Valley Park Radio is preparing a 24 hour live broadcast to raise £6,000 for new equipment to support outside broadcasts.

The hospital radio station, based at Darent Valley Hospital in Dartford, Kent, will hold its first Big Benefit Broadcast from 10am on Saturday 14th November until 10am on Sunday 15th November.

Volunteer presenters will take part in the event, which has been organised to help fund a Mobile Broadcast Unit for the station.

The new equipment would allow Valley Park Radio to carry out more outside broadcasts, bringing events and activities to patients, visitors and staff listening within the hospital.

Organisers have adopted the tagline “24 hours to make a difference” and hope the broadcast will encourage listeners and supporters to contribute towards the £6,000 fundraising target.

The event has been planned as the first in what organisers hope will become an annual fundraising activity for the volunteer-run station.

Global has added The News Agents to its Plus subscription service, offering podcast episodes without adverts and additional programmes for paying listeners.

The News Agents Plus launched on Monday 9 November, with a weekly question and answer episode involving Emily Maitlis, Jon Sopel and Lewis Goodall.

Subscribers also receive a weekly newsletter and a new monthly series, Moments That Changed The World, in which Jon and Lewis revisit events including the fall of the Berlin Wall and the 2008 financial crash.

Also today, the News Agents has introduced updated artwork and a new logo, its first change of this kind since the podcast launched in 2022.

The launch follows the podcasts’ coverage of the US midterm elections. Emily and Jon reported from Washington DC alongside The News Agents USA co-host Miles Taylor, while Lewis was in Texas. The team also joined forces with LBC for an election night livestream.

Simon Pitts, Group CEO of Global, said the subscription gives listeners “the chance to put their questions directly to the team each week”.

Global has also made James O’Brien Plus available on Apple Podcasts, alongside its existing availability on Global Player and YouTube. Subscribers to either service through Global Player can now connect their subscriptions to Apple Podcasts and access their benefits in that app.

The latest addition follows the launch of Radio Plus in September, which replaces commercial breaks with more music across Global’s UK music radio stations. Global also offers subscriptions for podcasts including The Crime Agents, The Sports Agents and My Therapist Ghosted Me.

Global’s advertising operation is set to gain a much larger UK outdoor network, alongside its established radio and digital advertising activities.

The company has agreed to acquire Alight Media, which operates more than 1,500 digital 48 sheet advertising displays and a mix of digital and traditional 6 sheet posters.

Its portfolio also includes more than 4,000 digital screens in leisure and hospitality venues.

The deal is intended to extend Global’s geographic coverage and bring Alight’s sites into the advertising systems it has developed since entering the outdoor sector in 2018. These include DAX, which Global has expanded into outdoor advertising, as well as its Global IQ planning tools.

It also plans to make the additional inventory accessible through AdPower, its self service advertising platform aimed at smaller businesses, while offering agencies and advertisers more ways to plan, buy and measure campaigns across roadside, transport and city centre locations.

Global Group CEO Simon Pitts said combining the businesses would help by “offering advertisers even greater reach across the UK”, alongside improvements to self service and programmatic advertising.

Alight Media was founded jointly by Matthew Dearden and Dave Huckerby. Matthew, who previously served as President of Clear Channel Europe, said the business had grown since launching in 2019 and that joining Global would support its next stage of development.

Global already holds major outdoor advertising contracts, including the Transport for London rail contract, and says the enlarged estate will add to its advertising options as it competes with other media channels for spending.

The acquisition is expected to complete in the first quarter of 2027, subject to regulatory approval. Both companies will continue operating independently until the deal closes.

BBC Radio 2’s longest fundraising challenge is underway, with Owain Wyn Evans cycling nearly 400 miles across all four UK nations.

Owain, who presents Early Breakfast on the station, left BBC Scotland’s Pacific Quay headquarters in Glasgow shortly after 8am on Monday 9 November, beginning a five day ride in aid of BBC Children in Need.

His first stage covers 84 miles to Cairnryan, with a ferry journey to Northern Ireland to follow. Welsh actor Luke Evans revealed the opening route live on Radio 2, while the overall challenge will take him through Scotland, Northern Ireland, England and Wales before finishing in central Cardiff on Friday 13 November.

At the start line, Owain admitted: “I am very nervous for what the next couple of days have in store for me.”

Sara Cox spoke to Owain on Radio 2’s Breakfast Show, while fellow presenter DJ Spoony joined him in Glasgow. A bagpiper played Scotland the Brave, Scottish comedian Susan Calman delivered a motivational speech and drummers from Glasgow’s Samba Ya Bamba Band performed, recognising his 2021 Children in Need Drumathon.

A listener has named Owain’s yellow, spotted bicycle Shania Chain, prompting a message from Shania Twain, who told him: “We’ll be cheering you on all the way. Good luck!”

Radio 2 will carry regular updates throughout the challenge, with coverage also available on BBC Sounds and a live website tracker showing his progress.

A television crew is following Owain for a documentary, Owain Wyn Evans: Four Nations Challenge for BBC Children in Need, which is scheduled for BBC One on Friday 20 November at 7.30pm.

BBC Radio Sheffield’s Praise or Grumble will receive a blue plaque marking 40 years as the UK’s longest running football phone in.

The presentation will take place at BBC Radio Sheffield at 11am on Monday 16 November, with the Lord Mayor of Sheffield, Councillor Andrew Sangar, handing over the plaque. A special live programme will be broadcast from the event, which football supporters are invited to attend.

The family of Robert Jackson, who founded the programme in 1986 and became its first presenter, will join former hosts and current presenters Adam Oxley, Rob Staton and Andy Giddings for the celebration.

The Saturday afternoon programme has brought together supporters of Barnsley, Chesterfield, Doncaster, Rotherham, Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday to share their reactions to matches and discuss their clubs. Callers over the years have included actor Sean Bean and former Sheffield United and Rotherham manager Neil Warnock.

The anniversary will also be marked across BBC Radio Sheffield with a week of special programming. On Thursday 19 November, the station will hold 1986 Day, with music, fashion and other references to the year the programme began.

Listeners are also being invited to record their own praises or grumbles about their teams and memorable football moments, with some contributions potentially being broadcast.

Katrina Bunker, BBC Senior Head of Content Production for Yorkshire, said: “Praise or Grumble is one of local radio’s great institutions, giving supporters a platform to celebrate victories, vent frustrations and share their passion for the game.”

Rob said: “It’s at the heart of our community, and it’s such a privilege to be able continue that legacy, keep it relevant, and keep the discussion going from fans!”

Weekend Early Breakfast on BBC Radio 1 will be hosted by Jodie Bryant in November and Luke Carr in December.

The rotating presenter slot airs on Saturdays and Sundays from 6am to 7am and forms part of the station’s New Talent Showcase initiative, which previously occupied the Friday Early Breakfast slot before moving to weekends.

Jodie regularly presents Radio 1’s Future Pop show and first appeared on the station during the 2022 Christmas Takeover, an initiative created by Head of Radio 1 Aled Haydn Jones.

Jodie said: “It’s going to be such a fun chance to hang out with the Radio 1 listeners at a different time of day, alongside my usual Future Pop shows.”

Luke will return in December after presenting Weekend Early Breakfast in September. He also presents on Spark Sunderland and received a Golden Buzzer at Demo Factor, held during the Student Radio Association’s annual conference. That recognition led to an opportunity to present Radio 1 Anthems earlier this year.

Luke said: “I loved doing each show through September and I am really excited to be back during December!”

Bobbi Bunker hosted October’s programmes, having previously made her Radio 1 presenting debut during the 2025 Christmas Presenter Takeover. She has also presented on Spark Sunderland and BFBS Radio.

Aled said: “Weekend Early Breakfast provides another important platform for the next generation of presenters to showcase their talents and connect with our audience.”

South West London listeners will hear James Gaffney on Riverside Radio every Saturday and Sunday morning, in a new programme sponsored by Elys Wimbledon.

Weekend Breakfast with Elys will run from 7am to 10am, with music, conversation and coverage of life across South West London. It brings a new presenter to the community station’s weekend schedule and a commercial partnership with the Wimbledon department store, which is marking 150 years in the area.

James began working in radio in 2022 as a travel presenter at Radio Jackie, later joining Global and delivering travel news on LBC. His new role will give him a regular programme lasting three hours on both weekend mornings.

Speaking about his new role, James said: “I’m so excited about joining Riverside Radio. It’s a station I’ve kept my eye on for a little while.”

He added: “Local radio is such a unique form of broadcasting, and one that’s becoming ever harder to find.”

Riverside Radio founder and managing director Jason Rosam, who also presents weekday breakfast, said the Elys relationship reflects the station’s connection with the local area. He said: “For 150 years, Elys has been so much more than somewhere to shop.”

The station says the sponsorship could also lead to special broadcasts, community features and events involving both organisations. James has expressed an interest in broadcasting live from the store in the future.

Children in three West London hospitals will receive Christmas presents through Westside Radio’s annual toy collection.

Now in its eighth year, the Hanwell community station’s Christmas Toy Appeal is asking listeners, schools, businesses and local organisations to donate new toys for children spending the festive season in hospital or receiving support from local charities.

Donations will be distributed to Hillingdon Hospital, Northwick Park Hospital and West Middlesex Hospital, as well as children’s charities and youth centres supporting families across West London.

Weekend Get Up presenter Gos has been involved since the appeal began in 2018 and has helped deliver gifts to the organisations receiving support.

Gos said: “It’s such a great cause that brings real joy to children spending Christmas in hospital. What makes it so special is seeing the whole community come together to do something positive for others.”

Reflecting on previous collections, Gos said the station has received so many donations that getting into the studio from reception has sometimes been difficult.

Global Academy and Chiswick School are among the organisations supporting this year’s collection. Westside is also encouraging local businesses and community groups to organise their own collections or help spread the word.

All donated toys must be brand new and unwrapped. The station will accept donations until Friday 11 December 2026, allowing time to sort the gifts and deliver them before Christmas.

New local news services and expanded reporting are planned by radio broadcasters receiving grants from the government’s £6 million Local News Fund.

Get Radio in Oxfordshire has been allocated £125,000 to build an independent local news service, with a locally based journalist and a team developing the journalism and its commercial future.

Devoncast Radio’s operator, Exe Communicate Limited, receives £89,269 to launch a sister station dedicated to news, providing an always available broadcast channel alongside a greater focus on digital content.

SOAR SOUND CIC will receive £85,000 for the Leicester Local News Innovation Lab, a collaborative project to help community media organisations produce more relevant and accessible local journalism.

Rutland and Stamford Sound has been awarded £17,711 to extend its news services beyond live radio and strengthen its digital skills.

Cross Rhythms in Stoke-on-Trent is receiving £106,089 to develop its local news service digitally for Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme.

In Coventry, Vanny Radio has secured £75,000 for a multimedia community newsroom producing FM and digital bulletins, interviews, podcasts, short videos and online updates.

The awards form part of a £6 million fund benefiting 50 organisations across England and Wales. Grants to individual local media outlets are worth up to £125,000, while seven organisations developing infrastructure for the wider sector are receiving awards of up to £275,000.

Media Minister Ian Murray said: “Through the Local News Fund we are taking action to help newsrooms innovate and adapt their business models for the online world”.

The scheme is part of the government’s Amplify Local Media Action Plan, which also includes measures to introduce young people to careers in journalism and address the safety of journalists. Polly Curtis, co-chair of the fund’s steering board, said: “We want to thank everyone who applied and encourage applications to the next round in 2027.”

CHAOS Radio is inviting people across Cornwall to nominate a family for a Christmas giveaway worth more than £1,000.

The station’s Win Christmas competition opened during The Morning Show with Scott Temple on Monday 2 November, with nominations accepted until midnight on Sunday 6 December.

The winning family will receive a collection of festive gifts and experiences, including a Christmas tree and hamper from Tregothnan Estate, a turkey from Treway Farm and vegetables from CHAOS Farm. Prizes also include skating for four at the Eden Project, an Enigma Escapes experience, chocolates from Lefevre Chocolates and pantomime tickets from Sticker Village Players.

An evening meal and overnight stay for four at The Llawnroc is also included, while four runners up will each receive a £100 gift card.

Scott said: “This is the biggest giveaway we’ve ever had on CHAOS Radio and we’re really excited to get as many nominations in as we can for this incredible prize!”

The competition is supported by Demolition South West, a family run company based in St Dennis which provides demolition, asbestos removal and skip hire services across Cornwall and Devon.

The sponsor said: “For many families across the county, the last twelve months have been anything but easy, and this campaign is all about recognising those who deserve a little luck and a well-earned break.”

CHAOS stands for Community Helping All Of Society, with other local businesses also contributing prizes.