CUMBRIA charities are backing a campaign to protect TV and radio services in the area amidst threat of closure.

Local organisations including Cumbria Community Foundation and Age UK West Cumbria have backed up a campaign to protect aerial TV services and broadcast radio.

Broadcast 2040+ is a new campaign, which aims to protect vital TV and radio services for everyone – including the elderly and vulnerable people that rely on them the most – until 2040 and beyond.

Next year, an international conference will decide whether to safeguard the radiofrequency spectrum used to deliver these services. The campaign calls on the UK Government to ensure that the international decision does not negatively impact the services relied on by the people of Cumbria.

Broadcast 2040+ is a coalition of organisations across the UK, including Age UK, Silver Voices, the Rural Services Network and broadcast infrastructure company, Arqiva.

Andy Beeforth OBE, chief executive of Cumbria Community Foundation, said: "Protecting people's access to free to view and listen services is vital in a county like Cumbria where we have large numbers of vulnerable people who live alone. Many of our older residents rely on local radio and TV to stay connected."

Shuja Khan, CEO of Arqiva and member of the Broadcast 2040+ coalition, said: "Broadcast TV and radio are part of the daily routine of tens of millions of people across the UK – nine out of ten adults listen to radio at least once a week and nearly half the households in the UK access television through an aerial. 

"These services bind us together as people, whether it is through national moments that matter like the Queen's State Funeral and Jubilee or celebrating national success like the Women’s Euro Final.

"Now is a critical moment to guarantee them for the long-term. The Government is only committed to these services until the early 2030s. On questions of critical national infrastructure, that is closer than it seems."