Training in the Cayman Islands!
10th August 2025
What a really enjoyable privilege to work with the excellent Public Media Alliance to deliver training to the small and passionate team at Radio Cayman - a very proud moment: https://www.radiocayman.gov.ky/ / https://www.publicmediaalliance.org/
I was trained by the BBC as a radio journalist, joining the TRS (Trainee Reporter Scheme) in July 1989 when I was still in short trousers. Public service broadcasting and its values run through me like 'Scarborough' through a stick of seaside rock (I'm a Yorkshireman so can't use 'Blackpool' as the example!).
The PMA is, to quote its website, "... the largest global association of public service media organisations. We have a specific remit to support and advocate for the role and importance of these organisations – otherwise known as public service broadcasters – in society and democracy": https://www.publicmediaalliance.org/announcing-the-2025-trainer-grants/
One of my most loyal listeners at BBC Radio Leeds was an expat from Cleckheckmondsedge in West Yorkshire. She used to listen to the start of my weekend breakfast shows at 6am while she fell asleep to the balmy breezes of Grand Cayman at 1am, so there's a sense of the wheel coming full circle 🎤
My sessions came under the banner ‘Strengthening Broadcasting Skills in the Cayman Islands’. The only issue I had was the V-word used to describe me: “Veteran BBC broadcaster Andrew Edwards is leading a virtual course for presenters, reporters and announcers focusing on presenting techniques, broadcasting, storytelling, and writing for radio. With 30+ years of experience, Andrew brings practical insight and mentorship to the national public broadcaster”.
And let me be crystal clear, before anyone else asks, this was virtual training - online via Zoom, not (sadly) an opportunity to spend a few weeks in the Caribbean!! Thanks to the football team of volunteers who offered to carry my luggage to one of the most beautiful places in the world …
We may be separated by six hours and a lot of water, but there are so many shared values between what the boss Norma McField, her journalists and announcers produce and my 34+ years as a radio presenter, producer and journalist with the BBC 🎙️
I'm particularly grateful to the PMA's fabulous Keiran Turner for her support and encouragement.
If you’d like to read more, here’s the final report. Other Trainer Grants enabled delivery of specialist programmes, including AI workshops for Pacific media and an indigenous archive knowledge exchange between Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and CBC/Radio-Canada: https://www.publicmediaalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Trainer-Grants-2025-Individual-Reports.pdf
If you’d like me to talk to me about doing some training, online or in person, round the corner in Yorkshire or around the world, I’d really like to speak to you: https://www.theandrewedwards.com/contact
