Erewash Sound quite literally rides the airwaves for tenth anniversary

A local radio station kicked off tenth anniversary celebrations by presenting the Breakfast Show live from buses travelling throughout the Erewash borough.

Erewash Sound, a non-profit making organisation run almost entirely by a group of dedicated volunteers, began broadcasting full-time on 96.8 FM on 6th March 2010 from a former headmaster’s study at what was then Bennerley School in Cotmanhay near Ilkeston.  Programmes were launched from the former Ilkeston Co-op Buildings by locally renowned actor Robert Lindsay.

Ten years to the day, and in what is thought to be a ‘radio first’, on Friday 6th March 2020, from 7am, Breakfast Show presenter Paul Stacey was kitted out with his ‘radio in a box’, hopping on to his first bus in Cotmanhay,  Ilkeston near to where the studios are based.

He then travelled to Ilkeston, out to Spondon, along the Nottingham/Derby Road through the south of the borough to Draycott, Breaston, Sandiacre and Long Eaton, taking in as much as the borough as he possibly can until the show finished at 9:30am, interacting with fellow passengers and of course making sure he caught the connecting buses in time!   The team handed out free gingerbread men and cakes supplied by Stacey's Bakery in Ilkeston.

The unusual outside broadcast was set up to celebrate what is seen as a massive milestone of 10 years of broadcasting to the people of Erewash who have been a major reason that the station has remained on air for a decade.  

Speaking before the journeys were staged, Station Manager Jeff Martin, said: “It will be great to take the Breakfast Show on the buses and join our listeners on their Friday commute”.

Jeff Counsell, managing director at trentbarton, said: “Congratulations to Erewash Sound on its first decade on the airwaves.   We’re all looking forward to welcoming the Erewash Sound team on to our buses during the station’s big weekend.  Our drivers and their customers will give them a warm reception.”

Erewash Sound 10th anniversary celebrations are being sponsored by Ron Brooks Toyota in Ilkeston.