Canalside Radio

Canalside Radio is a community station for North East Cheshire, broadcasting from its media centre in Bollington. Its musical brief is deliberately varied, allowing different interests to contribute to the sound of a service rooted in the surrounding area. The station broadcasts on 102.8 FM and is operated by Canalside Community Radio Ltd.

The organisation describes itself as not-for-profit and volunteer-led. Sponsorship, donations and some grant funding support its work, while local businesses form an important part of its relationship with the area. Canalside encourages residents to support those businesses and welcomes people interested in joining its volunteer team. Participation therefore extends beyond listening to the music: community members can help sustain the organisation itself.

Local information is another part of that connection. Canalside maintains an events guide and an eating-out guide covering places around Bollington and the wider North East Cheshire area. Listings have included Bollington Kitchen & Café, The Fountain, the Bulls Head in Kerridge and other local venues. These are examples of its community-facing information, not a list of on-air programmes or an assertion that each venue hosts station events.

The broadcaster's base at Clarence Mill gives it a physical presence in Bollington as well as a radio audience. Its combination of music, volunteers, local information and business support reflects the role of a community media organisation serving a defined area. The varied selection avoids reducing that audience to one musical genre, while the events and local connections keep the service anchored to North East Cheshire life. Canalside's identity rests on that relationship between the people making the station and the community around it.