Break FM

By Tory Milne
BBC News Online Staff

Tory with three of Break FM's students

One of BBC News Online's staff recently spent a week helping to set up a community radio station in East London. Here, she tells of her experiences as a website author and journalism tutor for Break FM.

It is one of the hottest days of the year so far, and I've found myself lugging my overloaded work bag along a dual carriageway in Canning Town, east London.

It's hot, it's dusty, and I'm wondering what I've let myself in for.

I've been given a week off from my usual job at BBC News Interactive to help set up a radio station in the east London borough of Newham.

Deprivation

It's one of the most deprived areas of the country and has an unusually high percentage of young people, many of whom are out of work.

Break FM aims to give the local community a voice of its own, and to train young people so that they can run it themselves. Students have been taking courses in journalism, DJ-ing and presenting for some weeks now, ready for the final push for the station's launch on August 4th.

It's funded by a mixture of government funds and corporate sponsorship. The BBC's supporting it by sending along employees like me to share our knowledge and skills.

My task was to write the content for Break FM's new website and help teach their journalism class.

The radio station's offices are a council-owned terrace house next to the afore-mentioned dual carriageway. The premises didn't look too promising,

Preconceptions

I must admit that I had all sorts of stereotypes in my head about the kind of people I was going to meet and help teach.

They were all wrong.

Instead of finding a group of disaffected young people who were just taking the courses to fill in time, I found some immensely talented young people who were eager to learn and determined to succeed in their chosen career.

I spoke to a few of them about why they were getting involved.

18-year-old Sami Qasem has always been interested in radio. He left school at 16 and due to a lack of career advice, chose to do a BTEC in graphic design, as "it was the most creative thing I could think of". It was a friend of his mum's who introduced him to the station and training, and he got so involved that he now works for the company as a technical trainer. His friends are bemused by his success. "At first, they thought it was just a little a hobby of mine - but now, they're thinking - oh, maybe he's quite good!".

Leo Shagourie, 18, had to leave school without his GCSEs because of a disagreement over his options. So instead of following the traditional route, he went to college to study for an NVQ level 1 in childcare. Although he enjoys this and is now studying for level 2, he hasn't lost his passion for drama and music. His goal is to be an actor, and to combine that with work in the music industry. He hopes Break FM will give him the experience he needs to follow his dream. "I want to keep my options open", he says.

Harkamal Dhallu, 20, (or Kam for short) is determined to go against what she describes as "Asian society's norms", and work in the media. She says most people in her family work as lawyers, business people, pharmacists and doctors, but that she has always wanted to do something different. "I want to be the first person in my family or even street to work in the media. I want to be the first to break that mould".