Spirit FM celebrates 20 years on the air

Local radio station Spirit FM turned 20 years old on April 21.

To mark two decades since the station launched onto the airwaves, William Rogers, the CEO of UKRD, one of the country’s leading local radio groups of which Spirit FM is a part, joined the radio team to tour the new facilities.

Alex Farnham, head of creative at Spirit FM, said: “I can’t begin to say how proud I am of our radio station and what we’ve achieved in 20 years, and just the thought of what the next 20 will bring fills me with excitement!

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“When I first came into the business 15 years ago, I had no idea what I was getting into, all I knew is that I was about to start the career of a lifetime in a place that had great pride and joy of delivering local news, weather, music and programming across the county.

I believe some of the first words said as Spirit FM launched onto the airwaves, said by Mr Steve Oates, the stations founder, were that Spirit FM was here to inform and entertain, and that’s what we’ve been doing ever since.

“Some of Spirit’s founding members, such as Neale Bateman, Nick Hobbs, Iain Meadows, Peter Philips, and not to mention Ian Crouch, are all proud to still be involved in Spirit in some way, and Crouchie in particular is a real necessity to the station, and will continue to be for a long time yet!

“I asked Crouchie for his thoughts on broadcasting for 20 years, and he said “We serve a bigger area now, not just since adding the northern transmitter in the early 2000s, but especially as have gained more platforms to broadcast from – we are now multimedia, and as the station grows in content and in popularity we can get our message out to more people. For me it’s about serving the local community, and the charity work we’ve done – all those things where we can rally people toward local issues, things that really matter to us as a county.”

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“William Rogers joined us on the evening of our birthday to tour the new facilities and to meet some of the many supporters of Spirit FM, a selection of whom have been supporting us from the very start. UKRD’s investment in Spirit FM has always been immense, not just financially in our new extension and redecoration, but in time spent making sure we are reaching our full potential as a station. During our birthday celebrations, William said ‘I am proud to see Spirit FM go from strength to strength, and it’s wonderful to see how the new look has turned out. Though the investment has been in the building, our real focus is on the people – it goes to show how much a great team can achieve together’.

“Having everyone gather to celebrate Spirit’s birthday means so much to me – and to all of us here at the station. To see people from days old and new gather together to reminisce, share stories, and have a tour of our fantastic revamped building was just fantastic.

There are too many people to thank, but you know who you are – and perhaps more important than anything, we’re thankful to our loyal listeners, without whom Spirit FM would not exist, let along be as successful as we are. Bring on the next 20 years – there are definitely some exciting times ahead!”

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