Anthony Adair AM, Patron & Former Chair
I was a listener in the 1980s and early 1990s and I knew one or two people on the Board—Peter Sheldrake, for example, who became chair after me. Peter asked me if I would be interested in joining the Board, and I said yes. I joined in late 1996 and became chair in 1997. In those days we were in Cotham Road in three potentially valuable, yet ramshackle houses.
The station at that time was in some financial difficulty. It was treading water and not profitable in the way such an organisation needs to be to be able to invest in new technology, particularly with the advent of digital radio.
One of the best things we did in my time on the Board was to get David Melzer in as the station manager. David had a great understanding of radio and a terrific capacity for dealing with volunteers. Those dealings can be quite tricky, but David had a great sense of how to manage people.
The aim was to make the station more professional without losing the ethos of a volunteer-run station.
One day, in the old place in Kew, we had Dame Elisabeth Murdoch, who was a donor to the station, come and have a look at the premises. We had to go up this rickety flight of stairs with her and I thought, I hope she doesn’t fall and break her leg. When she got to the top of the stairs, she said she was going to give us X amount, but now, after going up those stairs, she was going to double that.
One of the things which was critical in my time on the Board was to raise awareness of what the station was doing. If people don’t know you exist, then they are not going to help you.
There was quite a dramatic change in the finances between 1997-2007. When I retired from the Board, in 2007, we had over one million in the bank and invested that money to provide future income. Then the GFC hit, and the value of that investment was significantly reduced. This set the station back for five years until they regrouped.
When I look back it was a very rewarding time because we managed to achieve something through everyone working together for a common end.
The station at that time was in some financial difficulty. It was treading water and not profitable in the way such an organisation needs to be to be able to invest in new technology, particularly with the advent of digital radio.
One of the best things we did in my time on the Board was to get David Melzer in as the station manager. David had a great understanding of radio and a terrific capacity for dealing with volunteers. Those dealings can be quite tricky, but David had a great sense of how to manage people.
The aim was to make the station more professional without losing the ethos of a volunteer-run station.
One day, in the old place in Kew, we had Dame Elisabeth Murdoch, who was a donor to the station, come and have a look at the premises. We had to go up this rickety flight of stairs with her and I thought, I hope she doesn’t fall and break her leg. When she got to the top of the stairs, she said she was going to give us X amount, but now, after going up those stairs, she was going to double that.
One of the things which was critical in my time on the Board was to raise awareness of what the station was doing. If people don’t know you exist, then they are not going to help you.
There was quite a dramatic change in the finances between 1997-2007. When I retired from the Board, in 2007, we had over one million in the bank and invested that money to provide future income. Then the GFC hit, and the value of that investment was significantly reduced. This set the station back for five years until they regrouped.
When I look back it was a very rewarding time because we managed to achieve something through everyone working together for a common end.