Erewash Sound presenter Richard Dawson raises £2k for charity

A Derbyshire radio presenter who spent over 50 hours on the air on an outside broadcast has doubled his fundraising target.

Erewash Sound presenter Richard Dawson began his marathon mission from his regular Sunday morning breakfast time slot of 8am on Sunday 25th February, and didn’t come off air until 12noon on Tuesday 27th February.

For the duration of the Radiothon, which totalled 54 hours from start to finish, Richard worked to raise awareness of the impact of preventing isolation through community and belonging, and money for two local charities. Money was also raised for the radio station.

Within hours of the end of his marathon broadcast, Richard had doubled the original £1,000 target set – amassing £2,000 and money continues to come in.

Richard said: “What a few days the Erewash Sound Radiothon was! Together, we did something really special. As well as raising mover £2,000 – of which I thank everyone who donated – together, we created opportunities for people who are struggling to connect with others.

“We met some amazing people, played some great music and got very little sleep. I want to thank everyone who joined me on the journey, for those that did the overnight shift with me, everyone at Erewash Sound, all of our guests who do amazing things to help build community and belonging, and everyone who listened and gave money – you made the whole event brilliant!

Richard was particularly grateful to radio station engineer Dave Dallard for “his tech genius”, adding, “..it wouldn’t have happened without you” before signing off saying “Until next year…”