In part, I’m sure due to work’s Communications Team helping to distribute our Press Release – there has been if not a flurry exactly, a swell of interest from a couple of media organisations.
BBC Radio Devon
This morning I had the pleasure of meeting BBC Radio Devon’s Sophie Pierce, for what was my first radio interview. We had a brief, preparatory chat about my background and history, and then we were straight in. Luckily for both me and the potential listener it was all recorded rather than live. I did advise Sophie that I can “go on a bit” – and between nerves, inexperience and maybe by even having a story to tell, I did just that!
The paradox is that I’ll have to listen to whatever she can edit together to remember what it was that I actually said. All I can hope is that there’s enough there to be of interest to anyone who listens to the finished piece. I certainly plugged Motivation. Hopefully some of the stats reflecting the size of the challenge that their work is trying to address will make it into the final edit.
E.G. You do the maths on this: The numbers are obscenely staggering and illustrate an under-publicised, modern day, global scandal in my view…..
“It is estimatedthat only 2% of people with disabilities in low-income countries have access to rehabilitation and appropriate basic services.
Nearly 90% of the global burden of disability occurs in low-income countries, the very countries where so little is spent on rehabilitation. Anyone with a disability is automatically disadvantaged because disability makes poverty worse. It increases isolation and economic strain for the affected family as well as the individual. Statistics show that children with disabilities are more likely to die young, become malnourished or neglected. Disabled people who are denied education are then unable to find employment and the circle becomes more vicious.”
Anyway, as far as my Andy Warhol (15) moment(s), I suppose that I shouldn’t be too perturbed, as the Royal Geographic Society’s guidance on radio production says that in general, 100 minutes of raw material is needed to make just 1 minute of good listening!
Sophie couldn’t be sure when exactly it will go out – but thought it would probably be on the BBC Radio Devon Breakfast Show sometime (0600 – 0900, 103.4 FM | 95.7 FM)
Brixham News (the free paper) have also shown an interest and I have sent them some pictures (heavily photoshopped of course!) and some detail on what we are hoping to achieve. Karen from BN has said that they hope to get something published in the next couple of weeks.
We can only hope that this is the beginning of a lot of good publicity as that can only help with fundraising. Certainly it was another novel experience enjoyed as a result of undertaking this project.