Ashford as a community can boast of many things, a thriving music scene, lovely independent pub, a caring community spirit as seen on May 4th and a fine community radio station in the form of Radio Ashford 107.1fm who provide us with our affable alarm clock known as Webbo.
CommunityAd tuned in for a chat with Webbo who has been our hosting the Wake Up With Webbo for close to a decade and claims to have loved every minute.
It must be weird to think you are the first voice that many will hear? You’re Ashford’s alarm!
I’ve woken up with many radio presenters over the years and always thought it must be the best job in the world. My favourites would make me feel at home, a friend, like I knew these people. They reassured me and made the start to my day more bearable, that’s what I try to emulate. But it’s quite a responsibility and you can never be half hearted, you must respect your listeners at all times. They give you their precious time, so you must give them your maximum effort, always!
What do you enjoy most about the show?
It’s one big happy family and I love the interaction. People invest in you and you must give that back, fully! I’m also aware of the listeners who don’t join in, but just prefer to eavesdrop, either way, I’m grateful they choose Radio Ashford! It’s a relationship and we must keep working on it!
Why do you think a radio station within our community is so important?
I was working at kmfm in Ashford and they decided they were moving to Medway and stopping the local broadcasting. I was asked to stay on, but I felt there was still a place for local radio and politely declined their offer. Fortunately things fell into place and I’ve not regretted taking the leap of faith!
I’ve been on network radio and also a Kent based show, but the reason I prefer local radio is because of the intimacy of it. It’s like getting the family over at Christmas, but you do it EVERY morning and there are thousands instead of a few! Specific travel updates, topical community news, you can mention every birthday or anniversary and if little Johnny has passed his cycling proficiency (do they still do that?), you can make him feel a hero. I don’t think you can achieve any of this on network stations.
Desert Island Discs time, if you could pick three singles to take with you on a desert island, what would they be?
I do this to people all the time and hope nobody will ever return the compliment, but if you push me I’d have to go with: Madness – The Prince; The Clash – Should I Stay Or Should I Go; and David Bowie – The Jean Genie.
You have an impressive range of presenters and a variety of shows on offer throughout the week on the station; it seems like a fun station to be a part of from the outside looking in, is that right?
When I started, I was the only full-time presenter, so to watch the station grow as it has is truly amazing. Our sponsors and advertisers are the reason we can employ 3 daytime presenters, but also, we have volunteers who do shows from the hospital studio and late evening ‘specialist’ shows! All of these people are invaluable to what we do and we are definitely on the ascendency!
What makes Ashford such a pleasant part of the world to live in?
I moved to Ashford in 1967 at the age of 3. I have seen the most extraordinary changes over the past half century when it comes to the geographical side of things, but one thing remains, the community spirit. I think it can sometimes get overlooked, but it’s always there in abundance. I saw this a lot during the last year of COVID. People rallied for each other! Another example is when some computers were stolen from The Padua Ward at The William Harvey. We mentioned this on air and we had raised enough money and more, within hours. The people of our community never fail to amaze me!
Every day, when I finish my show, I always sign off with these words… “Look after yourselves, but most importantly, look after each other! And remember, if you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all.”