It’s Official – we can now tell you about our “Be Heard!” grant…….

Voice FM is thrilled to be one of the successful stations receiving first-round grants as part of the Victorian Coalition Government’s Be Heard! program.  Our application to fund our “KOTA Project” is on the way.

For those who don’t know this project started with the “Supporting Community Issues” a joint project run by ACU and UB.  From the many opportunities to work with various community groups, Voice FM had four 3rd year teacher students from ACU put their hand up to work with us.  From our first meeting when we discussed various options they undertook to write a program to assist us in our endeavours to engage education facilities.  The result was a complete package for Voice FM and Teachers.  The students, Matthew Hoey, Paul McAloon, Mark Tanis and Rowan Walker called the project “KOTA” Kids On The Air.

The package prepared by Mat, Paul, Mark and Rowan streamlines what Voice FM has to do.  It is written by student teachers in a way that engages teachers to understand why this is such a great project and how it can be implemented in their classrooms and schools.  It links to the Victorian Essential Learning Standards (VELS) at level 3, students “Civics and Citizenship”, “Interpersonal Development” and “English”.

The KOTA project has been written specifically to give children the opportunity to experience how a radio station works and to work with Voice FM to develop, produce and record their own radio show.  This program will provide children with an insight into the world of radio broadcasting that they would not have otherwise had, giving them a taste of the work involved and providing them with realistic expectations of a career in radio.

An integral part of this project is the refurbishing of our old caravan and a Merlin 8 mixer has been purchased and our fabulous volunteer technicians have installed the mixer which will be used for the first time at Harmony Fest 2012 Ballarat.

The Voice FM team look forward to working with schools located in the Ballarat Region initially and assuming a successful outcome of the pilot project we hope to include schools within the Central Highlands Region.

Harmony Fest 2012 – Outside Broadcast

The Voice FM Team will be part of Harmony Fest this year with an Outside Broadcast from Camp Street from 4pm through to 8.30pm on Friday the 10th February 2012.

If you are also going to be participating in this colourful cultural celebration then please get in contact with the station.  We can arrange an interview to help promote your participation or produce a community service announcement.

All the details for you to contact us are on our Contact page.  Send us an email, give us a call on 03 5333 1201 or call into the Station at 15 Dawson St South.

 

Voice FM wins Multicultural Award for Excellence

On Wednesday November 14th, Helen Bath, Tully Smith, Charles Zhang and Robert Bath all went to Government House Melbourne for the Victorian Multicultural Awards for Excellence.

We are thrilled to announce that Voice FM won an award in the category of Service Delivery to Multicultural Victoria in the Media field! Helen Bath accepted the award on behalf of Voice FM and it was presented by Premier Ballieu.

A very exciting event for Voice FM – it has been brought about by a range of our volunteers, in particular those who present our ten ethnic programs. We hope to introduce more in the new year as both our local community and the station expands in diversity.

Voice FM Christmas Special Effort Drawn

The Voice FM Christmas Special Effort was drawn by Jilly Bruce on Tuesday 20th December at 2:10pm.

The winners are listed below:

1st Prize: Marlene Plater

2nd Prize: A. Boatman

3rd Prize: Dot Wallis

4th Prize: M. Gull

5th Prize: Rose and Bill

6th Prize: Annie Wybenga

7th Prize: Judy O’Donnful

8th Prize: George Grinos

9th Prize: A. Wade

10th Prize: Judy Miller

11th Prize: Rex Braddy

12th Prize: Marg Hendy

 

Congratulations to all winners! Prizes can be collected from the station during business hours, or other arrangements can be made by contacting the station.

A HUGE THANKYOU to everybody who purchased tickets and donated prizes. The money raised will make a big difference to Voice FM.

We’re thrilled to have been a small part of an amazing fundraising event.

OK – we are going to boast a little and also add our “Thanks” to the many people who helped Ruth and the team of CIKA Bike Riders raise $7,200 this year.  That doesn’t mean that you can’t still add to the fundraising.  Here is a link to the full report from the team on their great achievement this year.  Make sure you read all the way to the bottom of the page as it starts with the lovely photo and article in the Courier through to the full report on the ride written by rider Valerie Hawkins.

Here is the lovely email received from Ruth and I know that Neil loved having the chat with Ruth each morning.

Dear Helen & Neil,

 On Behalf of all the CIKA Bike Riders we say THANK YOU for the  support you gave us while we were riding from Warrnambool to Ballarat by covering our story on your Radio station each morning .The total money raised  this year is $7,200.00

    Without your help & kindness this would not have been possible

            Thankyou  so much

                  Ruth Edelsten

The Electric Sunkings

November 28, 2011 by Cat
On Thursday the 24^th of Nov 2011, John, James & Kobi from The Electric Sunkings came into the studio for an interview on “Off The Tracks”. As Phil & Face were away that night Caitlin, Davina & myself (Cat) had the pleasure of talking to the guys about their upcoming EP launch at the Bended Elbow.
John and their manager Allen ‘Chief’ Jones came in again on “Like A Daydream” on Saturday night, once again I had the pleasure of filling in the show and getting to spend the entire 2 hours with them in the studio. If you missed it, or not, make sure you don’t miss the EP launch which may be filmed for their first film clip. Where and when you ask, well the details and some pics of them on Thursday night are below…………….

Friday,  December 16 at the Bended Elbow

Doors Open:    8:00pm
Tickets (Door)  $12 or $15 w/copy of EP (EP -self titled  $5)
Support Acts: The Mimes, Fields of Reign, Monkeytin & Kohl
Website: www.theelectricsunkings.com.au

Great News!!! We’ve been successfully nominated…..

In the mail today we received a fantastic letter from Chin Tan – Chairperson, Victorian Multicultural Commission, informing us that we have been successfully nominated to receive an award for Victoria’s Multicultural Awards for Excellence 2011.

We were nominated by Dr Jeff Langdon, BRMC, for outstanding achievements in promoting the linguistic and cultural diversity of Victoria’s multicultural communities.

A ceremony to pay tribute to those successfully nominated and to present awards to individuals and organisations involved in this important work will be hosted by the Governor of Victoria at Government House on Wednesday 14 Dec 2011.

Voice FM is thrilled to receive this nomination and grateful to all our volunteers who work within our community and for our station.  The strengthening partnership with BRMC is being reflected with the growth in ethnic programs now standing at ten and plans for more as we work to provide a voice for our diverse community.

 

Federal Volunteer Grant project being installed

Following our successful application to the Federal Government for a Volunteer Grant our two new split system air conditioners were installed today.  It was a slightly larger project as we had to have a hole cut in one of the windows.

Con Stephan from C&K Glass & Aluminium came to the rescue.  It turned out that a whole new panel was required as the windows are laminated glass.  The job was quoted and completed with efficiency and good humour.  Thanks Con.

Today, Tuesday 1st November 2011, Melbourne Cup Day – Stephen Potter from Ballarat Split Systems true to his word arrived early with Electrician Paul O’Brien.

Studio 1 was relatively simple to install.  Studio 2 on the other hand added extra challenges.  Studio 2 always struggles, no matter what the temperature, when closed for recording as there are no natural ventilation points.  Studio 1 suffers from a brick, west facing, wall that adds to the temperature of the room.  Our fantastic team of volunteers will benefit enormously with this added capital expenditure.

Here are a few pictures of the work completed.

The Roulettes arrive ready for Springfest

Some of the Voice FM Team, Peter, Nick and Bob headed out to the Ballarat Airport to catch up with some of The Roulette team ahead of their display over Lake Wendouree as part of SpringFest – Sunday 30th Oct 2011.  It was another chance to test our new Phonebox ahead of it being used as a roving reporter at SpringFest.  Rotarian Frank Cotronea, SpringFest Director was also there to welcome The Roulettes back to Ballarat.

Notice – Annual General Meeting

We are pleased to advise that the Annual General Meeting of the Ballarat Community FM Radio Co-operative Limited will be held:

When: 7pm, Tuesday 22nd November 2011
Where: GPlace 102 ENGLISH ST GOLDEN POINT 3350 – Maps and directions
As per the rules the purpose of the meeting is to confirm minutes of the 2010 AGM, present reports on the state of affairs as at the end of June 2011 and to elect three (3) Board Members. There is no remuneration payable to any member of the board.

The following two (2) Board Members are up for retirement and eligible for re-election: Tully Smith and Helen Bath.
A casual vacancy has not been filled.

The following four (4) Board Members shall be continuing: Charles Zhang, Rod McDonald, Brad Ward and Robert Bath.
In accordance with the rules of the co-operative only financial members of the co-operative may be nominated for the vacant positions.

A nomination must provide details of the qualifications and experience of the person nominated, signed by 2 or more members and accompanied by a notice in writing signed by the candidate agreeing to his or her nomination.  Forms for this purpose are supplied by the co-operative and may be picked up at the studio.

The nomination must be received at the station at least 21 days before the AGM and accordingly the board has set the closing date for nominations as 5pm on Monday 17^th October, 2011.

We hope you will participate in this very valuable Community resource.

Tully Smith
Chairman

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