Somer Valley FM’s Six-Week Challenge is back. Launched on 12th January, the sixth challenge is themed on the Five Ways To Wellbeing: ‘Connect’, ‘Be Active’, ‘Take Notice’, ‘Keep Learning’ and ‘Give’.

The idea was originally the brainchild of Somer Valley FM volunteer, Sue Roberts, who said: “I tend to put things off and I needed a way to help me finish goals I set myself for the year. Taking part in challenges with a group of others makes us accountable, and that encourages us all to get there.”

Somer Valley FM Station Manager, Dom Chambers, said: “One of the things we’re really keen on here is how we link media with health. We last did a six-week challenge in 2016, where we partnered with Sirona, and had a really good experience with that.

“In the world of health now, prevention is key. Traditionally, you would wait until you have an ailment and you would see your doctor and try and get it cured. But because our attitude to mental health has changed fundamentally, it’s now much more the responsibility of us all – not only our own wellbeing or that of our loved ones, but of wider society as well.

“With the six-week challenge, the emphasis is on the Five Ways to Wellbeing, under the NHS guidance. People can sign up to a challenge, and we encourage the fun and the creative, but if what you want is a straight-up health challenge, we absolutely support that, so we do have people quitting smoking and taking on dry January.

“It’s really a good way of doing something that you’ve thought, ‘I must do that’, but you never get round to. So people might learn a new language or an instrument. We have one young man who wants to learn more Polish, so he can communicate with his girlfriend in her native tongue.

“One of our group challenges is about raising awareness about the luxury that we have of free-flowing, running water that we take for granted. If anyone’s travelled in the third world, areas suffering from drought or without infrastructure; parts of Africa where children can’t go to school, because they have to walk ten miles a day carrying a gallon of water instead.

“Every time we wash, cook or clean our clothes, we are using water. We shouldn’t feel guilty about that, but we should appreciate it. We have, in Midsomer Norton, an amazing charity called Water Survival Box. These are sent into disaster zones, containing the means to filter water, if there has been an earthquake, a tsunami or a flood.

“These are made in Midsomer Norton and they cost £150 – and that includes the cost of getting them to a different part of the world.

“We are inviting people to raise money for the charity, and take one of our specially-made collection tins into their homes or places of business, and every time they use water, to drop a few pennies or their change into it. We’ve been working with Rotary, who are behind the Water Survival Box.

“The six-week challenge is not just about something which can be achieved in six weeks, it can be a stepping stone to a much bigger project. I set a target of sixty challenges, but we exceeded that on the day that we launched. I think we’ll probably end up with seventy or eighty challenges, which would be fantastic. A good example of how we can use radio to help others achieve a wider goal.”

"Every challenge is worth showcasing as we have really succeeded in nurturing the sense of fun with this as well as harnessing the five ways to wellbeing. I particularly like Bath DJ, Flash’s challenge (real name Clive Gordon but well-known as Flash). He is going to teach local musician, Patch Morgan, how to use a recording studio. This will help his drumming career and he is currently seeking work. Bringing these two together for an amazing opportunity happened because of the Somer Valley FM networks and that is a vital ingredient in adding value to challenge experience for participants as well as the wider community."

Somer Valley 97.5FM will be airing their new challenge pop-up show every Friday at 12 noon, and will also have regular updates on Women’s Power Hour (Wednesdays at 1 p.m.) and Rob’s Eclectic Selection (Thursdays at 10 a.m.).

To register your challenge, visit: www.somervalleyfm.

co.uk/register/ or to take a look at some of the challenges already signed up, visit: www.somervalleyfm.co.uk/6weekchallenge/challenges/