Tag: young people

by Jake Lindley

“The station is about giving a voice to the people of North Manchester.”

Young leader at the Factory Youth Zone and pupil at Manchester Communication Academy, Jake Lindley investigates the radio station based at his school.

I spoke to David Kay, 106.6 FM’s Station Manager, and we spoke about the radio and how it involved the community and how the location helped with the community.

My first question was, “Why did you start 106.6 FM?”

David stated, “I didn’t actually start it, it was started back in 2009. The whole idea of community radio is getting involved in the local community and sharing information. Radio is a way of doing that. The station here is about giving a voice to the people of North Manchester.” He then continued to talk about how he volunteered at a radio station at ALL FM for 15 years and that is how he got into doing voluntary work on the radio.

I then continued to say, “So how do you involve the community?”

David said, “Pretty much all our shows will promote what’s going on in the local community. And hopefully, this will encourage people to get more involved in their local community.” He also said that all radio presenters are volunteers and do the work out of there own time.

“So is that the difference between 106.6 and, say, BBC Radio One?”

“Yes, we are all presenters are volunteers whereas on other station the presenters are professionals paid to do it as a job. Having said that I know there are people who been volunteers on community radio and ended up getting paid work as presenters on other stations.”

I then asked David, “On most of your shows, what do you like to talk about?”

“We’ve got lots of different shows. It runs from seven in the morning until nine at night. For instance, on Wednesday we have a volunteering show which is all about opportunities for volunteers in Manchester. We also have a health show where we have someone talking about health issues in North Manchester. And we have an older people’s show.”

David then continued to say that this week the presenters talked about veganism as it’s World Vegan Day and about credit unions and dementia cafes.

I then wanted to know more about why they put the radio in MCA (Manchester Communication Academy) so I asked and David said, “ I don’t know the answer to that. When I joined 18 months ago the station had just moved from the Manchester College at Central Park. And I guess the school, being a communication academy and being very active in the community, thought it would be a good fit to have the station here.”

I next spoke to Natalie Walsh, Community Radio Trainer and Volunteer Co-ordinator and we talked about the volunteering course that is running at 106.6FM and I asked her, “Why did she start the volunteering course?”

Then she state, “We were looking at ways where we could engage with the local people from Moston and Harpurhey.”

“So who can attend the volunteering course?”

“Over 18s and initially anyone who lives in Harpurhey and Moston but we’ve now stretched it out to the surrounding area too.

“The course has already started and will be every Tuesday morning for six weeks. Then on the 5th December, we’ll do a live outside broadcast. If anyone one is interested they can still join in, just get in touch with 106.6FM quickly!”

I then went on to ask, “Why did you start the course?”

Natalie answered, “Well, we need more volunteers and it’s about giving local people new skills and opportunities.”

Natalie then talked about the live show on 5th December between 10-12 at Harpurhey Market near Asda. It’s the first time it’s been done there. 106.6FM encourage people to come down on the day to be interviewed live.

I and Natalie then continued to talk about Forever Manchester and how important it is to 106.6FM. “Our course is funded by Forever Manchester and without them, we couldn’t run it. It’s key to our sustainability.”

If you would like to start on the volunteering course you still can! Just phone Natalie (0161 205 7600) or email natalie@northmanchester.fm

If you want to get in contact with the radio:

Phone: 0161 205 7600
Email: info@northmanchester.fm
Website: www.northmanchester.fm
Twitter: @normanfm1066
Facebook: NMFM 106.6fm

Photos by Jake Lindley and Len Grant

by Tricia Beddow

“I want everyone to take part and be proud of the end result.”

I’m going to a cooking session at The Miners Community Arts and Music Centre, on Teddington Road in Moston.

I’m early so owner Louis shows me around. There’s a cafe, indoor and outdoor seating areas, function room with stage, a cinema – with proper cinema seats – spacious art room and now he’s creating a recording studio. It’s amazing.

The session has already started as I’m welcomed and offered a seat. Cracking Good Food chef Maz Linford sweeps in and everyone else sweeps into action. Table cloths, cutting boards, knives, pans, aprons, bowls, graters and more seem to appear from nowhere. I’m in a scene from a Disney film!

We’re learning to make a sauce from scratch. We get chopping, grating and slicing and two hours fly before our dishes of cauliflower cheese and stuffed mushrooms are popped into the oven.

As it’s cooking everyone sets about scooping up dishes, bowls, pans, knives and utensils which are washed, dried and stored away in flash.

The whole session has been relaxed and informal. Maz is cheerful and upbeat and effortlessly includes everyone while teaching new skills.

The food is lovely and, as it’s quickly polished off, I’m struck by the smiling faces of young and not so young, all sharing an experience.

“There are two sides to Cracking Good Food,” Maz explains as everyone drifts off and I help with the last of the tidying. “Part of the time we run paid-for cookery classes for the general public – I teach Sushi, Thai and Vietnamese – and the rest of the time, when we can get funding, we teach community cookery lessons, like the one we’ve just done.”

The Fourteen Programme, I know, has funded these sessions at The Miners.

“We’ve had longer projects with housing associations, food banks, and charities that support homeless people,” continues Maz. “For instance, young homeless people often have a lot of issues around eating. It’s a challenge but that’s what makes it interesting.

“Essentially, we want people to eat better food, cook vegetables, cook from scratch and actually enjoy it, realise it’s a part of their wellbeing. Food is here to look after us and nurture us but it can also be fun and sociable.”

I’ve seen that Maz is very comfortable in front of a class of eager learners. “Where does all this knowledge and experience comes from?” I ask.

“I’ve worked for big restaurant chains and trained teams who will be running restaurants. When I’m teaching in communities it’s really important for me that everyone has a voice, everyone has some input. We all have some relationship to food. So it’s okay not to like, say, mushrooms, the important thing is being able to express your likes and dislikes.

“I tend not to follow recipes as it puts people off and I avoid things like, ‘now lets learn how to chop really safely’. I try to bring a mixture of skills like mashing, grating and chopping so that everyone can join in. I want everyone to be included, take part and be proud of the end result.”

“What I love about coming here is it’s totally intergenerational. The young people get to spend time with the older people and they are all as capable as each other. I recently learned from some older ladies how to peel with a spoon – they found it easier to manage than a knife. It works and I love it!”

Maz is one of a team of like-minded cooks and chefs from Cracking Good Food. Her passion for sharing her skills and beliefs about food was infectious. Here’s their website.

by Len Grant

“What inspired you to become a youth worker?”

We had our blogging workshop for young people at The Factory Youth Zone in Harpurhey last night. Teenagers from The Factory and 4CT in East Manchester came together for a writing and photography session led by Another Music’s resident blogger, Len Grant.

After practicing some interview techniques the young people enjoyed interviewing their own youth workers, Ellie and Jenna, quizzing them about their professional and personal lives.

They then used Len’s professional camera to take portraits, thinking about composition, the background and where the light was coming from.

These are the young people’s blogs and photographs:

Ellie

Ellie started childminding and youth working when she was 17 and worked with children with English as second language when she was 18. She ran a playgroup for young refugees from Germany. She’s worked at The Factory for two years.

She was inspired by her teachers to help children and young people.

She enjoys horror movies and likes dogs because they are friendly and make her happy.

Her favourite memory of The Factory is the Slip ‘n’ Slide!Jenna

When she was younger there wasn’t much for her to do but she did go to her local youth centre. As she grew older she realised the impact of the youth centre and that has inspired her to be a youth worker.

Jenna works for 4CT with young people aged 11-14 in East and North Manchester.

She likes the variety in her job, every day is different. She dislikes not having enough time to do everything she wants to do and her biggest challenge is being restricted by budgets.

One of her favourite accomplishments was helping with safety and security after a fire in a hostel she was living in.

She lives in Levenshulme and is going on holiday tomorrow.

Well done to Angel, Courtney, Nessa, Rikaya, Lewis, Jessica and Connor from 4CT (and thanks to Noreen); and to Jak, Jake, Karl and Katlyn from The Factory Youth Zone.