Two Rivers Radio is a community radio station which broadcasts online only, although we will look to acquire an FM and/or DAB community licence when the opportunity arises. Organisationally, we are a constituted community group and currently we have a management committee of five individuals - none related to one another or that are living together. We are dedicated to opening up access to media
production to those that may otherwise not have the opportunity and to providing unique content to our listeners, providing stories and information for minority and marginalised groups as well as groups with niche interests that are not served by existing local services. Two Rivers Radio is wholly participatory and we encourage members of the community to present and/or produce shows irrespective of previous radio experience. Our volunteers include people who have been lifelong media professionals through to others who had never set foot inside a studio prior to joining us. Between September '17 and April '19 we would broadcast every Monday from the Corner Pin public house in York city centre. We would only broadcast for 10 hours a week, but during this time we worked with 40 volunteers and produced in excess of 600 hours of unique, grass-roots radio. Our website is currently offline for redevelopment, but you can find us here on Facebook and on Twitter or Instagram using the handle . Please find our archive here: https://www.mixcloud.com/TwoRiversRadio_York/
Two Rivers Radio has carried regular programmes produced by and for members of the BAME and LGBTQ communities within the city, 'Glass Half Full' which was a programme looking at the positive news and developments in climate science, 'Yor Living Well' which was a show about health, lifestyle and wellbeing and many other shows ranging from Poetry and Fine Art to Local History, Politics and Current Affairs as well as UK Wrestling and more. Of course, we also champion local and unsigned music as well as specialist programmes on genres under-represented in mainstream radio. When we relaunch later this year we hope that many of these programmes will return and we expect that there will be many more new ones launching alongside. Further to our regular weekly broadcasts we would promote and cover local community events including the famous Bishy Road Street Party, Dyls Party in the Park, and a number of charity fundraising events for IDAS and Macmillan at the Lendal Cellars. Twice we acquired a short-term restricted service licence to broadcast live to from Staxtonbury Music Festival - bringing the sounds of the festival, unique interviews and intimate acoustic sessions to the ears of those on the campsite and surrounding area on FM. Two Rivers Radio has been off-air since April 2019 when we decided to take a break and plan a relaunch. We had hoped to relaunch in 2020 and to open a café which would have provided the radio station with a reliable source of ongoing funding. Clearly, what with 2020 being the year it was that plan has been shelved. Currently we are fundraising for a modular building and are in the process of finding a home for it. This will mean that we have access to a permanent studio space and we will be able to relaunch, offering the people of York a 27/7 365 service. We firmly believe that with the homogenisation of commercial radio and the defunding of local BBC Radio, along with new national broadcast media outlets making a lurch to the right there is a significant threat to local news-gathering and more broadly a threat to democracy. This is why all areas of the UK need to have community radio stations that will not simply pump out pop-music and 'presenter banter', but will talk about the issues affecting their listeners' lives, investigating stories and enabling the community to be the change they want to see in their local area. Please check out the links below if you would like to support us or get involved:
Keep in touch: https://mailchi.mp/2d8019cc5c00/tworiversradio
Get involved: https://forms.gle/NMzEaz3J1cKrfrNr7
Support us: gf.me/u/zdv2j5
