CELEBRATIONS were in order as broadcasting for the town’s radio station BridportFM wrapped up in style.

The station had a week on the airwaves from Monday, September 15, and daily shows could be heard from 9am to 9pm on 87.7FM or online until Sunday.

And the fun didn’t stop there, as a week of successful community broadcasting was rounded off with a live broadcast of band The Sidekicks performing at the Bridport Arts Centre last Sunday at 7pm.

Together with this was a celebration of the week and interviews with residents, organisers and guests telling of their favourite parts of the week.

The idea for a one-week radio debut came from a pilot radio week in the town back in 2012.

The broadcasting of BridportFM last week marked the culmination of a 10-month community project which offered volunteers free training in programme making, interview techniques, presenting and broadcasting skills.

Kate Wilson, Bridport Arts Centre learning co-ordinator, said: “BridportFM has been absolutely fantastic and we’ve been delighted with the quality of the shows.

“The live broadcast of The Sidekicks was brilliant and there was a real feeling of celebration. We’ve had approximately 200 people involved with BridportFM and it was fantastic that so many of them also wanted to be at the final broadcast.

“Everyone involved has worked hard producing shows that highlight the variety of life in Bridport. We received a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund which has enabled all of this to happen; and we are incredibly grateful.

“We’ve had shows exploring the cultural history of Bridport, including organisations like the Film Society and the Bridport Pantomime Players.

“Thank you to everyone who have made BridportFM what it is. Without the variety and interesting stories of local people it wouldn’t have got so far.

“BridportFM really is a local radio station for local people.”

Running all last week between 10am and 11am there has been an hour-long magazine style show, ‘Good Morning Bridport’, with music, interviews and local news.

A variety of local themes have been discussed – from education to housing, charity shops to book groups.

Kate Wilson added: “We would love to do something like this again and the response we have had from the week on air is that the Bridport community really do enjoy listening to local radio.

“There’s a lot of scope to make this an annual event and we hope that more and more people can get involved.”

All of the shows broadcast can be downloaded from bridport-arts.com/bridport-fm until mid-October.