Hythe Life_Spring_2022.qxp_Layout 1 27/04/2022 10:58 Page 50
Academy FM Folkestone not just a radio station
A school isn’t the sort of place you’d expect to find two busy radio studios, but that’s exactly what there is in the Folkestone Academy. The local radio station, 105.9 Academy FM Folkestone is based in the school that inspired its name and broadcasts to the Folkestone urban area and can also be heard on FM in parts of Hythe and the Romney Marsh, and online at www.academyfmfolkestone.com. Academy FM is two things – a local radio station, and an educational charity. The reason for its base in the Academy school is to work with young people, which it does with success, often working with over 800 children a year from the Academy and Primary schools across Folkestone, and winning numerous charity and broadcasting awards. Academy FM’s strengths is that it’s local, and it’s varied. Many of the presenters are adult volunteers from the local area, and some are children. Part of Academy FM’s educational work involves training Academy pupils to broadcast on the radio – they present live on-air and many have considerable confidence. In the national ‘Young Audio Awards’ Academy FM has swept the board in the last few years, winning Station of the Year, two BBC Sounds Awards for teenagers Taya Walters and Tia Brady, plus a second award for Taya this year. Station Manager David Sharp is positive about what
young people get from the station: “It’s a working environment, which not many other young people are used to, so they get experience here that prepares them for later in life. Presenting on the radio gives them selfconfidence and communication skills. In the long term we can have a significant effect on their lives.” Academy FM also delivers projects to local primary schools, funded by organisations such as Sir Roger De Haan’s charitable trust, the National Lottery, and the Kent Community Foundation. These often involve radio station staff bringing visitors into schools for the children to interview on the microphone; “It’s a great way for children to learn new things” says Dave Sharp; “we get experts in to talk about science, history, or people from local businesses to talk about careers, and the children remember it because they have to actually do an interview for the radio, recorded on small recorders right there in the classroom” The radio station’s local focus is obvious, and they have numerous local advertisers and even two business shows. Every year Academy FM broadcasts over 250 interviews about local events, and has busy Breakfast and Morning
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shows in particular. Many of these are presented by local people, with a real knowledge of the area: “You just don’t get that on other radio stations – we’re the only one based around here that has this sort of local content” says Dave Sharp. Academy FM also appears at events, this year including the We Love Hythe Life Food Festival, the Venetian Fete, and the Folkestone Air Display. Look out for their gazebo and the mascot, the Folkestone Fox!
