Beating loneliness one broadcast at a time

Loneliness can strike anyone, any time, and recent research shows it can have devastating effects.

Recognising this, the Community Broadcasting Foundation has mounted a campaign, Beating Loneliness Through Community Broadcasting.

Executive officer Jo Curtin said the organisation had an intuitive sense that community broadcasting plays a big part in improving connectedness and wellbeing for lonely and isolated people.

“We didn’t have the research to back it up so we commissioned Dr Simon Order from Murdoch University to research the area for us,” she said.

“In his report, The Joy of Social Connection, he said that with five million weekly listeners (nationwide), community broadcasting is perfectly placed to tackle the far-reaching social issue of loneliness. He called it the perfect antidote to loneliness.

“We were aware of the physical and mental health issues associated with loneliness but we’d never really connected the dots before.”

Ms Curtin said community radio tackles loneliness in three ways: by reducing its stigma, connecting listeners with what’s happening in their community, and encouraging people to get involved in operating community radio stations.

“Community broadcasting is very inclusive,” she said. “It’s a collaborative space. Everyone, people of all ages and cultural backgrounds, benefit from interaction with others that’s based on mutual understanding and respect.”

Ms Curtin said the Beating Loneliness campaign involved the foundation working with community radio stations, underlining the importance of the work they’re doing and helping them to reach out to lonely and isolated people in a more systematic way, as well as encouraging people to engage with their local radio stations.

“Listeners love local news and information – they love tuning in because the broadcasters they’re hearing are ordinary people, like them,” she said.

“And community stations are largely run by volunteers. Half the country’s 450 community stations are entirely volunteer-run; there are 23,000 volunteers across Australia.”

Volunteer roles are many and varied and include on-air presentation, producing, taking up positions on boards, assisting with technical requirements, helping with outside broadcasts, fundraising and sponsorship.

“Just about every type of skill can be accommodated,” Ms Curtin said.

After struggling for 10 years with severe endometriosis and having experienced multiple surgeries, Catherine Chadwick resigned from her job and entered a long battle with depression.

Despite support from her parents, she felt no one really understood what she was going through.

In 2003 she met Bill Livingston, a presenter on her local community radio station, 3WBC, based in Box Hill. He invited Catherine into the station to talk about a guitar instruction book she had written.

She was very nervous, but after the interview Bill suggested they do a music show together and encouraged her to do some training so she could have her own program.

Since 2007, Catherine has presented Community Corner on 3WBC. In 2015 she was awarded a life membership for her volunteer services.

Margaret van Rooyen had been an active volunteer all her life, working with disabled children, Girl Guides, mentoring youth, and taking part in church activities to mention a few.

But despite being connected to her community, circumstances changed.

“After my Theo died, the thought of being at home alone every day was terrifying,” she said.

Her radio was on all day, locked on Eastern FM, a community radio station based in Croydon. It was there she heard about her local Probus club.

She joined and says it was a great decision. Wanting to share the joy of social contact, she invited her friends to join as well.

“A number of them were feeling a little isolated at home since they stopped working,” Margaret said.

She loves listening to Eastern FM. “I’ve picked up so much local information that you just don’t get on other stations,” she said.