A community radio station has celebrated 18 years of broadcasting the sounds of Southampton’s Asian and diverse communities. 

Since going on air for the first time, the station has staged a series of high-profile community events, such as last month’s sold out Om Shanti Om performance. 

Its team has been handed various accolades during its 18 years of 24 hour service, including a Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service in 2012 and a High Sheriff of Hampshire Award in 2019.

READ MORE: Om Shanti Om at MAST Mayflower Studios in pictures

Ram ‘Kelly’ Kalyan, Unity 101’s project manager, highlighted the station’s various milestones during this time, including covering 400 topics on its morning show, 350 interviews in the drive-time slot, and 200 discussions from the Community Hour. 

“It’s been a delight,” Kelly told the Echo, to “make a difference in the community, whether it be helping organisations to reach their potential, or providing training and skills for people to achieve their goals.

“It’s about connecting everybody in the diverse community in which we live, and which we share on a daily basis,” he said. 

Over 18 years the station has trained 278 volunteers, and currently has 68 on its books, 34 of which have been at Unity for more than a decade, Kelly told the Echo. 

Broadcasting in 10 different languages, the station’s name is at the heart of its mission, Kelly said: “That's what drives us forward all the time. We make sure we never forget that we are here to unite people together.”

Discussing his plans for the future, Kelly said that the station is “constantly developing talent”, both in the station and beyond.

“We'll keep on upskilling our volunteers and training new volunteers to become better. We'll continue working with schools in upskilling them, providing training in all aspects of broadcasting,” he said. 

Beyond the station’s broadcasting, Unity 101 streams on multiple external platforms such as Streema and Radio Garden, where it reaches almost half a million listeners, Kelly says.

The station also offers recording and live streaming for Hampshire's cultural events, having worked with the community for Eid, Mela, and Diwali.