Beyond Radio 10th birthday: How it all began

It was July 30 2016, at 10.35am, when Beyond Radio first went on-air, playing the first record 'The Boys Are Back in Town'.

The time 10.35 was chosen because of our 103.5FM broadcast frequency.

Many of the team behind Beyond Radio, a new community radio station for the Lancaster and Morecambe Bay area, had previously been involved in Diversity FM, the Lancaster-based community radio station which closed in 2012.

They then worked diligently for four years to bring community radio back to the local area.

Ahead of the launch, two of the main team behind Beyond Radio, Duncan Moore and Chris Brookbanks, delivered a series of test broadcasts from the unlikely location of the cellar in Chris's house - known as 'The Boys in the Basement'!

Chris Brookbanks and Duncan Moore broadcasting from Chris's basement in December 2015

The team also secured a base in a former bowling pavilion at Palatine Park in Bowerham, Lancaster.

This was then diligently transformed into a radio studio with a lot of inspiration and perspiration, and remains our home to this day, with a second studio and a live music room having been added along the way.

Beyond Radio is based at 45A Chester Place, Palatine Park, Lancaster

Renovations taking place to create the Beyond Radio studio in 2016 and further work in 2019.

Beyond Radio also obtained an initial five-year licence from broadcast regulator Ofcom, which has been renewed for a further five years twice since then, our licence currently taking us up to 2031.

How Beyond Radio began - here's the launch from Saturday July 30 2016 with voiceover from Nathan Hill

At the time Duncan said: “The last four years have been an interesting time for us.

“When Diversity FM closed we got so many letters and emails of support and people asking if there would ever be another community station.

“We knew we had to try and develop one and I’m glad to say we’ve made it. The official launch of the station on July 30 2016 represents four years of dedicated work by the management team.

“Opening a radio station isn’t as simple as you might think. Opening a community radio station, because of the community benefit there needs to be as part of the licence award, is even harder. Funding ourselves also offers a continuing challenge.

“There are a great many organisations in our area doing some brilliant work with people from all corners of our community who need help. We want to give them the chance to reach even more and also let other people know just what it is they do.

Duncan Moore with a Beyond Radio banner in 2016

“From this publicity they may get extra financial or volunteer support that they probably need. I’m really looking forward to meeting and working with our partners in the charity and community sector and hopefully helping to change peoples’ lives for the better.

“In the four years we’ve been working to get the station up and running our publicity strapline was ‘Join us for the Journey.’ I am really pleased many people have joined us so far. In a way, on July 30, the journey will really begin.”

Volunteers have been the lifeblood of the station since day one, as presenters of Beyond Radio's varied programmes, taking part in events across the area, and as the station's representatives in the local community. 

Beyond Radio team members embarking on their '10 for 10 Trek' - a 10 mile sponsored walk to raise money for local good causes in 2026

Jayne Drake, one of the initial Beyond Radio management team, said at the time of the launch: “We can’t run the station without volunteers, they are our presenters, duty managers, producers and administrators.

“We offer local people the opportunity to get hands on with a fully operating FM radio station, something that few people ever get the chance to try. Following training and induction we support volunteers as they work together to deliver the radio service. In this way the project lives up to its aims of being a ‘community’ station.”

Other key members of the original founding team at Beyond Radio included Steven Normyle.

After a period away from the station, Steven returned as managing director in 2025.  

“When I think about how Beyond Radio began, I actually have to go back further than 10 years, to the closure of Diversity FM," said Steven, speaking this week.

Steven Normyle pictured at a Highest Point Festival in Williamson Park, Lancaster

"At the time I was a director of Chorley FM, another community radio station, so I’d already seen first-hand the power that community radio could have and the difference it could make. I’d developed a working relationship with some of the team at Diversity before it closed, and when it did, it felt natural to find a way to help establish a new community station and resource for North Lancashire.

"We wanted Beyond to be distinctly different, while retaining that same fundamental sense of connection with the community. That was really important to us.

"Getting there was quite a journey. It was probably three or four years from those initial discussions to actually getting Beyond Radio on air on FM. There were applications, raising awareness, building a team and then what felt like an endless wait for Ofcom approval.

"The build-up to July 30 was incredibly exciting, but nerve-racking too. We’d spent years working towards this thing, but there were still so many unknowns. Would everything actually work? Would we launch when we said we would? More importantly, would the local community appreciate and value the station in the way we hoped they would?

Not everything went to plan on Beyond Radio launch day! Here's Nathan Hill's launch video on July 30 2016...

"I was in the studio when we finally launched and the atmosphere that day was electric. After such a long journey, there was a huge sense of relief and an even bigger sense of achievement. I think I knew then that we’d made the right decision and that all the effort was going to be worthwhile.

"Did I know we’d still be here 10 years later? I’m not sure!

"We’d built a colossal machine that needed to operate like a business if it was going to sustain itself for the long term. We knew that would be challenging and that there was risk involved, but it was absolutely a risk worth taking.

"One of the things we got right was allowing Beyond to grow naturally. It needed to be controlled, but organic in nature, while always remaining business-focused enough to be sustainable. I think that’s a big part of why Beyond has become what it is today.

"There have obviously been difficult moments along the way. COVID stands out. We had to make some big decisions very quickly, but we made them with the interests of our volunteers and our community at their heart. We adapted, kept broadcasting, kept people informed and connected, and protected our team. It was incredibly hard, but I genuinely believe Beyond shone during that period. It demonstrated exactly why genuinely local radio matters.

"There are so many memories from the last decade, but receiving the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service will always be incredibly special.

Nathan Hill, Steven Normyle and Luke Edmondson from Beyond Radio receiving the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service in 2021

"We knew about the award before it was made public, and keeping that secret was difficult! But more than anything, I remember just feeling enormously proud. The team deserved that recognition.

"For me, that award encapsulated what Beyond is about. Every worry, every professional disagreement, every difficult decision and every sleepless night suddenly felt worthwhile. It was recognition of something much bigger than any one individual – everything our volunteers had built together and the impact they’d had on the communities we serve.

"And that really is the story of Beyond.

"Everything we’ve achieved over the last 10 years has been because of each and every volunteer who has been part of it. We simply couldn’t have done it without them.

Some of the Beyond Radio team at the Eric Morecambe 100th birthday celebrations in May 2026

"One of the things I’m particularly proud of isn’t necessarily something you can measure in listening figures or awards. It’s seeing people come into Beyond and grow in confidence. People have been given an opportunity to try something, learn, develop and discover what they’re capable of. That’s every bit as important to me as what comes out of the speakers.

"Ten years on, I look at Beyond with an enormous amount of pride – but also with a sense that there is still so much more for us to do.

"Because local voices matter.

"We don’t all have to agree. We don’t all have to believe the same things. In fact, we shouldn’t.

"But having a station that can reflect, represent and give a voice to all of us is so, so important.

Greg Lambert, Chris Brookbanks, Luke Stutchbury and Phill Hayward at Barefest, one of the many local events Beyond Radio has supported

"That’s what we set out to create 10 years ago. It’s still what Beyond Radio is here to do today.

"And if I could go back to the beginning and say something to myself and everyone else who took that initial leap of faith, it would be very simple:

"Don’t give up. Believe.  And those words remain as true today as they did then.”

Beyond Bear loves getting out and about at local events!

And Beyond Radio has gone from strength to strength over the past 10 years.

Not only were we recognised with the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service, but also recognised at the highest level when Mateo Sanderson and Duncan Moore were welcomed to Buckingham Palace and chatted with Princess Catherine; and when Duncan and myself had the privilege of being invited to a reception at Lancaster Castle to tell His Majesty King Charles about the work of Beyond Radio.

Duncan Moore and Mateo Sanderson at Buckingham Palace

Earlier this year our '10 for 10 Trek' raised just over £1000 for 10 local causes, and previous events have raised thousands for other local charities.

We have helped people achieve their dreams of presenting, turned work experience students into presenters, crowned our first Junior Poet Laureate, and given a platform to voices that don't always get heard.

We've also been at the heart of many big moments across the Lancaster and Morecambe Bay area - hosting Lancaster's Christmas Lights Switch On for five consecutive years, Morecambe Pride, the Eric Morecambe centenary, live lounge sessions with the likes of Massive Wagons, and full Morecambe FC commentary on Shrimps Live — including our 250th match this year.

Dave Salmon and Matt Smith commentating on Morecambe Football Club

And we are still building and growing, 10 years on.

Here’s to the last 10 years — and thank you to all our listeners, partners, supporters and team for their support as we move forward into the next 10!