Radio Abbey

Radio Abbey is an internet radio station set up in December 2008, as part of the Kenilworth Youth Centre regeneration scheme. It is located in the Kenilworth Youth and Community Centre. Radio Abbey calls itself Kenilworth's first and only radio station. The station is for young people across Warwickshire but it has also picked up listeners from Germany, Canada, and Australia.
Radio Abbey broadcasts on Tuesday and Wednesday 7:00pm-9:00pm and Thursday 6:30pm-8:30pm via its website. The station is trying to obtain an FM licence.
History
The station was set up as part of the regeneration project for which having a radio station in Kenilworth was planned for some time. They were given an £8400 grant from the youth opportunity fund.
On Thursday, 31 January 2008, the Kenilworth Observer advertised on the front page for presenters for the station. The headline was "Could you be town's voice?" Later in the article it stated, "This is a great break for young people". 8 people turned up for the session and got in the station. In February the crew took a trip to BBC Coventry & Warwickshire to learn about what it was like in a radio station. The radio software was installed in April and on 2 December Radio Abbey was born.
At the beginning of the station's life it used to have different types of music for different shows. However that was axed in January 2009 due to the fact that the different types of music the presenters we're given either did not like it or know nothing about that music genre.So the presenters were allowed to play different types of music
In May 2009 the station canned the text services because poor signal. The E-mail service is still going. In June 2009 the station added a Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday shows instead of Tuesday and Thursday. The Tuesday and Thursday people were moved to Tuesday and Wednesdays. 8 new people were recruited for Thursdays which focuses on younger youth.
Presenters
Current presenters on Radio Abbey include Stan Byren, Ed Chang, Rory McNamara, Jack Power, Abbey Simkin, Rosie Smith, and Jon Wills. Former presenters include Charlie Admes.
Feedback
Radio Abbey has received generally high levels of feedback throughout the past few months. Andy Norman, Head of Kenilworth Youth Centre, stated "It is a fantastic project which really allows the youth to express their voice around the world". Similarly, town mayors have stated "It does lighten up our miserable rainy evenings listening to a variety of hosts and music".

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