The National Youth Agency: Comment - Broadcast... yourself!

I was given a warm welcome at ICE FM - dubbed "Coventry's Frostiest Beats" - a detached radio project run by Coventry Youth Service. Young people from the Foleshill area have the opportunity to gain an accredited OCN qualification in broadcasting. This involves Ofcom regulations, planning, content creation and broadcast skills - all before the station goes on-air. The aim is that qualified young people will work as peer mentors to the next cohort, adding to the project's sustainability. The hard work paid off. I saw (and heard) a professional, slick operation. Saif, on-air during my visit, looked a natural; cueing music, linking to news and playing jingles while chatting to listeners - his own local community benefiting from their own radio station. The playlist included young local musicians and features, such as a programme on drugs, transmitted during the week-long Restricted Service Licence (RSL) broadcast. According to Ofcom, since 2004 youth oriented projects have been awarded 238 RSLs, which allow short-term broadcasts of up to four weeks.