The students' union has hundreds of student groups at Lancaster including student media, LA1TV, SCAN - Student Comment and News, Take 2 Cinema and Bailrigg FM.

Terry Tucker tells us about how joining Bailrigg FM changed his time at University and how being part of student groups creates a whole new community around you. 

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Every university student has one thing that really defines their experience at university. It might be the friends they’ve made, a certain lecturer they admire, or even the nights at Sugarhouse. For me, as I go into my third year, while everything I’ve mentioned so far has helped make my university experience that much more special, I wouldn’t say they’ve defined my university experience. But you know what has? 87.7 Bailrigg FM.

You might be wondering “what’s 87.7 Bailrigg FM?” especially if you’ve not got much of a knowledge of the university yet. Well, we’re the campus radio station broadcasting around the university and occasionally beyond. The good thing though is that anybody can listen in on our website, http://bailriggfm.co.uk. Anyway, enough of the boring stuff, let’s get into why Bailrigg has defined my two years so far at Lancaster University.

 

What have I done so far?

With 87.7 Bailrigg FM, the opportunities you get are really something else. Having debuted a song which has since gone viral, commentated and presented events at Roses, and hosting many successful shows.

One of which is the student’s union show “You Ask The SU” (you’ll probably see a lot of promotion for “What’S Up” when you’re at university - fear not it’s the same show) where the student’s union, JCRs and many other people around the university get to showcase what they’ve done, what they plan to do and take any questions about their role from the listening students. This has helped increase the transparency between the student body and the student’s union which has overall helped make Lancaster University a more welcoming place.

As for other shows, my show “Competent Incompetence” helped make a new song go viral. “Don’t Wanna Fade Away” - despite not having a Spotify release at the time of writing, has amassed 1.1 million views on Facebook. This came from an email sent that morning by their record label with the song and it all fell into place from there. That’s what’s great about student radio, one minute you can be preparing a show for your friends to listen back to later then the next you’re getting ready to play a new song for hundreds of eager listeners!

 

Why has my experience been so great?

From the moment I was recommended to join in my first year’s Refresher’s Fair, I knew it was the place for me. A welcoming community provided a quick discussion when I went into the station and it was an immediate decision to get trained up. From there, I got the chance to present shows playing what I wanted and the feeling of trust that was there, even when I wasn’t a good radio presenter, that I’d get it right. Without that feeling of trust, I probably would have quit after a few shows.

From there, I began to spend more time in the station to chat with the members who all willed each other on, there is a real sense of community in the radio station and there’s almost always someone there to talk to about whatever you wish. Over time, it’s become an integral part of my university life, the fact that you can do what you enjoy whenever you want really helps.

It gets better - now that I’m Programme Controller of the station, I have a sense of responsibility, to train new members and offer them advice as they go through the same process that I did when I started. The station has so much potential and any prospective student would be mad to pass up on an experience that could define their university experience, with a solid community that will always be there for you.

Hopefully I’ll be training many new people to use the radio and have a full schedule full of exciting and diverse shows by the end of Fresher’s Week! If you’ve got any questions about the radio, just drop 87.7 Bailrigg FM a message on Facebook. You can find our Facebook page here, so be sure to give us a like as well!

 

Until Fresher’s Week,

Terry Tucker