The PFM Heroes Page

Man of Action
Station Director Darren Holmes is the originator of, and driving force behind, Penistone FM. He has promoted plans for this Community Radio service since before 2005. His record in local radio is impressive, having worked: at Radio Aire, Doncaster FM, Wakefield and Barnsley Hospital Radio, Barnsley YMCA, Select FM, Renaissance FM, etc. I'll bet he had a megaphone for his first birthday present. Other presenters say that he is a perfectionist but that isn't a bad fault. He has turned the dream of a local radio station into a successful reality. Top marks to The PFM Godfather, Darren Holmes.

The Team
He could not have done it all by himself without the support of a core of dedicated directors, who mostly have experience in hospital radio, with more than seventy years of combined radio experience. They are also well connected with the running of Penistone and local community groups and bring a wide range of interests to the station. Adding to this strong core of many talents is an enthusiastic team of volunteers who have developed their own programme styles. It's not all studio work either, they go out and about to interview people at local events. If ever we might pick a hole or two in what we hear, we should remember that they donate their time, effort and trouble for the love of doing it, without any payment.

The PFM Flickr page has a wide range of pictures (obviating the need of much from me) and their main website has pictures of most of the presenters, so you can put a face to the name and voice. Now here is a brief roundup of the directors with abridged remarks from the interweb. Dominic Musgrave was also on the original RSL team but isn't now with the station. The programme schedules change from time to time and the times below are just a sample.

• Darren Holmes - Station Director.
  'Darren's wealth of radio experience will create a sound base to build a successful and diverse board of directors.' Darren is the esteemed founder of PFM and a Touring car fan. He turned up for the first PFM birthday party in orange overalls (from marshalling a race).
  
• Martin Sugden - HR Director.
  'Martin’s role will be the management of the volunteer process.' The Sugman started in Hospital Radio in 1986 and briefly worked on Radio Aire. Saturday 8pm Disco Classics show.
  
• Andrew Millner - Partnership Development Director.
  Andrew is very well connected locally and will create relationships between Penistone Community Radio and key organisations...' Local and Barnsley councillor, Thingy Partnership, Round Table and who knows what else. When he isn't doing all that, he has the smoothest voice on radio. Tuesday evening show with The Jazz Hour at 11pm.
• Jody Fendick - Always on the go. Relatively new as a director but she brings an enthusiastic and lively quality to the line-up. She also chairs the Listeners' Panel.
• Keith Barna - Business Manager
  His role is 'To manage station finance and seek funding opportunities for the station.' Accountant and Hospital Radio. Northern Soul fan with his Soul Therapy show, Thurs 7pm -9pm.
• Richard Ward - Community Development Director.
  'Richard will help deliver our training commitment to our new and existing volunteers.' Hospital Radio, footballer, after-dinner speaker, keen gardener and qualified chef. The Wardster has a Saturday morning show with the 'Wheel of Fortune' and his 'Mastic Mig' football predictions. Also a Sunday evening show with 'Pop Scrabble'.
  
• Richard Tolson - Learning & Development Director.
  'Richard will develop our relationships with PGS and other local schools and such as Surf n Snack shack and Barnsley Youth Council.' Taught two members of The Arctic Monkeys at Barnsley College. He has a Friday Evening and a Sunday dinnertime show with his 'pub quiz' feature.
  

Volunteer Presenters
Most of the 2009 presenters are in the picture below-left, taken at Cubley Hall. Charlie Sissons instigated this PFM social evening and I managed to weasel my way in. I enjoyed the evening very much in spite of being extremely tired and not entirely on best form. I sort of bottled it when they were introducing themselves and rather ignorantly dashed out of the room. Sorry about that, it was a kind of claustrophobia. God knows what Darren thought of that; after offering me a pint too. A nice bunch of people. Very friendly and dedicated to what they do. The picture on the right is of Ken David. He works shifts and could not attend the Cubley social do but he's a good sort and I did not want to leave him out. The other (not 'clickable') pictures above are in no particular order.

The middle picture was prompted by a spooky question on Jimbo's website: "Was there a ghost?" It's a poor picture but that's on purpose. I zoomed into the original photo to boost the shadows and see what was lurking there. You can see that it looks like Andrew's shadow reflected from the wall behind. But can we be sure? Spooky.

Here are some voices that that I have noticed. Many are new-ish but some were around in 2006. Now in 2010, there are about 42 presenters compared with the dozen or so at launch, so I can't really list them all. There might eventually be as many as sixty. Every one is a star.

My apologies to those who I have missed out or if I have given you a poor description. Now, if only you would remind us who we are listening to fairly often....

• Andy Howe - Sunday three-hour dinnertime show, before Jimbo fires up the roast.
• Andy Riley and Joanne Ruston - Lively banter with 'Interesting Stories' and 'What's in the box', Tuesdays 5pm - 8pm.
• Bob Eastwood - Has a pleasant Friday evening programme with good brass band music.
  
• Carol Bradbury - Mayor Carol is a well-regarded, independent voice in the community. Regular Thursday 9am - noon slot.
• Charlotte 'Charlie' Sissons - had a cool and magnificent Sunday Night Rock Show but it looks as though she is off the air now.
• Craig Fletcher - has a long stint on Saturday afternoons with a football roundup.
• Charlie North - Easy-going Tuesday afternoon show. As a talented audiovisual artist ("the Gods' nectar of ambient music"), Charlie also does exciting music mash-ups.
• 'Cuddly' Colin Geldard - There's nothing pedestrian about Colin's show, he just zips along on a rollercoaster ride. Great radio. He is also a professional singer.
  - Colin's 10am 'Saturday Singles Selection' show will get you out of bed PDQ. His Tues night 'Cuddler's Corner' (12pm - 2am) will get you back in, if you're lucky.
• Eddie Loughrey - One of Richard Tolson's acolytes has Motown and Love Song slots on Saturday evenings.
• Eileen Symonds - Has experience and a particular interest in health issues which she talks about in her Monday 'Health & Wellbeing' dinnertime prog.
• Helen Turner - Bouncy and fun presenter who also works in hospital radio. Friday 4-6pm. Listen to 'Turner's Time Tunnel', 'Happy Hour' and 'Cheese on Toast Requests'.
• Ian France - Introduces a northeast accent to PFM, as a trainee guest of Jimbo.
• Ian Goddard - Gets up very early. 6am to 8am on Mondays.
• Jimbo - 'Sunday Roast' 3pm show fits well with lazy Sunday afternoons. 'Guess the common theme' and give him a call. Veggie option available.
• Joanne - Has her own show 8pm to 10pm Mondays.
• Jody Fendick and Ruby Cronin - These sisters are a little bit dangerous but always fun.
• Jody - Also has show on Monday evenings, 4pm to 6pm.
• Les Young and Janice - Easy-going program with a bit of chat and a quiz.
• Ruby - Often springs some surprises with her selection of music.
• Ken David - A top presenter with his popular 'Where am I now' quiz. Listen to 'The Greater Portion' show, typically Sunday 9am to noon.
• Matthew Auckland - Has a Friday morning programme with the 'Who am I' feature.
• Mica Sheldon - Bright, bouncy and fun while under the expert tuition of Jody.
• Nathan Woodhams - Nice brisk style with a competition where listeners fit music titles to a selected news item.
• Patrick Tune - Aptly named for a DJ. Might have dropped off the schedule for now.
• Peter Johnson - Has a Thursday dinnertime show at a time when I can't listen.
• Peter Foster - One of Richard Ward's acolytes on the early shift, Saturday mornings.
• Rachael Cochrane - Developing her bright style nicely.
• Steve Taylor - Seldom heard on PFM but he runs a slick show when he makes the trip.
• Steve Webber - One of Andy Millner's acolytes with a Thursday evening show (fellow councillor on Penistone Town Council).
• Wayne Butcher - Bright, lively and slightly irreverent show on Friday night.