penrith, it was an 18th Century Grade II listed building, built in 1867 that was restored in the 1980s by the Town Council. A hub of the community, running through its grounds was the Greenwich Meridian Line. So here we are in Cumbria with studios and an office in the EdenLocal
centre of Penrith at Mostyn Hall in Friargate, our new neighbours the Penrith Town Council directly opposite. Our facility is manned at some point most days and if required it can be remotely run from a mobile phone. Remote in a different context and sparse are words I’ve heard a lot about areas of the Eden Valley. To maintain our 24 hour transmission coving the area where we need to reach either on 107.5 FM, online or via mobile devices, however, we do need more volunteers; at least three times the amount of people that we currently have in order to deliver the service we provide 365 days of the year. It’s not just presenting, we need about 50-60 people in Cumbria from all back grounds and of all ages! Like many businesses and voluntary groups, we’ve experienced the cuts in public transport. We lost presenters and their shows when we lost weekend buses at key times, then more when the buses just stopped. To overcome this, we set up some presenters remotely at home. This was an unbudgeted cost but essential in keeping the station on air. In addition to this, in order to survive, since 2011 we had to do more than just switch a few
The magazine that relies on doors for circulation not sales
We are out most weeks, sometimes as many as three times. So we take the radio out in to the community any time of day or night, which is something the BBC or commercial stations can’t do as much. We have the challenge of reaching one of the most sparsely populated areas of England and we want to have a local voice live on the local radio for as many hours of the day as we can fill. Eden is the brand and in 2016 Eden FM tested its transmission in Appleby and in Alston, but more recently on 24th August we did our first live transmission in Carlisle. In the space of 3 days, one phone call, one email, then Nigel Peacock and I from Eden FM met Stephen and Eden Dunn at the Old Fire Station where Stephen is the Arts Officer for Carlisle City Council and Eden Dunn is the IT person who wears a few more hats in the recording studio at the Old Fire Station. Within an hour and a half, we had agreed to set up a studio in an attic room/room in the roof currently used for storage in this wonderful old building that has been steadily developing as an amazing venue. This somehow seemed very familiar as the door opened to a little room with a window facing out into Warwick Street. Originally opened in 1898, the Old Fire Station is now an arts and entertainment centre, home to a variety of events and McGrews Bistro. To cement this new venture into a reality, we