A POPULAR volunteer-run community radio station in the north Cotswolds is at risk of closing unless it can recruit key people to help run it.

North Cotswold Community Radio (NCCR) is in its 12th year of broadcasting from studios in Chipping Campden, with programming including popular music, classical music, an arts and features show, and a local sports based programme.

NCCR started broadcasting in 2007 and since then hundreds of volunteers of all ages have stepped up to the microphone or worked to keep the station on the air.

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But a statement has been released by the NCCR team that says that with "sincere regret we have to announce that, unless we can recruit key people in the next couple of months, North Cotswold Community Radio (NCCR) will close next Christmas".

Robb Eden, NCCR’s founder, said “It’s a shame that such a valuable community resource is in danger of closing.

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"From the start we were surprised how quickly the community took the radio station to heart but, more recently, we’ve had to compete with an ever-changing media scene whilst actively trying to recruit volunteers from a diminishing pool of recruits.

"Community radio has a vital part to play in bringing local issues to the fore and in giving local organisations and businesses an opportunity to be heard, whilst at the same time encouraging people to become involved in their community.

"It will be sad if our community loses this important voice.”

Over the years NCCR has also been a voice for numerous community organisations who want to get their message across.

Last years we reported on a special 24 hour fundraising marathon broadcast and through the show Rich Whincup and his sons managed to raise more than £2,000 for Kate’s Home Nursing, Acorns Children’s Hospice and Shelter.