Making It Through The Rain

Storm Desmond may have wreaked havoc and caused devastating floods in Cumbria and Lancashire over the last week, but The Bay Radio, the area’s top commercial station, worked against all odds to keep listeners informed and as upbeat as possible.

Officially the most listened to radio station in North Lancashire and Cumbria, beating all other commercial and BBC competition, The Bay continued broadcasting in exceptionally difficult conditions, at one point relying on a single generator, to bring the community a constant stream of news and reassurance during a terrifying and bleak ordeal. Many listeners had no power and were plunged into darkness, so The Bay’s support provided an essential life line and shone a metaphorical light. As the station’s e-mail was down, the team had to resort to old school messages, hand-written on pieces of paper, to keep information flowing. Teachers called into the station, enabling The Bay to furnish listening parents with a list of schools that had managed to open, plus lively chat and music, albeit a limited music selection with no Christmas hits.

The Bay has since got behind a Flood Appeal and is also offering free commercials on air for businesses directly affected by the floods under their “live local, think local, shop local” scheme. There has been an outpouring of gratitude for the station’s sterling efforts on its Facebook page, even spawning a separate community petition page entitled “The Bay Radio deserves a royal honour”, which has, at the time of writing, achieved 2,257 likes.  David Morris MP tabled an Early Day Motion in Parliament, recognising the achievement of the bay. More details can be found here.

Bill Johnston, Managing Director of The Bay says: “we are completely overwhelmed by the local response and messages of thanks we’ve received from all sections of the local community. Thousands of people have got in touch with us describing how The Bay helped them through the crisis. The Bay’s staff have been simply amazing, both on and off air, working in extremely challenging conditions. What a team! I can’t thank them all enough.”

Below is a review of the week in pictures and a look behind the scenes at The Bay Radio during their clean-up operation with Kate Fallis, Cat Smith MP and The Bay Team. The film’s soundtrack is Barry Manilow’s I Made It Through The Rain, which has been The Bay’s official song for the past 7 days. To watch the review, click here.

For more information, visit www.thebay.co.uk