School Farm Faversham
Personal Blog – Martin Thomas
Yes, Faversham has its very own radio station, and since 2021 it has been based at its own studios at the farm, so how did THAT happen? Well, Martin has long had interests in radio, and is likely to tell more about that in future blogs, but the basic story is that he was invited as a guest on one of the station’s programmes on a couple of occasions when it was based at the West Faversham Community Centre. However, the studio facilities there were very cramped and noisy, and then following a refit they became even more cramped and noisy, so he saw that the station could clearly do with something rather better.
Well, why not convert one of our stables for them? Although we had inherited an active use for them, we couldn’t find similarly reliable occupants once those tenants moved on, and we soon decided that we could enjoy a much more relaxed and less messy existence by putting the space to other uses – such as, in this case, a radio station!
There is perhaps a slight irony here, as the original intention was to get Martin (for better or worse) on the air more often. But there are only so many hours in the day, and he has instead found that of the people involved in the station, he has tended to draw the short straw when it comes to looking after its bureaucratic obligations, which has rather kept him away from the microphone. So to anyone who suggests that mindless bureaucracy does have its occasional benefits to society, he wishes to make clear that he couldn’t possibly comment.
Although from time to time we have wondered about obtaining a broadcast frequency, the station has streamed via the internet from the start, which means that in practice you can listen to it anywhere, as you can easily do from here just via this link. We broadcast a mixture of speech and music every day from 7am until midnight. Some of this is syndicated shows that are also offered to other stations, but we also have an increasing number of our own programmes that potentially cover a wide range of interests. Here’s the current schedule
And as well as this, we also hire ourselves out to provide PA coverage for many local events, of which the annual Pirates Festival is the latest example. These provide our main source of income, needed to cover overheads such as insurance and music royalties, and since we are all volunteers, we do manage to cover our costs.
The move marked an exciting new chapter for Radio Faversham, giving the volunteer-run station a permanent base right in the community it was created to serve. Radio Faversham gives local people a voice, with its presenters and volunteers sharing music, interviews, local events and the stories of the people, businesses and organisations that make Faversham