ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

People felt the Oldhams area of Bolton had a bad image, so arm's-length management organisation Bolton at Home and the residents' association set up a community radio station. Radio Oldhams is broadcast from the Oldhams estate but it means residents' voices can be heard over a large area of Bolton.

We did the first broadcast for three days in September 2002 and it was very popular, so we did it again for three days last month.

It was pretty straightforward to organise the training and the radio licence, but clearing performance rights for music is a minefield, and getting funding for the first broadcast was a nightmare.

It took 14 months but finally we got £4500 from Bolton at Home's Percentage For Arts budget, matched by £4500 from the European Social Fund, because we were training local people.

The second time, we got £4000 of neighbourhood renewal money.

We hired the equipment from a local charity, Bolton Market Radio, which also provided training and technical support. The transmitter and studio were in a room at the housing office.

Local people hosted all the shows. We had a range of presenters, from nine-year-olds to "DJ grannies". There was music, interviews and pre-recorded items about local issues. It went down well – the station received more than 100 phone calls a day.

As a result, one of our residents now works for Bolton Market Radio and another does hospital radio. Last month, the original presenters trained the new ones. In total, 14 adults and 16 children learned to speak on the radio, organise interviews and use the equipment. I hope, the next time we do it, we'll get even more.