Future Radio's Arts & Community Blog

According to the 2011 census, Norwich has the highest proportion of respondents in England and Wales reporting "no religion". This, despite the fact that it was once said to have a church for every week of the year.

This makes Norwich a faith ‘talking-point’ for the UK. Because of this, it makes sense that we have a faith show on Future Radio.

‘Future Faith’ is a monthly show on Future Radio, every first Saturday of the month at 2pm. Presented by Jo and Helen, the programme looks to cover a huge range of beliefs and religions by having guests from a wide range of backgrounds and different countries.

I caught up with Jo and Helen to find out more about the show, and why it came about. Jo said:

“Helen had already been involved with Pride Live on Future Radio, and then talked to me about the idea of making Future Faith. Our city is becoming more multicultural and it helps us all get on if we understand about each other's beliefs.”

Jo and Helen met at church, but are keen to talk to people from different with backgrounds: “We hope that people who would like to share their beliefs with us will come forward to be on the show. Other people's lives, beliefs and practices are fascinating and hopefully every listener hears something that interests them, whether or not they have a faith.”

Helen is keen to stress that the guests on the show are given a fair chance to have their say:

“The show is never confrontational, less Jeremy Paxman and more 'thought for the day'. We always interview people with the spirit of enquiry in order to understand where they are coming from.

“We had a Buddhist on the show recently and he was fascinating.  What he said about life and how to deal with it really chimed with me.  He talked about suffering and how we tend to add to suffering by our own attitudes.”

Jo and Helen really get what Future Radio is trying to achieve. Jo told me:

“I'm a big fan of Future Radio, the music's great and I love the focus on our community.   Future radio really seems to focus on what a great place Norwich is as well as giving lots of people (like ourselves) a chance to air our views, learn some new skills and play our music.”

Hello all!

It's time to update our Future Radio Tumblr Accounts.

From Monday, 19th September 2011 The Breakfast Show moves times. The show will start at 7.30 and finish at 9.30, with Community Chest starting half an hour earlier.

Friday August 26th will see a celebration event to mark 4 years of Future Radio as Norwich’s independent voice of the airwaves.

The birthday event takes place at Karma Kafe in Norwich and will feature 3 floors of music from a selection of Future Radio DJs, covering: Soul, Motown, Disco, Rhythm n’ Blues, Swing, House, Kwaito, Old Skool, Tech-Deep House, Ska, Reggae, Afrobeat, Funk, Dubstep and more! Entrance to the event is free and promises to be a unique opportunity to catch some of the city’s best DJs on one night spread over 3 rooms of great music.

After the success of Platform Unplugged at Norwich Playhouse in March 2010, we've decided it's time to do it all again with a brand new line up at Norwich Puppet Theatre on Saturday July 2nd.

The event will showcase some of the best musical and artistic performance talent in the region and is also a fundraising event with all proceeds supporting the continued development of creative programming on Future Radio.

Tickets are available direct from Future Radio Here or call Norwich Puppet Theatre on 01603 629921

Performing on the night will be a who's who of the Norwich Music & Arts scene:

Girl in a Thunderbolt - Next Big Thing 2010 finalist and Escalator artist.

 Martin Figura - a chance to see acclaimed writer & poet Martin perform before he heads off to Edinburgh

 Bob Percy AKA Whydini - Magician Extraordinaire 

 Jess Morgan - Singer-songwriter Jess Morgan makes roots music that is a half-way-house between British Folk music and Americana. 

Smalls Murray -The performance duo provide a constant stream of challenges, from the most earnest of self-less endeavours, to the most manipulative of deceptions, blurring the boundaries between truth, art and theatre.   

Heart of a Dog - brilliant band (most of them have beards) 

Helen Ivory - poet & writer 

Tim Clare - Tim Clare is a poet, author and musician. In 2005 he presented the Channel 4 series How To Get A Book Deal. His first book. He has appeared on BBC 2, Radio 1, 2, 4 and 6, and has written for The Guardian, The Times, The Independent, The Big Issue and Writing magazine, amongst others.  

Misfit Collective - Bluegrass/ Folk /Rock 

Danny Whitehouse - Musician (folk) 

Normal for Norfolk - back by popular demand alternative comedian Andy Palmer AKANormal for Norfolk steps onto the stage. "We all laughed even though we shouldn't have...: (anon.)

Spooky Kid Productions - original theatre, comedy and music 

I just uploaded “03/05/2011 - Gravity-defying hair gel, Disgusting Fact-Off and my letter to Will & Kate” to www.mixcloud.com - listen now!