A new community radio station is helping keep Dumbarton and the Vale entertained during lockdown – with founders now hoping it’ll become a permanent feature on the airwaves.
Pals Alan Caldwell and Paul Lucas set up Leven Lockdown Radio to fill a gap they spotted for truly local radio in the area, and it proved so popular that they are now planning to keep it running under the River Radio name after lockdown.
Paul, who lives in Beechwood, said: “Myself and Alan are very surprised by how quickly it’s taken off. It’s been kind of fast and furious.
“It was initially set up just for the lockdown, but what it has done is really grown in popularity and shows the need for a community radio station in the area.
“We’re opening up to the world, although it says Balloch, Alexandria and Dumbarton in our advert we’re obviously serving a much bigger area than that because it’s internet based we get listeners from all over the world.
“It’s really taken off.
“We opened up a competition to rename it and settled on River Radio. We’ve got a license to play music for a year so we’ll keep it going and see where that takes us.”
Paul is keen for the radio station to act as a platform for both local acts and budding presenters, with anyone able to get in touch to try their hand at becoming the next Terry Wogan or Zoe Ball.
Paul continued: “What it has highlighted is local people with a talent – Jim Smart, Emily Fraser, Alana Wright these kind of people.
“We’ve opened up to anyone, and said if you want to have a go then you are more than welcome to be involved.
“There are a lot of people who would maybe like to present on radio, so we’re given them an opportunity and we’re giving local people the opportunity to showcase their talents to the community.
“There are young musicians out there and the talent that we have in the local area is phenomenal. We’re now giving it the opportunity to get some exposure.”
However, both Paul and Alan are determined that the radio will remain community based – staffed by volunteers who are entertaining audiences for the love of it.
“It’s something that’s been missing, we don’t have a community radio station,” he continued.
“It’s not about making money, don’t get me wrong we could do with donations to help with things like buying a couple of jingles, but nobody is doing this for money.
“It’s all about having fun and giving something back.
“We want to get more local people involved and get people talking about the things that are important to them.”
You can tune in to Leven Lockdown radio at http://levenlockdownradio.online/.
