MAINfm awarded 2020 Outstanding Small Station

This award celebrates the vital role that small stations play in the community broadcasting sector. They face challenges with fewer facilities and people, and levels of initiative and sheer determination tend to be sky-high.

Fionna Allan (pictured with Sue McLennan) from MAINfm discussed the success of their station with the CBAA.

A successful station is one that celebrates the local community. What is it about the community of Castlemaine that makes your station so special?

The Mount Alexander Shire is a thriving community and is diverse as it is creative and resilient.  There are so many interesting people in our community, that it's easy to celebrate them all of the time! MAINfm's catch cry "putting community into radio" is at the heart of our station's philosophy with many of our programs giving voice to our community, from the weekday breakfast shows broadcast by local secondary school students to our morning talk shows, community service announcements and Queer & Now, representing our LGBQTI+ community. The support shown by our tight knit community, from subscribers to sponsors, is unwavering. 

Stations rely on the support of their community, and in the last twelve months you've seen an increase in community involvement. To what do you attribute this success?

At the onset of COVID-19, MAINfm made a conscious decision as a station to do its absolute best to support the community through an unprecedented and challenging time.  Radio is for communicating, and we wanted to make sure that we kept communicating with our community - so that they could keep communicating with each other.Our broadcasting in general became more community focused - we were also granted the rights to broadcast Radio National's Coronacast which formed part of regular community service announcements in an effort to keep our listeners well informed and engaged.  We focused on developing ways in which to help our business community and sponsors.  We ran a successful Radiothon campaign and the overwhelming response and support we received is testament to the commitment of our volunteers and the broader MAINfm community.

Where to from here for MAINfm?

The Moon!!! Seriously though, as a station we're constantly striving to be better - for our listeners, for our volunteers, and for each other. We have an exciting new Committee of Management who were voted in earlier this month, and with their guidance, we hope to further our community engagement, training and working with young people. And we can't wait to get together in person!

Congratulations to MAINfm, winners of the Outstanding Small Station Award for 2020.

Find out more about the 2020 CBAA Community Radio Award winners.