A community radio station in Southampton is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year by holding a ten-month series of cultural events to bring communities together through music and culture.

Unity 101 Community Radio was created two decades ago by Ram ‘Kelly’ Kalyan, who wanted to create a radio station “for the community, by the community.”

In that time, 178 people have volunteered at the radio studio on St Mary’s Road.

Over 20 years the radio station has broadcast both live and pre-recorded shows in English, Bangla, Mandarin and Cantonese, Gujarati, Hindi, Dari, Polish, Punjabi, Urdu, and African/Caribbean Creole.

Since its inception, Kelly has been station manager at the radio station and can often be found sitting outside the main studio creating audio packages, writing scripts, and helping the next generation of budding DJ’s.

“It’s a passion of love,” Kelly told the Echo, as he reflected on the 20th anniversary of Unity 101.

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“I’m over the moon of the work we’ve done in the last 20 years. I think our volunteers are second to none, their commitment is unbelievable, it’s like a family.

“We’re passionate about serving the community, we don’t often say it, but we do it.

“Every day is a milestone, when someone achieves their outcomes, it’s satisfying. When a presenter goes on air, it’s satisfying.

“When you talk to people, they speak highly about us and we’re a respected station. We’ve got a clear vision, and we’ve never deviated from that.”

To celebrate the landmark anniversary the community radio station will celebrate with ‘A World of Cultures.’

The celebration will see community events in five different locations – including the The Design Chapel, Polish Club, and De Ja Vu – beginning on Sunday, March 30, and will take place on the last Sunday of each month.

Kelly said: “We’ve been serving the community on air and now we want to serve them face-to-face.

“We’ve always broadcasted in 10 languages, we want to celebrate the different cultures, food, and storytelling of each language.

“Each language is represented by a volunteer that speaks that language, so we’re taking that into five different venues for the whole family to come along have some snacks, say hello, take part in some entertainment workshops, and we can all have a better understanding of each other.”