91Èȱ¬

Friday 7 December

We had a meeting and discussed what recordings we could get. We recorded the meeting and introduced ourselves on the minidisc stating our name and role.

91Èȱ¬ Somerset's Matt Botten mentored the teenagers

Tuesday 11 December

Sam and Tom went to Ashland’s Primary school in Crewkerne and interviewed children about their nativity play and asking what characters they played and what they enjoyed most/least about their production.

When they got back to Wadham we listened to the recordings and there was some very funny responses. We then hit the streets of Crewkerne voxing. The ‘voxing’ consisted of us approaching passers by and asking them questions about plastic bags and how we could all do our bit to cut down on the amount of polythene carriers we all use.

Wednesday 12 December

We all met up with Matt at Wadham and we led him to Hinton St. George, which we (The Takeover Team) had voted our hidden gem of Somerset.

We later went out on the streets and got more recordings from shops pledging to go without plastic bags. I went for a driving lesson and when I got back Emma told me ALL the data from the minidiscs had been erased! The whole team were gutted and could not believe it.

The group lost all of their interviews

Tom and I jumped into Emma’s Fiesta and she drove us to the studio in Taunton were we met Matt and others from the 91Èȱ¬ Somerset team. Matt was gutted for us and baffled at how the data could have been lost. He gave us some new equipment which was more expensive and hopefully more reliable. Not wanting to waste any time we got back to Crewkerne and managed to get a few recordings.

Sunday 16 December

Emma drove Kayleigh, Tom and I to the Taunton 91Èȱ¬ Somerset studio were we met Matt who showed us how to edit voxes and interviews on a special computer programme.

Kayleigh and I went on the streets of Taunton to get some more views on the plastic bag free talking point. We didn’t get home until quite late but were thankful Matt had given up his day off to help us with our show.

Monday 17 December

Kayleigh and I interviewed Lady Caroline Cameron of Ilminster about her campaign to make Ilminster free from polythene carrier bags. She gave some great answers and it was a pleasure to meet someone so enthusiastic about changing the world for the better.

Tom, Sam and I went to Ashland’s primary school to interview the children again, they were more than happy to speak and were more open in their answers than the first time.

Tuesday 18 December

Liam O’Leary drove the 91Èȱ¬ Somerset bus into school so we could edit our interviews with the children and Lady Cameron. The bus was also used for script writing which Matt and Liam helped us with.Ìý

The last day nerves were kicking in for many of the group and everyone was tense as we read through and practiced scripts.

Wednesday 19 December

The big day had finally arrived.

I got up at 5 o’ clock and rang Tom to make sure he was awake. Tom and I met up and drove to Wadham where Liam and Matt were waiting and sorting out some equipment on the 91Èȱ¬ Somerset bus.

Matt gave us the completed scripts, having amended them the night before. The other four turned up and we set about rehearsing the first piece we would do, live on air, just a few moments later.

Everyone was nervous and tired but excited knowing friends and family would be listening for the next two hours.

Myself and Tom went to our sixth form common room to ensure the radio was tuned in and on for all to hear. When we returned to the bus after a few words of encouragement and advice from both Liam and Matt, we were standing by to go live.

I spoke first and then the rest of the team each went round and introduced themselves. Once we had handed back to Adam in the studio all our nerves and anxiety had gone.

With the first link over matt told us it sounded really good and things would only get better as we went further into the show. At the end of the show we were all excited and had to record a half hour Christmas special highlight show. For this the roles were all mixed up so we each got a go at different jobs.

I would like to thank 91Èȱ¬ Somerset for giving us this brilliant opportunity and a very big thank you to reporter Matt Botten who mentored us, offering both encouragement and support making our overall enjoyment of the experience more rewarding.

Also a big thanks to 91Èȱ¬ Somerset’s Liam O’Leary who not only drove the 91Èȱ¬ Somerset bus into Wadham both Tuesday and Wednesday but in addition offered advice and took charge of all technicalities on the day. Without either of these two it would not have been possible.Ìý

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