THE founder of Petersfield Community Radio will talk about the station and how local businesses and organisations can get involved on March 6.

Stephen Martin, who is senior business development manager for the BBC, will be speaking during the First Friday event at the Folly Market between midday and 2pm.

This is a monthly opportunity for representatives of between 20 and 30 businesses and community groups to meet for informal networking, a home-cooked lunch and a talk from a guest speaker. Places can be booked at http://first-friday.org/

Petersfield Community Radio provides an open and non-profit audio and radio service dedicated to the town and surrounding villages.

It works with more than 100 registered volunteers and supporters to share the voices and stories of Petersfield people, celebrate and amplify the creativity in the town and provide local information to link the community and help to build a strong local society.

The project has formed partnerships with four local schools to help children develop personal confidence through storytelling and interview skills, and how to distinguish journalism from disinformation and fake news.

It also works with Petersfield Museum to ensure its audio can form part of an aural history archive that will tell the story of the town for future generations.

In its first year its podcasts, including The P Pod, have grown listening numbers to more than 7,000 people.

The P Pod is hosted by Petersfield residents Claire Vennis, a film production company director, and bank manager and Winton Players regular Joff Lacey.

Claire said: “Both Joff and I originally went along to the inaugural meeting purely as the responsible adult alongside our children.

"We were swept along by the enthusiasm of all involved and ended up looking to volunteer ourselves.

"The next thing we know we’re attending presenter auditions and now find ourselves fronting The P Pod.”

Joff added: “It was totally unexpected, but we love it. It’s a great community thing to participate in; it’s fun, with friendly colleagues, and is a fabulous way to give something back to the community.”

The project thinks Petersfield deserves a full time radio station and is training people while campaigning for a broadcast licence for the area.