Empowering Women & Girls in radio & podcasting

In the last 3 years Sound Women South West Network have trained and empowered over 1000 budding podcasters in a range of skills needed to produce and present podcasts to a wide age group from children to elders. We also teach a wide variety of radio skills in   front of and behind the microphone.  These   kind of skills are rarely taught and we have seen how empowering they are. Learning skills in radio and media helps build confidence in public speaking, literacy and computer skills which helps in all aspects of life. The pandemic meant we had to cancel all of our workshops with immediate affect and losing all our income over night. We moved online. And in this short time we have taught women from all over the world from Africa to Caribbean to Dubai to Hong Kong and Europe as well as all over the UK. We would like to take  Sound Women SW to the next level and continue to deliver these popular workshops. We have discovered there are very few opportunities like this. We need to build a website and ideally our own studio equipped with the latest technology so we can provide free and low cost training. Podcasting is the fastest growing media platform in the world and it gives a platform to voices rarely heard in the digital landscape. In 1992 there wasnt one full time female radio presenter in the UK, very few female DJ’s and women are still vastly under represented in many areas of radio and main stream media. Sound Women SW offer training and skill sharing in a safe space and in a variety of radio, media and podcasting skills. Teaching presenting and interviewing techniques as well as the tech side, what equipment is needed, how to use it plus lots more. It will mean more women and young girls will be empowered to share their stories, lives and experiences. We are raising money to set up more of these workshops and opportunities. Due to the pandemic all of our training was cancelled so we would like to set up a website and online training until we can meet face to face again. With your help and generosity we can share skills all over the world. We will show how anyone can make professional podcasts with just a smartphone and no budget making it accessible to everyone. Sound Women SW Network is an off shoot of the national group, Sound Women and was founded by Miranda Rae in 2017. Miranda has worked in radio, media and music industries for 30 years, she has presented and produced on local, regional and national radio including a weekly show on BBC Radio 5 highlighted by several awards including a Sony Award. We now have just over 500 members in Sound Women SW. The network consists of members from all walks of life in the radio, media, music and podcasting worlds, from industry leaders, students, teachers, academics, community leaders to newcomers. We are hugely proud of the amount of training we have done so far and excited to take it to the next level. The Radio and media industries are still vastly underrepresented by the Black and working class communities, our aim is to to address that and create opportunities for women and girls from all backgrounds. Thank you in advance for your support!!