Going live - Newport City Radio

The station offers media training opportunities for young people

Young people from Newport are joining forces to give the city its own radio station for the month of February.

Newport City Radio will broadcast a mix of music, music, news, live bands, entertainment and more on 87.9 FM.

Dozens of volunteers are giving their time to keep the station on air with the aim of winning a full-time licence.

The station is part of the Urban Circle family of projects, a youth-led social enterprise offering broadcast media training to young people in Newport.

Urban Circle has already been operating an internet radio station as part of the training process for a number of years.

It previously broadcast on FM as Newport City Radio in July 2008.

Merlin Hayward, head of news said: "We are here to empower the people of Newport - to help them take better control of their lives, to help train them, and help campaign and provide through our service a better standard of living for all."

Staff and volunteers are also actively raising funds to keep the project going by selling advertising, applying for grants from sources including the Big Lottery, and staging fundraising parties.

Newport City Radio hopes to win a full time licence to broadcast to the city

Newport City Radio hopes to attract enough interest during its temporary FM broadcast to support its aim of winning a five-year, full-time licence from the media regulator Ofcom.

More than one hundred community radio stations are now on air across the UK, including GTFM near Pontypridd, Radio Cardiff, and BRFM in Brynmawr.

For more details see www.newportcityradio.org

Other radio stations and news providers in south east Wales