Inspiration FM is a

community radio Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial broadcasting, commercial and public broadcasting. Community broadcasting, Community stations serve geographic communities and communities o ...

station based in

Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...

, England. It is a community led and managed radio service, providing access, information, entertainment and training, and encourages and promotes a voice for those who are under-represented or socially excluded to provide an outlet for creativity, shared vision and expression. The station broadcasts from its studios in Northampton town centre. The transmitter for a low-powered transmitter was located offsite at the University of Northampton campus, to north of the town. The transmitter has more recently moved to Goodwill Solutions CIC building on Moulton Park Industrial Estate and then on the roof of Northampton Fire Station. From September 2024, Inspiration FM began broadcasts on DAB+, via the shared NN multiplex.

History

The roots of Inspiration FM are as a

pirate radio Pirate radio is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license, whether an invalid license or no license at all. In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are rec ...

station, that first started broadcasting in 1994 as a result of collaboration between young men and women of African Caribbean descent who shared a passion for music, dance and communication. The "Inspiration Family" as they have become known, identified the needs of the diverse

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

communities who were under-represented in media. Programmes on this community radio station are multicultural and tailored to reflect its mainly Punjabi, African and Irish listeners. Working with organisations including local councils, the Council for Ethnic Minority Communities and the Black Policeman’s Association means that this project has moved beyond negative images and now creates positive role models for all young people. With over 60 volunteers and eight committee members, weekends and evenings are spent working with others, especially young people, encouraging them to use their spare time in a positive constructive manner. Inspiration FM's first legal broadcast was from 18 November to 15 December 1996 on a 28-day Restricted Service Licence (RSL) and since then it has been on-air on a total of 15 RSLs. A show for the Greek community was added to the station's line up in 1997, the first and only show of its kind outside London, and the station was included among the limited number of RSL stations who were allowed to broadcast during the

Millennium A millennium () is a period of one thousand years, one hundred decades, or ten centuries, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting ...

celebrations. In 2000 Inspiration FM's Mark Dean was approached by

BBC Radio Northampton BBC Radio Northampton is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Northamptonshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios on Abington Street in Northampton. According to RAJAR, the station has a we ...

's Editor about presenting a programme to reach all sectors of the community and the show Inspirations was formed. With Marks strong links within the community the Inspirations Show has been going strong covering hard hitting local and international news, and guest stars like

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most Cultural impact of Beyoncé, ...

. The Somali community show began in 2003 and a Polish community show was included in 2007 to cater for the large influx of Poles to Northampton after Poland joined the EU in 2004. In 2004 the organisation was awarded the Queen's golden jubilee award for voluntary service by groups in the community. On 24 July 2008 Inspiration FM was awarded a 5-year community radio licence by

Ofcom The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, internet, telecommunications and mail, postal industries of the United Kingdom. Ofcom has wide-rang ...

and began 24/7 broadcasts when it was officially opened by Northampton Mayor Marianne Taylor on Saturday, 24 July 2010. DJ Mkhukhwini became a regular guest on

BBC Radio 1Xtra BBC Radio 1Xtra is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts Black music and urban music, including hip hop and R&B and is a sister station to Radio 1. Launching at 18:00 on 16 August 2002, it had been ...

after he was spotted presenting the African community show on Inspiration FM since 2011. Jason D Lewis Fri 8-11 pm featured on CapitalXtra in the Guest Mix on Robert Bruce's Homegrown 4-7 pm show on Saturday 16 March 2019

Programmes

Broadcasts from Inspiration FM's studios in Sheep Street Northampton include popular genres like R&B,

Reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

, Rap,

Funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

Dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

, Old Skool,

Soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in African-American culture, African-American African-American neighborhood, communities throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Catchy rhythms, stressed by handclaps ...

, Asian, African,

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and Irish Folk music, the local Band Review Show on a Wednesday evening, and a regular Children's show on Saturday mornings. Programming is aimed at representing areas of the community that are currently under-represented by mainstream radio, this includes the Afro-Caribbean, Irish and Asian although many more are also represented including Children. The policy of "Inspiration FM"

Multi-Cultural Multiculturalism is the coexistence of multiple cultures. The word is used in sociology, in political philosophy, and colloquially. In sociology and everyday usage, it is usually a synonym for ''ethnic'' or cultural pluralism in which various e ...

in its programming – for the people, by the people. On Fridays, 6-8 pm ''The Dance Music show with Mark Manning'' supported by Gehric Barreau of GT-Systems. Jason D Lewis Friday 8-11 pm plays new Hip Hop, Rap, UK, RnB, Dancehall and Afrobeats. Jason D Lewis featured on Capital Xtra in the Guest Mix on Robert Bruce's Homegrown 4-7 pm show on Saturday 16 March 2019. The boys in blue is a radio show that is broadcast from 7-9 am on Saturdays. It features Kieron Lawson as main-host/cohost, Edi Page as cohost and Richard Bushnall who also features as a cohost. It also sometimes has guests such as Heath, Whittaker, and Leon. Despite being called the boys in blue, only two of the hosts are fans of teams in blue (Kieron lawson being a Everton fan and Richard Bushnall being a Chelsea fan), Edi page (and frequently appearing guest Leon) are both Manchester United fans, Whittaker is a Liverpool fan and Heath is a Newcastle fan. This variety of teams being supported on the show means that some shenanigans take place.

Activities

Inspiration FM is a major sponsor of the Northampton Carnival and one of Inspiration FM's founding members Mark Dean sits on the organising committee. Inspiration FM produces the "Inspirations" Afro-Caribbean Show for

.BBC Radio Northampton website
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Inspiration Fm Entertainment in Northampton Radio stations in Northamptonshire Former pirate radio stations Community radio stations in the United Kingdom Radio stations established in 1994