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Public File

Each local commercial radio station in the UK has requirements in respect of its music and local content, such as news, speech levels etc. These requirements are set out in the station "Format", a document issued by Ofcom, the UK's radio regulator. This Public File contains details of the elements that Ofcom regulate, such as music tracks, local news etc. It is intended to give you a better understanding of our output and what we are doing for our local community.

News Bulletin Schedule including which bulletins provide local news and which provide only UK-wide bulletins (together with a note of extended bulletins where relevant to Format)

SGR Colchester broadcasts news bulletins on the half-hour between 0600 and 0900 and hourly from 0900 and 1900 on weekdays. These bulletins contain a full mix of local, national and world stories, along with sport, weather and entertainment news. At the weekend, bulletins containing local, national and world news are broadcast on SGR Colchester between 0700 and 1300. Additional national bulletins are broadcast from 2200 through until 0500 seven days a week.

Recent News stories covered on air (this could be today's news, a formal archive or recent examples)

Some recent stories from SGR Colchester :

Colchester United's relegation - when the side's drop down to League 1 was confirmed SGR Colchester lead with the news all day in both news and sport - looking at a variety of different angles including the financial implications, how the team feel about it, what fans are saying about it and more.  We also had a special online package looking at a the U's difficult season on our website.

5th anniverary of British and American led invasion of Iraq - we spoke to a Colchester soldier who went out to serve in Iraq back in 2003 and he told us his experiences.
 
The Budget 2008 - we had a panel of spokespeople from North Essex in the studio to watch the budget - including a financial advisor, publican and local mum.  We then interviewed them on how they'll be affected by the budget to provide comprehensive coverage of the announcement and what people in North Essex think about it.
Trial of Steve Wright - SGR Colchester had a reporter at Ipswich Crown Court for every day of the 6 week trial as one of the victims was from Colchester.  We provided voice pieces from outside court with the day's proceedings.  The day after the verdict we broadcast a one hour news special on the case.

North Essex school admissions figures are revealed - this relates to the number of children that get into parents first or second choice schools.  We spoke to mums who had both positive and negative experiences of the system.

As the Lib Dems announce their new leader is Nick Clegg - we speak to Colchester's Lib Dem MP to get his reactions to the news.
 
We speak to police in Colchester who are trying to cut anti-social behaviour in one part of the town by introducing a "dispersal order".  It means police can move youngsters on if they are hanging around or causing any trouble.  We find out more about how it works and how it will benefit people living in the area.
 
We interview a Clacton woman who's just returned from the Far East where she helps to prevent animals such as bears being mistreated overseas.  We discuss her work and how she started the charity which she now runs to protect the animals.
 
We speak to an Essex firefighter who tells us some compelling and tragic stories of the consequences of drink driving.  The festive period can lead to a rise in drink driving and police increase their patrols as a result - in the interview the firefighter describes how fire officers deal with crashes.

Contact detail for the News team

Our journalist for the station can be contacted at the links below.
Newsdesk 01206 216 131 or 01206 216 132

The programme schedule

SGR Colchester's programme schedule can be found in the On Air section accessible by using the link at the top of each pager.

There are no automated programmes for SGR Colchester during weekday or weekend daytimes.

The amount of local programming per day produced by the station is as follows :

SGR Colchester 's weekday morning and afternoon drive output (0600-1000 and 1600-1900)  is produced and presented from our local studios in Colchester. The afternoon show 1300-1600 is produced and presented from our sister station SGRFM in Ipswich and is broadcast across both stations at the same time. Weekend Breakfast 0800-1200 is also produced and presented from our local studios. 

Off peak programming and high profile peak time weekend programming (Kevin Hughes, Cat James, Jeremy Kyle, Jo Russell, Mark Dennison, Jason Donovan, Andy Henly, Gaz Wesley, Dan Wood, hit40uk) is produced at various studios, owned and operated by SGR Colchester's parent company GCap Media plc.

Ofcom Localness Guidelines and how to complain to Ofcom

Ofcom, the government regulator with responsibilities for local radio, has produced localness guidelines that this station adheres to. These guidelines can be read at the link below.

In addition all local radio stations have written ‘formats' that they must follow at all times. You can read ours at the link below

If you have a complaint to make about this station, in the first instance you should contact the programme controller at the address below. If you are unhappy with the response you have received, you can complain directly to the regulator, Ofcom. Their website has full details about how to do at the link below.

Station Contact details

SGR Colchester's Programme Controller is Jonathan Hemmings, and our address is:
SGR Colchester, Abbeygate Two, 9 Whitewell Rd, Colchester , Essex CO2 7DE

Events/charities support or coverage over the summer period

This summer SGR Colchester is teaming up with local paper the Gazette and local events company Snake In The Grass to give local bands the chance to appear in front of thousands of people at this year’s Rock The Park event to be held at the Lower Castle Park. Bands can upload their songs and biogs to the station website and face a public vote to see which two bands will play at the event on Friday 25th July 2008.

We are also staging the Party In The Park event again in 2008 with a tribute to The Giants night on Saturday 26th July with tributes to Take That, Queen , Madonna and others. 6,000 people are expected to fill the Castle Park. Sunday 27th July, we present Music From the Musicals, an afternoon of family entertainment.

SGR Colchester also gave its listeners an exclusive inside look at the new Colchester United football stadium which is being built at Cuckoo Farm by the A12. We produced an on site video tour of the stadium and its facilities narrated by the stadium’s project manager and this is available to view at sgrcolchester.co.uk  This followed a year of major support for Colchester United, our local team, on air and at the ground Layer Road. We gave listeners the chance to be at the last ever game at Layer Road before the land is sold off.

SGR Colchester teamed up with local theatre The Mercury to give listeners the chance to win the last two tickets in town for comedian Lee Evans sold out UK tour.

On the final weekend of June 2008, SGR Colchester will be supporting the local Food and Drink Fair at the Castle Park, celebrating the bets of North Essex produce and drink with events and broadcasts on site, on air and online

SGR Colchester has also attended numerous local charity events across North Essex with our promotional Thunder team and special school events such as the centenary of St Mary’s School in Lexden, the Harwich School fundraiser for new specialist arts facilities.

 SGR Colchester is supporting the charity Cancer Research UK with 2 Race For Life events in the town by getting people to register to take part through our website which we promoted on air and online . The race at the Lower Castle Park on Sunday 11th May was the first race in East Anglia to fill up, with over 2,500 women signing up to take part. It was hosted by Wyatt and Natasha from the SGR Colchester Breakfast Show, with Natasha and our Thunders taking part in the race.

The second race, at Essex University on Sunday 27th July, will again be hosted by Wyatt and Natasha and the Thunders, and all 2,000 places were filled 3 months ahead of the race, with promotion on air and online by SGR Colchester. On air we also talked to those running and had them share their special and often heartbreaking stories about what motivated them to take part.

Operation Santa Claus is SGR Colchester's all year round charity appeal. 
 
As are result of your fundraising efforts last year 16 grants we made to worthwhile local causes in March 2008
 
This year we are hosting a number of events including Quasar nights, Ghost Hunt and CSI event.
 
You could also abseil or take part in a driving challenge for Operation Santa Claus
 
We are always looking for people who are up for a laugh and are also keen to raise funds that will benefit others within our community
 
If you would like to help/organise an event that will raise funds for Operation Santa Claus then please contact our Charity Manager Louise Gregory 01473 467544 or louise.gregory@gcapmedia.com

Recent programme and/or news highlights

SGR Colchester produced a 4 week long Green Month promotion in March 2008, linking up with the local council and various other local organisations on the basis of reduce, reuse and recycle. Initiatives included creating a superhero character the Lean, Green Recycling Machine who went out to North Essex businesses each day offering help and advice on making your business more green. We also replaced our twice daily Cool Ride to school for kids with a Walking Bus . We also offered Green Tips every hour across the day for the full month, and we gave away £10,000 worth of energy-efficient windows and doors to one lucky competition winner. The culmination was getting dozens of local businesses to join us in switching off all non-essential lights for one hour, Earth Hour, on Saturday 29 March 8-9pm. All activity was broadcast on air and online.

Lat year, SGR Colchester helped stage a chariot race on the town on the site of a recently excavated .  This October 2008 will see the second Roman chariot race event on the ancient track at Abbey Fields. Last year’s was the first chariot race with horse drawn carriages in Colchester for 2,000 years !

Fruit Boot is a healthy eating initiative for kids in local schools. Once every term for 2-4 weeks, we load up our Thunder vehicle with fruit, provided by a local supplier, and deliver it to local school children at lunchtime. This promotes healthy eating and allows the schools to inform our listeners about their own healthy eating initiatives. This promotion won an RAB award in late 2007.

Every month throughout the Summer we organise the Pub Team Challenge. Every Sunday night local pubs battle out for the title and trophy.

SGR Colchester's Five A Side Football Challenge is an annual event which sees local businesses battle it out in a football tournament, all money goes to OSC.

SGR Colchester also devoted a week of news coverage in April 2008 to the families of Colchester-based soldiers heading out to Afghanistan. We followed them in the build up to the soldiers leaving, revealing how they coped with the situation and how they kept in touch with their families at home while away.

SGR Colchester also gives local students the chance to gain an insight into the workings of radio by offering work experience placements. Students are invited to apply for one or two week placements.

Any other issues or areas of interest likely to impact on localness

Although off-peak programming is produced at various other studios, owned and operated by

SGR Colchester's parent company Gcap Media PLC, local information is provided at all times through SGR Colchester community inserts (except during hit40uk on Sundays 4pm-7pm). In addition, local weather is broadcast at various times during overnight programmes.

The station's playlist is available at the link at the top of the page.