During the final week of July, a collaboration took place in Andover between Anton Road Studio, Valley Leisure & 40+ 16 year-olds carrying out their National Citizen Service.
The project objective was to produce a podcast documentary tackling a sensitive subject; how people perceive Andover as a town. The week-long project involved the NCS students carrying out a mass of interviews with the general public & business owners within the community. The subject matter being discussed included the state of the Andover High Street; entertainment in and around Andover; the reputation of young people; the importance of volunteering and what’s missing in Andover.
Over the 5 days, a tightly run schedule saw groups of NCS students interviewing the general public on the High Street, carrying out arranged interviews with various business owners & learning some recording studio tricks with engineer, Louis Sellers, at Anton Road Studio. Once the week had ended, Louis compiled over 100 audio recordings into a structured podcast, ready for people to listen to online on demand.
Louis summarises, “The Andover NCS Podcast was a wonderful project to work on. I feel the students gained a great deal, including social skills & decision making. I have no doubt the experience will be highly beneficial later in life. Having listened back to the wealth of interviews, I can honestly say that not only do I know more about our Town but I feel inspired by the prospects of what Andover has to offer. I hope it encourages people to do more for our community.”
“You can’t help but feel that Andover is getting better step by step!”
Your Views
What would you like to see in Andover? More live music? More shops? Leave a comment and let us know.
