Uckfield FM


Uckfield FM is a community radio station based in the town of Uckfield, East Sussex and was founded during the 2002 Uckfield Festival. The station broadcasts from studios at Bird In Eye Farm, which is to the south east of the town in the direction of Framfield.

RSL broadcasts (2003 - 2010)

Uckfield FM launched at 8:00am on Monday, 23 July 2003 from the original, temporary studios above The Picture House Cinema in Uckfield High Street, broadcasting locally on 87.9 FM and online. Subsequent temporary broadcasts took place on the same frequency. The station broadcast during the Summer in support of the Festival by way of a 28-day Restricted Service Licence for the following 7 years. The summer broadcasts at The Picture House during 2003 and 2006 featured live presenters 24 hours a day.
Uckfield Community Radio Limited was formed and the station moved into the current premises at Bird In Eye Farm during late 2006 and early 2007. The summer broadcast of 2007 was the first to take place at the current location.
The group submitted an application to OFCOM in November 2008 for a Community Radio License.
In 2007 and 2008, the station also broadcast via a Restricted Service Licence during December to support build up to Christmas including the Uckfield Late Night Shopping events.
The final Restricted Service Licence broadcast took place during July 2009. On 22 July, just days after going off air OFCOM announced that Uckfield Community Radio Limited had been awarded a full-time Community Radio Licence, valid for 5 years.
The founders of the station were Mike Skinner, Paddy Rea RIP, Gary King and Alan French.

Full-time broadcasting (2010 - present)

Uckfield FM began broadcasting full-time at 1.05pm on Thursday 1 July 2010. Then Uckfield Town Mayor John Carvey officially cut the ribbon. The station currently holds a Community Radio Licence and does not operate as a commercial operation. A term of the licence is that the group are required to set out a number of key commitments.

Licence renewal

Uckfield FM was one of a number of community radio stations who had certain Key Commitments investigated by OFCOM. An extension to the licence was confirmed on 13 November 2014.

Studio guests

Regular guests on the station include MPs Nus Ghani and Maria Caulfield.
BBC Radio 2 newsreader John Marsh lives locally and has been a long term supporter of the station has been a guest a number of times. Marsh returned in 2016 as part of the tributes to Terry Wogan alongside Mike Skinner. The tribute also featured on BBC South East Today.
Other notable guests include Henry Blofeld, Carlo Curley, Paul Carrack, Michaela Strachan, Gretchen Peters, Frank Ifield, John Wheeler, Wayne Horsburgh, Chloe Paige and Kerry Katona.
On 28th February 2020, during the global coronavirus crisis, Uckfield FM allowed a supposed 'registered nurse' to deliver a 20 minute section on unproven theories about how 5G causes coronavirus. After multiple complaints to OFCOM, the station was warned for its actions and ordered to take actions for allowing unproven theories to be aired without guests being 'sufficiently challenged'. The 'registered nurse' was found to be a proponent of alternative medicine and did not have any medical qualifications whatsoever.

Outside broadcasts

The station broadcasts updates from the Uckfield Festival, which takes place during July each year. During previous years, the station has broadcast live from Luxford Field in the town as part of 'The Big Day'.
Live broadcasts have also taken place during The Uckfield Carnival, which takes place in September, and the Christmas Late Night Shopping in early December.