Midsomer Norton-based radio station, Somer Valley FM, has been awarded Community Development Project of the Year at the national Community Radio Awards.

The annual awards ceremony took place in Sheffield, with two hundred people attending. The award recognises the positive impact of the Media Education, Training and Skills (METS) programme. This uses media training to help young people into a life of their choosing by developing useful skills and confidence. Somer Valley FM has established a well-regarded, skills-based learning ethos that works with local schools and colleges.

The METS programme was devised by long-standing Radio Manager, Dom Chambers, who attended the awards ceremony and accepted the award on behalf of Somer Valley FM.

Awards Chairman, Martin Steers, said: “The METS training programme is an utterly inspiring piece of work. To hear clips of the targeted intake speak with such love, passion and gratitude really hammers home the impact of this project!”

The programme was funded as a pilot project by St John’s Foundation, Bath, through the radio station’s partnering charity, the Somer Valley Education Trust. It particularly benefited school students from the radio station’s long-term educational partners at Somervale and Norton Hill schools, as well as Fosse Way School and Bath College.

Dom Chambers said: “For a broadcaster that puts community development at its heart, this is the big award for us. The new charity has enabled us to build a skills infrastructure around the sort of training we have been delivering for years at Somer Valley FM.

“As we approach our tenth anniversary, I could not have wished for a better birthday present than this national recognition of how we use the media to improve the lives of individuals and their communities. This award is a significant milestone in realising the vision that uses media training to combat the significant challenges of our times around isolation.”

The METS programme also works with leading charities in the region, such as DHI and SWALLOW, to help adults with learning disabilities and those in recovery from addiction.

The award was presented by Daniel Bruce, CEO of global charity, Internews. Speaking after the award ceremony, he said: “What is really exciting about the model you have developed is that it demonstrates that community radio isn’t just about what comes out of the speakers.

“It is about what is put into the community, and the opportunities that are provided for often-vulnerable or marginalised groups that just would not come from anywhere else. The double-win is that you do this while continuing to deliver community radio. I hope this is a model that can be taken to scale nationally over time.”

St John’s Foundation were among the first to congratulate Somer Valley FM on the award, which comes a few days after their decision to fund a three-year version of the METS programme.

Sam Gillett, St John’s Foundation Funding and Impact Manager, said: “We feel very proud of the work of the Somer Valley METS programme. Having funded the pilot project, we have committed to supporting its work for a further three years. This national award is a very fitting recognition for the programme, and we look forward to watching and supporting METS as it continues to expand its reach.”