Maryborough finally receives its Community Radio Station.
After a very long battle of five years Goldfields FM gained a Temporary Community Broadcasting Licence, began test broadcasts at 10.00 a.m. on 31st January, 2007 and began broadcasting live on the 19th February, 2007.
Our studios were built in record time (1 week), and everything completed ready to go to air within 1 month. We have two operating studios, main office, reception area plus kitchen and bathroom facilities.
It was a very nervous time for all concerned, as our 100 foot pole was assembled in place just 24 hours before going to air, with only some minor earthing problems to sort out.
Our first day was an interesting one to say the least, no air conditioning, no fans and fading away to a shadow with the heat. At this time there were only four qualified presenters to go to air. We had an open day in early February with 400 plus people coming through the station with further forty degree heat to cope with. Cool drinks were the hit of the day. One lady came into the studio and commented on how hot it was. The next morning she and her husband came in and donated the money to buy a split system air conditioner for Studio 1. It hasn’t been turned off since!
After two months of training we had a total of 20 brand new presenters. After 6 months we had 60 qualified presenters and within 12 months we had 80 programs on air.
Goldfields FM caters for everyone, young, old, the disabled, ethnic and indigenous. Our youngest presenter is 11 years of age and our eldest turned 78 years of age this year.
The station has expanded a lot since the “early days” so much so that the station will be relocating into a Community Hub with four studios - two on air and two production studios, a large reception area, a Board/Meeting room, a library and the Managers will no longer have to sit on each others laps with larger offices. Whoopee. We are also planning to have an office specifically for our Sponsorship Manager to enable him to have privacy when speaking with potential sponsors. The area we will be moving into is approximately four times larger than our present premises. This will all be taking place during 2009. Busy times ahead.
Our committees have also been working very hard and are doing a great job with production, programming and fundraising. We hold regular production, programming and fundraising meetings. Our young presenters have recently formed their own committee and are planning to hold a youth concert early in the New Year.
We are fortunate to have wonderful support from the community including the Shire Council, Rotary Club, Highland Society, Lions Club and the Apex Club without whose support we would not exist today.
We also have a number of very enthusiastic sponsors and we are very grateful for their support.
Goldfields FM is very proud of all of our wonderful volunteers who have assisted us during the past 22 months. Their efforts are very much appreciated.
The Management team were invited to attend a conference at the Maryborough Education Centre (M.E.C.) along with other organisations from our area. We were asked what we could do for the younger generation. We had a wonderful outcome for our station at this meeting and it resulted in us not finishing our dinner – it was like bees around the honey pot!! We are now working very closely with the M.E.C. to provide a service and train students undertaking media studies. These students are currently presenting our Friday afternoon Community Hour. We have had further discussions with the staff at M.E.C. and this program is set to expand next year.
We are very fortunate to be working with our local unemployed folk who have been a wonderful asset to the station. With constant supervision and training their increased self esteem and confidence has enabled six participants to gain full employment during the past eight months. We are very proud of their achievements and wish them well for the future.
We have had many fundraising activities with our first functions being several Trivia evenings and some country music concerts. We currently have a Movie Club with over 80 members and the Goldfields FM Radio Country Music Club which has a similar membership. Our total membership has increased to 353 members which is great for a small radio station which is still on a T.C.B.L. We have monthly activities for the Film Club; as an example, we held a movie week to celebrate Senior Citizens Week during October. It was a great success with over 1,000 people attending. The Movie Club is going from strength to strength with our Movie club activities playing to full houses. All fundraising activities are very well attended and we keep the costs to a minimum.
It has been a very busy but rewarding time and we look forward to our station’s continued success in the years to come.
Allen May, Jan Tribe,
STATION MANAGERS.