Vectis Radio is a

community radio Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial and public broadcasting. Community stations serve geographic communities and communities of interest. They broadcast content that is popular ...

station in Newport on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

. The station launched as an online-only station on 23 January 2010 and began broadcasting on FM on 4 November 2017. Vectis Radio transmits on FM from Newport Golf Club.

History

Vectis Radio was founded in 2010 when Ian Mac created a studio for broadcast from

The Quay Arts The Quay Arts Centre is located at the head of the River Medina, in Newport in the centre of the Isle of Wight. It is the island's leading art gallery and venue for live events. The complex features three art galleries, a crafts shop, a 134 ca ...

Centre in Newport. Described as a "broom cupboard", the team of presenters, less than ten in number, then moved to locations such as St Georges Park and studios in Crocker Street and West Street, Newport respectively. They moved into their current home at The Riverside Centre in Newport in 2013. The station's slogan fits inline with their community outreach, as a station 'for the people, by the people'. In 2017, Vectis Radio became a

Community Interest Company A community interest company (CIC, colloquially pronounced "kick") is a type of company introduced by the United Kingdom government in 2005 under the Companies (Audit, Investigations and Community Enterprise) Act 2004, designed for social ente ...

FM launch

The station applied in October 2015 to

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

after the regulators welcomed bids for FM broadcasting by

stations in the South of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. The license was granted in June 2016. A crowdfunding period then began to fund Vectis Radio's aim to go to FM broadcasting - launched on air by Manager Ian Mac. Enough funding was secured by this process and by other means to begin the work. In the meantime marketing drive began to promote the Vectis Radio name in time for the FM launch. The station began broadcasting on FM 104.6 on 4 November 2017. The launch took place at their studio in The Riverside Centre, Newport. 4Ps student and presenter Hannah Barker was selected to press the button that commenced transmissions.

The 4Ps Project

In 2012 the station launched a teaching program called The 4Ps Project for people aged 11 – 19 (and up to 25 with additional needs). The project covers four ingredients the station deems required for radio broadcasting: Presenting, Producing, Podcasting and Promoting. The aim of the scheme is to give people the opportunity to broadcast on a local radio station, and to give members and students a chance to put a skill on their CV. In 2018, Vectis Radio won a bronze award at the

Community Radio Awards The Community Radio Awards are an accolade bestowed upon creatives in the community sector of broadcast radio in the United Kingdom. The awards showcase the work of community radio volunteers. History The Community Radio Awards were founded ...

for the project in the Community Development Project of the Year category. The station also picked up a Highly Commended award in the Business in the Community category at the 2019 Isle of Wight Chamber Of Commerce awards. The station gained another Bronze for its 4Ps project and a Silver Sage award in the Community Radio Awards in October 2019. In 2021, the station won two gold prizes: for Community Development Project of the Year and the Sage Award for Kelvin Currie.

References

External links

* {{coord missing, Isle of Wight Community radio stations in the United Kingdom Radio stations established in 2010 2010 establishments in the United Kingdom Radio stations in the Isle of Wight