Ofcom has today revealed that 26 community radio stations across the UK benefited from grants awarded by the Community Radio Fund last year.
The Community Radio Fund is allocated by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and managed by Ofcom.
It was established to support the core costs of running community radio stations, which operate on a not-for-profit basis to deliver specific social benefits to a particular geographical area or a community of interest.
Last year, a total of £467,197.20 was made available to stations across the UK.
In the first round of funding 11 stations received grants totalling £205,479, and in the second round 15 stations were awarded grants totalling £261,476. Across both rounds, Ofcom received a total of 161 applications, collectively requesting a total of £3.39m in funding.
Grants ranged from £4,320 to £33,854, with an average payment of £17,960 awarded across both rounds of funding.
Long-term sustainability
In making the awards, the panel considered that the grants should be prioritised towards, as far as possible, applications that support the financial stability and long-term sustainability of stations.
The panel also highlighted that strong applications requesting funding for job roles often included measurable targets for those roles, such as expected income.
The future of community radio
In 2025-26, community radio stations across the UK are set to benefit from a significant boost to the Community Radio Fund, as the pot available for funding has increased to £900,000.
There are currently a total of 308 community radio stations broadcasting on AM or FM. To date, we have received 185 applications for Community Digital Sound Programme (C-DSP) licences, which are community radio licences for digital radio broadcasting on small-scale DAB multiplexes.
In total, we have now awarded 164 licences, and of these 107 stations are now broadcasting, while a further 57 pending launch.
The application window for the 2025-26 round is expected to open in early September.