Radio Lewisham schedule launch

Youth-led station, Radio Lewisham launch their 2026-2027 schedule with 25 fresh shows to amplify Lewisham voices.

  

Lewisham, London – September 2026 Radio Lewisham, the borough’s first youth-led radio station, announces the launch of its 2026–27 broadcasting schedule, a bold new season featuring 25 brand-new shows, all created, curated, produced and presented by young people across Lewisham. Broadcasting 24/7 from Lewisham Music’s HQ in Bellingham, the station expands its commitment to giving young people a voice and platform to explore what matters to them.

  

  

Supported by funding from the Elizabeth Legacy Fund, Radio Lewisham was the brainchild of former Lewisham Young Mayor, Jentai Gen-One as part of his YM Manifesto. In partnership with the Lewisham Young Mayor’s team, with support from Bloomsbury Radio and Undeniable, Lewisham Music has brought that vision to life, building a studio, training youth broadcasters, and going live, all within just over a year. In that short time, the station has already reached over 6000 listeners, while training more than 150 local young people in radio skills and production.

  

  

          

  

“Being a musician from Lewisham, when it came to radio, there was no local station for me to get my music played and reach new audiences. Radio Lewisham is a game changer!”

 

               

   

                 

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“Radio Lewisham gives young people the opportunity to share their thoughts and talents to the South East community. It has provided me with invaluable skills and experience ranging from how to use a radio desk to how to be a presenter.”

               

               

“My favourite highlight so far has to be the amazing people I’ve met. I’m constantly inspired and impressed by all the hard work we collectively put into the radio station.”

Micah Spence, Radio Lewisham Presenter

               

               

 

    

Grassroots and community radio have long provided a crucial space for voices ignored by the mainstream. Over recent years, many local stations have seen renewed importance as tools for connection, local identity, and resistance to uniform content. 

          

Radio Lewisham wants to show that cutting-edge curation and youth-driven formats can answer a hunger for fresh, authentic sounds and stories, whilst championing marginalised voices, promoting community engagement, local accountability, and cultural resilience. 

             

For young people especially, the opportunity to be media creators, not just consumers, can be transformational, for example, involvement has been linked to deeper cultural and community awareness, creative confidence, and sense of agency. 

                 

Radio Lewisham sits at this intersection of media, community and youth empowerment. Its free Radio Training programme for ages 11–18 offers crash courses in presenting, production and editing, alongside industry professionals. 

        

   

 

“At Radio Lewisham, we don’t wait for permission to be heard, we take the mic and make it ours. It’s raw, real, and completely ours. It’s given me a voice, a family, and a community.”

Marie Michelle Campbell, Radio Lewisham Presenter

                         

             

As the media landscape becomes ever more fragmented, stations like Radio Lewisham reaffirm the enduring power of radio. Intimate, immediate, local. It’s a space where young voices can be amplified, identities can be explored, and communities can listen to themselves.

             

Radio Lewisham invites its listeners, old and new, to tune in, explore the new schedule, and witness what happens when a community’s youth take the mic.

                              

Schedule launch party

Join us on 8 October 6-9pm at The Fellowship Inn, Bellingham for the 2026-2027 schedule launch party! Get a first look at the new schedule, meet the team, and join talks with our amazing presenters + live music, DJs, food, drink. If you’d like to come along then please get in touch with Kitty Perrin, contact details below.

                             

ENDS

 

                                 

If you have any questions about Lewisham Music please contact Robbie Hurst, Marketing and Communications Manager, and any questions about Radio Lewisham please contact Kitty Perrin, Radio Programme Manager.

    

    

About Lewisham Music and Radio Lewisham

Lewisham Music is an award-winning youth charity that creates positive change in young people’s lives through music. Working across schools and communities, the charity delivers inclusive, high-quality music programmes that support learning, wellbeing, progression and creative careers. Since becoming an independent charity in 2016, the charity has worked with more than 67,000 children and young people across the London Borough of Lewisham. 

             

Radio Lewisham is an award-winning youth-led radio station, giving a platform for all young people in the borough to share their views and creativity, as well as offering training and development opportunities to young people in the borough, including radio skills, presenting and production.

    

Elizabeth Legacy Fund is supporting the development of Radio Lewisham. The Elizabeth Legacy Fund was established by Sir Ian Mills, a distinguished resident of Lewisham, in memory of his wife Elizabeth, with the overall objective of supporting young people in need, the principal focus being on those in Lewisham. 

     

Hi-res images of the studio, presenters, and live sessions can be provided upon request, and sample shows and presenter biographies can be made available on request for press preview.

         

    

   

   

Awards and achievements

Radio Lewisham won the ‘Collaboration of the Year’ award at the London Youth Awards 2025. This category recognises youth spaces that provide safe, supportive environments and make a meaningful impact on the lives of young Londoners. 

             

Radio Lewisham won the ‘Youth Initiative of the Year’ award at the Music Mark Awards 2025. Celebrating youth-led projects, this award seeks to highlight the work of children and young people in making great music initiatives happen. There are no parameters on what projects should be, other than they be led by youth voices. 

    

Radio Lewisham won under the ‘Collaboration (local)’ category at the King’s College London Engaged Research Awards in recognition of its outstanding achievements and contributions to impactful research.

                

 

                             

Notable projects and useful links

Youth Brain Health Radio Show

Young people from Radio Lewisham worked with the Youth Involvement Lab to co-create, produce and present a 4-part radio series on Brain Health, a youth-led project raising awareness about brain health and dementia across Lewisham.

             

Lewisham: Past, present, future

To celebrate Black History Month, young presenters at Radio Lewisham created and produced a 1-hour special programme dedicated to the experiences of young Black people growing up in Lewisham in the past, present, and future.

              

Creative influence: Exploring LGBTQ+ contributions to music in the south-east

Produced and presented by Radio Lewisham’s Micah and Rita, the show spotlights Queer creatives who are shaping the borough’s cultural landscape today. Through open conversations, personal reflections and stories of community-building, CREATIVE INFLUENCE explores what it means to navigate the music industry as an LGBTQ+ artist, while asking an important question: how can we create more inclusive spaces where everyone feels seen, heard and able to thrive?

    

    

   

    

   

   

Come and join the movement, and witness first-hand what happens when a community’s youth take the mic.

   

Taking over the airwaves.