Press Release issued: 26 May 2011.
Over 140 blind and partially sighted young Scots are to gain hands-on experience of radio-production with Insight Radio, the award-winning station of the Royal National Institute of Blind People.
Insight has received a £26,800 award from the Asda Foundation to provide training in all aspects of broadcasting. Most of the station's presenters and producers themselves have sight loss, including former 'Big Brother' contestant Mikey Hughes.
The two-week introductory training will cover recording and editing skills on industry-standard equipment, journalism, and experience of presenting shows and outside broadcasts.
The Asda Foundation, a charitable company set up to support good causes chosen by staff in Asda stores, will formally make the award this afternoon [Thursday, May 26] at the station's Glasgow base. Insight - Europe's first ever radio station for people who are blind or partially sighted - also has satellite studios in Edinburgh, Cardiff and London.
Ross Macfadyen, RNIB's head of radio services, said: "It was fantastic news to hear that Asda workers have chosen to give such a tremendous boost to our training academy for young people with sight loss.
"With radio you're shaping and presenting content to fit the demands of a purely sound medium - so people with sight loss are not so disadvantaged when producing for it. Indeed, they can often be more aware of the possibilities of how sound can convey moods, emotions and information.
"Last year for instance, Gary Moritz, one of our presenters, won a Finalist's Certificate in the New York Festivals International Radio Programming and Promotion Awards - despite having never worked in radio until a year ago.
"We've already trained a number of young people who are blind and partially sighted in radio production, giving them skills that are not just confined to this industry. This award from the Asda Foundation will allow us to help even more."
Staff from several local ASDA stores will be given a tour of the station before the formal cheque presentation. A spokesperson from the ASDA Foundation said: "We are always keen to support the work of colleagues across our stores, as they are at the heart of their local community. RNIB's Insight Radio training academy will improve the skills, confidence and life chances of young people with sight loss or visual impairment, and we look forward to involving our Scottish ASDA colleagues in this innovative project."
Presenter Mikey Hughes, who won national celebrity in 2008 as a 'Big Brother' contestant, lost his sight when he was 23. "Insight Radio gave me the opportunity to learn new skills and fulfil my potential," he said. "Had it not been for this, I probably still be on the scrapheap at home. So it's wonderful that more people with sight loss across the country will have the same chance as I did."
In 2007, Insight won a silver prize in the Sony Radio Academy Awards (the radio industry Oscars), receiving praise for "some of the most moving and well-produced human interest content the judges had heard in a long time."
The station, which now reaches over 140,000 listeners a week across the UK, broadcasts nationally via its website www.insightradio.co.uk and on Sky 0188 and Freesat 777. Listeners in Glasgow can also tune in on 101FM.