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Name: James Wooding Time as a presenter: 4 years Hobbies/interests: Radio Presenting, Drama, Acting, Singing, Music What sparked your interest in community radio? I have always had an interest in …

I love the fact that HCR gives me the opportunity to talk to people about the work I do, to give health and wellbeing tips and information, and to invite other therapists and practitioners on to my show to talk about what they do. It’s all about spreading information I think. I’ve invited my grandchildren on one show and they had a great time. I do feel much more confident talking to people about what I do and who I am now.

The radio station has given me so much more confidence, I was very quiet and knew few people before I was introduced to the station. I have met lots of new friends. I feel it gives me something to look forward to each week and I get so much of a buzz doing the show. I also feel it helps my mental health and wellbeing and I feel I have people I can talk to rather just my family.

Being at HCR had a wonderfully positive impact on my life. Without a doubt, having the experience on my CV helped me to get into my chosen career path as a journalist and gave me the confidence to pursue new things in my job such as podcasting and presenting. I would recommend the experience to any students looking to get into the media industry or to anyone who simply wants to try something new, build their confidence or find a platform for a cool idea – HCR gives you the opportunity and the freedom to do it.

I started at HCR as a presenter, but found that I rather more enjoyed the technical aspect of the station, which encouraged me to pursue a technical career! I’ve since returned to the station as the Station Engineer, and I love trying to make the facilities at HCR the best they can be for the presenters, musicians and production teams here.

At the time I was trying to get as much radio experience as possible to get into the industry. Halton FM (as it was called back then!!) provided me with my first experience of doing a live daily radio show, driving my own desk by myself. This experience was invaluable. At the time the station was using the latest playout system that commercial stations were using, Myriad, so when I eventually did get shows on commercial stations, I knew exactly what I was doing.

Presenting on HCR had a huge impact on my life. My confidence and communication skills improved greatly. I couldn’t believe I’d found something that my peers thought I was good at. It gave me something to talk about on my university applications and the confidence to move away from home. It’s given me a joyous hobby when I’ve had terrible jobs and a career I love in the local VCSE sector. My life would be completely different if I hadn’t gotten involved.