Last updated at 16:55, Thursday, 11 October 2012

A COLLEGE radio is bidding to secure an FM licence so it can become a community station.

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Cando FM, which is based at Furness College, in Barrow, is aiming to win a community FM radio licence so it can broadcast across the town.

Furness College creative media tutor, Jonny Williams, who leads the station, will submit the application to Ofcom, with support from the college, during the next six to eight weeks as the deadline falls in January.

Cando FM was established in 2010 after Mr Williams was inspired by a conference demonstrating how radio stations can inspire young people to get involved in technology.

Students and ex-students work as a team to plan, script, present and produce the shows which are broadcast in college and also online at www.candofm.com.

Next week Cando FM will be broadcast live from 9am to 5pm from Big Bang Cumbria, a science and engineering fair for young people, being held in Carlisle on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The £44m transformation of Furness College campus includes new radio and broadcast facilities in the refurbished Learning Resource Centre building, which is opening to students from next month.

Radio stations apply and renew licences every five years, and Mr Williams has said Ofcom has identified Barrow as an area where it would like a community radio station to be based.

The teams plans to work with the wider community to run the station.

Mr Williams, a finalist in the CN Group Education and Learning Awards – known as the Golden Apples – for his work on the radio station, said: “We are working on our application and we will be submitting it to Ofcom within the next six to eight weeks.

“This is a hugely exciting opportunity. This would be a community station for the people of Barrow, not just the college. We want people from the area to get involved.”

He said the radio station creates real learning opportunities that develop from the day to day operation.

Mr Williams said it boosts collaborative working, decision making, problem solving, and it instills a sense of ownership in its members.

First published at 16:16, Thursday, 11 October 2012
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk