Double gold success for Athlone Community Radio!

Athlone Community Radio celebrated double gold success on the awards front at an event in Kilkenny recently.

Two shows 'Sisters Among Us' and 'Connect' were recognised by CRAOL, also called the Community Radio Forum of Ireland, the representative, coordinating, lobbying, training and support group for Irish Community Radio stations with two Gold Achievement Awards.

‘Sisters Among Us’ tells the story of three women who chose to follow a religious career path with the Franciscan Missionaries of the Divine Motherhood (FMDM) and then went on to devote their lives to helping the less fortunate of this world.

During the 55-minute programme Sister Bridget Veale, Sister Rosa Cashman and Sister Brid O’Sullivan give us a fascinating insight into their life-long missionary experiences across the world, driven by their faith, but involving multiple emotions - happiness, sadness, loneliness, excitement, terror, hurt, solace, peace and contentment.

This was the first time narrator, main researcher, scriptwriter and interviewer Maeve O’Healy Harte worked on a project of this nature. She was delighted to receive the gold award and thanked all the people who had worked with her on the programme. Awarding the programme a Gold Achievement Award, the judges praised the introduction, before describing it as an "exceptionally good programme for a first-time Sound & Vision applicant".

The second programme to win a gold award featured members of the Athlone African Group, who produced an African Day programme live on Africa Day 2021. This broadcast was very meaningful for them in that their message was heard, and as a showcase of what their culture has to offer, from songs and stories for a day. Members of the group truly felt valued and part of the community of Athlone and were delighted to achieve the award.

This gold award was given to this show in the Social Benefit Category, with the judges remarking that it was a "lovely programme and a really good community outreach initiative" and it was "great to see Athlone working for social benefit" for all.

"The mix of nationalities and different voices was uplifting and joyful and works well as a way of raising awareness in the locality about this vibrant community in their midst," the judges explained prior to the award presentation.

Noel Maimba, who is Chair Athlone African Group commented: "We are thrilled with this award and it just shows how community groups in Athlone are working together for social benefit".

The team on the programme included main producer/presenter - Noel Maimba co-presenter, producers - Nai Lemonshira, contributors King Ndlovu, Patrick Moyo, Lazarus Ncube and Francine Mungala, with technical and editing support courtesy of Irena Djak Cvetkovic and Kyle McCallan.

Both programmes were Athlone Community Radio productions funded by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland with the television licence fee.