Urban Circle moves to Upper Dock Street in the City Centre in April.

Ian Lamsdale (Lamsie) joins as Project Manager with the brief to evolve Urban Circle into a radio service for the whole of the City,

At 8am on 16th July Newport City Radio was born, broadcasting for 16 days on 87.9FM

Despite the joint challenges of settling into our new base of operations and the COVID-19 pandemic we have still been able to benefit our community.

For the wider community, we successfully applied for grant funding to deliver a podcast series called ‘Out of Lockdown’ to help Newportonians make sense of the path out of restrictions. We acted as an information provider making sense of the differences in guidelines laid out by the English and Welsh Governments. We also looked at mental well-being as we headed towards the new normality and celebrated local heroes who have achieved for our City in hard times. We also focused our Facebook activities around light-hearted fun as an antithesis to all of the gloom and doom of the pandemic.

Our volunteer community also needed support during these difficult times. We invested in zoom to hold regular virtual get-togethers and kept our disabled volunteers up to speed.

We also began to undertake a root and branch repair of systems and processes to ensure that we we’re ready to get back to business stronger than ever. We also moved the operation to a more visible and comfortable setting within the new premises.

Despite the joint challenges of settling in to our new base of operations and the COVID-19 pandemic we have still been able to benefit our community.

For the wider community, we successfully applied for grant funding to deliver a podcast series called ‘Out of Lockdown’ to help Newportonians make sense of the path out of restrictions. We acted as an information provider making sense of the differences in guidelines laid out English and Welsh Governments. We also looked at mental wellbeing as we headed towards mthe new normality and celebrated local heroes who have achieved for our City in hard times. We also focuses our Facebook activities around light hearted fun as an antithesis to all off the gloom and doom of the pandemic.

Our volunteer community also needed support during these difficult times. We invested in zoom to hold regular virtual get-togethers and kept our disabled volunteers up to speed.

We also began to undertake a root and branch repair of systems and processes to ensure that we we’re ready to get back to business stronger than ever. We also moved the operation to a more visible and comfortable setting within the new premises.

A year of continuing to rebuild, assessing finances, setting into our new home at the NEON, refreshing our policies and procedures, and re-inducting our current team of volunteers between covid lockdowns.

One of our biggest achievements was strengthening our relationship with Newport County AFC. With new branding for the Warmup at the marquee at Rodney Parade through to unparalleled access to players and staff as, after a three-year battle, our ‘Look Back in Amber’ became the official club podcast.

We also continued to raise revenue with event support for Dragons Rugby, Maindee Festival, and The Countdown to Christmas (the annual lights switch-on), all this in a year where restrictions have largely remained in place.

The rebranding (Right here, Right now) continues apace with new social media splashes, t-shirts, and stickers for our studio doors.

Talking of the studio, thanks to the Big Lottery ‘awards for all’ grant, we upgraded the mixing desk and radio playout systems. We now have fit-for-purpose facilities for the next decade at least!

Our 24hr nonstop music offering aimed at 20-50 years olds has never sounded better.

A year of continuing to rebuild, assessing finances, setting into our new home at the NEON, refreshing our policies and procedures, and re-inducting our current team of volunteers between covid lockdowns.

One of our biggest achievements was the strengthening of our relationship with Newport County AFC. With new branding for the Warmup at the marquee at Rodney Parade through to unparalleled access to players and staff as, after a three-year battle, our ‘Look Back in Amber’ became the official club podcast.

We also continued to raise revenue with event support for Dragons Rugby, Maindee Festival and The Countdown to Christmas (the annual lights switch on), all this in a year where restrictions have largely remained in place.

The rebranding (Right here, Right now) continues apace with new social media splashes, t shirts and stickers for our studio doors.

Talking of studio, thanks to the Big Lottery people and places grant, we have upgraded both mixing desk and radio playout systems. We now have fit for purpose facilities for the next decade at least!

Our 24hr nonstop music offering aimed at 20-50 years olds has never sounded better. Our work on this will continue as we add even more variety within our chosen