about us
Caroline Coastal is an OFCOM-licensed radio station that provides a 24-hour daily radio service for the towns and villages within the Maldon District on the Essex coast on 94.7 and 104.7FM. Our programmes are also available around the world online, on smart speakers and various apps.
The origins of Caroline Coastal go back to 1971 with one man’s dream of ‘Radio Maldon’. In 1990, the Radio Authority received a 'letter of interest' regarding a licence to broadcast to this area – the contents of that letter described a radio station very similar to the one we operate now, thirty years later.
As the new millennium began, community radio was eventually introduced to the UK, and one of the first community radio licences issued in the country was awarded to a radio station for the Burnham-on-Crouch area. The station was known as Saint FM.
The radio station struggled to gain an audience and attract sufficient advertising in order to operate successfully, despite gallant efforts by those involved. Its fortunes and its audience fluctuated over the years.
In 2017 a new licence for a larger area, including all of the Maldon District, was advertised by OFCOM and was won by the team behind the original local station. The plan was to end the existing broadcasts and re-group, ready for a return to air as soon as possible.
Returning to air became difficult for the team and they realised that they were in need of both expertise and financial assistance. A number of local residents with radio experience were contacted and agreed to join the existing team; substantial donations were also sourced to finance the radio station's return. Technical assistance was offered by Radio Caroline, with several members of the Caroline team offering their expertise. This station was Caroline Community Radio.
Caroline Community Radio began broadcasting in October 2020 and, while it featured a number of experienced DJ's, gave a number of new broadcasters the opportunity to gain broadcast experience. Many of these original presenters remain with the station today. With professional advice and encouragement available from a team with experience in radio totalling more than 100 years, and including broadcasters from BBC and Commercial Radio, the station got off to a flying start.
However, COVID-19 had been around for over 8 months and had no intention of leaving just yet. The Caroline Community Radio team were unable to engage in the local area as they had wished as they could not attend, nor put on events. Following the pandemic, many local, independent businesses could not afford to keep themselves in business, let alone advertise with their local radio station... especially if the station wasn't getting out into the area. It was a difficult cycle of issues caused by the pandemic, but the team never gave up fighting and after a year of hard work from the entire team, Caroline Coastal launched on Saturday 20th April and offered a bright, new future for a radio station that just won't lie down!