Canalside Community Radio - reflecting the views, opinions and values of the community, and raising awareness of issues affecting the community

Based in Bollington’s historic Clarence Mill, Canalside Community Radio is a local community radio station run largely by volunteers. It operates on a not-for-profit basis, has no shareholders, and is funded by grants and donations from sponsors.

Before successfully obtaining a five-year broadcast licence in 2008, CCR broadcast for the first time in May 2005 supporting the Bollington Festival. This was followed by two further one month broadcasts in December 2005 and December 2007.

All three of these initial broadcasts demonstrated the overwhelming need for a community radio station in North East Cheshire. The letters and emails that we received from our people in Macclesfield, Bollington, Tytherington, Prestbury, Rainow, Sutton, Wilmslow, Alderley, Poynton and the surrounding towns, village and hamlets formed an invaluable part of our licence application. We have a potential audience of over 70,000 listeners.

Our aim is to provide an enjoyable, professional listening experience whilst serving all sectors of the community. We promote community events and keep people informed with local issues and news. Our underlying ethos is to be accessible and beneficial to all, embracing all ages and interest groups.
It is a truly community-led venture providing a much needed voice for our community.

Our Mission

Canalside Community Radio aims to provide a voice for its community members to discuss issues that are important to them, whilst:

• Providing a quality information service free of charge on behalf of local community groups and services that would otherwise not be able to publicise themselves;
• Giving the opportunity for volunteers, students and others to gain access to training in radio and gain associated media skills;
• Being a radio station with a difference, reflecting the views, opinions and values of the community, and raising awareness of issues affecting the community;
• Being accessible to everyone in the community;
• Promoting and supporting all community events with outside broadcasts and coverage on shows;
• Providing programme content and music that caters for the needs and tastes of all sectors of the community;
• Embracing and strengthening the spirit of what is a caring and sharing local community.