Diss-based broadcaster Park Radio given blue plaque commissioned by Lord Lieutenant for Norfolk

Volunteers at Diss-based broadcaster Park Radio have been the latest to receive a blue plaque for their work during the pandemic.

Earlier this month, the radio station was given the plaque by Norfolk County Council in recognition of its work providing people across the Waveney Valley with vital public health information over the past two years.

The plaque, which was commissioned by Lady Dannatt, Her Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant for Norfolk, bears a quote from the Norfolk-born sociologist Harriet Martineau, which reads: “Live your best and act your best and think your best today.”

Jono Woodward, station director at Park Radio, expressed his gratitude at receiving the accolade, which will go up at the community enterprise’s Shelfanger Road studio.

“It’s just awesome,” said the 46-year-old. “It really came out of the blue. We didn’t expect and we definitely weren’t out to get any awards, we just continued doing what we do.

“We just wanted to provide a radio service for people.”

During the pandemic, the station kept people across Diss, Harleston and Eye up to date with the ever-changing rules and restrictions.

Volunteers even moved their broadcasting equipment to their homes to stay on the air when lockdown measures prevented them from accessing the studio.

Katie Brame, 45, the sales and administration director at the station, said: “We worked really hard. We kept the station going when we were working from home.

“We had to mothball the studio, just to keep the radio going – it was all about keeping people up to date for about what was going on.”

The station becomes the second recipient of a blue plaque in the Diss Express area in recent weeks.

Last month, Deputy Lieutenant the Rev Matthew Hutton visited Harleston to unveil a plaque at Waveney Foodbank, whose volunteers have seen their workload almost treble since lockdown measures were first introduced.