× Clarification: This article was created for RaW 1251AM by Greer Riddell not January Media.

Student Radio Broadcasts For 100 Hours From Tent Warwick University

Created by Greer Riddell in Portfolio for RaW 1251AM on 20 Mar 2015

Behind the scenes of RaW 1251AM’s charity radio marathon where students broadcast non stop for 100 hours in a tent at Warwick University raising money for Scope.

Watch our RaW 1251AM MaRaWthon Video on YouTube.

What is the MaRaWthon…

Imagine yourself sat outside in a makeshift gazebo at 3AM in the middle of February with only a desk, a few cases of frostbite and five similarly sleep-deprived presenters for company. That is exactly what RaW 1251AM’s 100 hour long charity Outside Broadcast, The MaRaWthon was like. The MaRaWthon ran from Monday 11am - Friday 3pm but for many of the team it had been a year in the making.

Warwick University Supports The MaRaWthon

RaW 1251AM generated wide interest in the event through a huge social media campaign which utilised all successful online platforms including Audioboom, Twitter and YouTube, e.g. a trailer containing all 100 hours from the previous year condensed into 100 seconds and the hashtag #Piazza100.

Similarly for each of the 100 hours there were individual beds and jingles telling listeners where to donate and what hour we were on. Listeners also had the option to watch inside the gazebo via a YouTube stream.

Announcing The MaRaWthon On RaW 1251AM

Watch: Setting Up On The Warwick University Piazza

Fundraising For Scope

This year RaW 1251AM’s annual event managed to raise £1500 for Scope, a disability awareness charity. Scope was voted as our charity of the year in September by all members.

National Community Fundraiser for Scope, Caroline Barnes attended the 3 hour launch show and praised the station for our efforts afterwards:

“I wanted to say a huge thank you once again to all of you for completing your fantastic challenge. I hope that you all feel proud that you have raised such a significant sum of money for the charity. It will make a huge difference to the lives of disabled people and their families.”

Getting Local Businesses Involved…

By engaging with the Students’ Union and nearby retailers, RaW 1251AM were able to run competitions, prizes included a season-long pass to Warwick SU club night, ‘Pop’ and a selection of books from Waterstones in Leamington Spa.

RaW 1251AM also secured an agreement with the on-campus branch of Santander, who doubled the total in our collection buckets.

What happened at the MaRaWthon?

One thing Warwick University’s RaW 1251AM prides itself on is it’s all members policy, everyone that wants to be involved can be. The MaRaWthon cemented this philosophy by taking the normal schedule to the middle of Warwick’s campus. Every presenter got the chance to broadcast from the gazebo and show off their talent.

RaW 1251AM became the talk of campus with an audible presence through speakers and a visible presence through flyering and online interactivity. Shows were encouraged to add to their usual content with ‘piazza-friendly’ features: Tuesday lunchtime show Tux Tuesdays epitomised that in their ‘Pancake Day Challenge’.

Special Guests

As well as this RaW1251AM managed to secure the successful country music duo, The Shires to play a set for the event which brought a large live audience on the Thursday morning.

The Night Shifts

Usually overnight the RaW 1251AM jukebox, affectionately known as Sue takes care of the output, but during the MaRaWthon teams of presenters were up and in the tent providing additional content from 11pm-8am. A plethora of wacky features emerged including one where an unlucky presenter found a pair of lost underpants in the laundrette, office chair racing on the piazza and supermarket sweep in the local Cost Cutter.