Refugees hit the airwaves with Reel Rebels

Community radio station Reel Rebels Radio has been awarded big lottery funding for a project that will give a group of young refugees and asylum seekers in London the opportunity to produce their own monthly radio show.

The hourly show, being broadcast by the Hackney-based internet station, will be a chance to hear personal perspectives on London life, from a group still seriously under-represented in mainstream media.

Alicia Graham, co-founder of Reel Rebels Radio, explains why this project is needed: “It will give these young people a way of becoming more integrated in their community. I hope it will be something very empowering; it’s not just the conversational and
technical skills they’ll be building up, but also a relationship with the listener”.

Reel Rebels are working with Praxis, a support service for migrants and refugees, and Brighter Futures, a self-advocacy group of active asylum seekers in London.

“When the Brighter Futures members first came into the studio I was so impressed by their eagerness to get involved. They read some poetry they had written for our spoken word program and talked about some of their experiences. I realised I wanted us to develop something more long-term, to help give them more of a voice”.

Something the project hopes to address is the isolation commonly felt by those seeking asylum.

Often they don’t have the right to seek work so it can be difficult to become involved in anything and build relationships, “it’s important that people aren’t stuck in their own world, and that they feel like valuable members of a community”.

Research has shown high levels of depression and anxiety among those seeking asylum, particularly younger people. They have usually been through traumatic experiences and then arrive in a new country to face overwhelmingly negative images of themselves in the media.

The radio show will be a chance to hear about their experiences, both in the UK and in the country they’ve come from, “we are inviting
these people to tell their own stories, not just be reported on. That’s what community radio is for”.

And the audience can in turn respond, “listeners can offer support, give feedback, challenge ideas. It’s a dialogue, and that’s when it becomes global. We have listeners all over the world”.

Alicia believes that radio is an effective medium because it is able to challenge common prejudices, “when a person can’t be seen you have to consider them differently. It’s also a medium suited to vulnerable people.

“They are often targeted by society, so feel more comfortable expressing themselves when their faces aren’t shown”.

The project begins in the autumn and runs for a year. The format is very open. It will include everything from audio diaries to art and music reviews.

Participants will be able to use the platform to develop their own interests and as Alicia puts it, “find their own way with it. That’s what will, I hope, help them to feel more empowered and confident”.

For more go to:
reelrebelsradio.com
praxis.org.uk
brighterfutureslondon.co.uk