Welcome!

February is here and we started the month with our Hope for Haiti Charity Auction.  Thank you to everyone who took part and helped raise over £14,000. 

With Valentines Day and Chinese new year, it's another great month at Fresh!

Best wishes.

Julian Hotchkiss

Managing Director

TThe Auction is now Over!

Last week we gave you the chance to OWN some fantastic money-can't-buy goodies AND help the people of Haiti at the same time!

Thank you to everyone who took part by placing bids on some very special lots.

We're pleased to announce that the auction raised in excess of £14,000 and every penny will go to help the people of Haiti.  Thank You!

Go to the auction page now!

Support Macmillan With The 'Support' Jewellery Collection

Designed Exclusively for Macmillan by Nikki Barrett

A collection of silver jewellery designed exclusively for Macmillab, as leaders in cancer support this collection has been designed with the appearance of supporting and holding close incorporating the Macmillan green with the use of a green onyx bead.

Being handmade each piece is as individual as you are. You can enjoy a beautiful hand crafted piece of jewellery with added reassurance you have given a generous donation to Macmillan.

The collection consists of:

A silver pendant - £25

Pair of silver drop earrings - £40

Lapel Pin (pictured right) - £25

Pair of silver cufflinks - £50

Jewellery from www.nbjewllery.com or Tel: 07973 670 635

Top Ten Tips for safer winter journeys

• First and most importantly- is it necessary to take the journey in the first place? If it can be avoided, stay where you are!
• Pack some emergency food and drink supplies and make sure you have a torch, triangle, fluorescent/reflective jacket, rug, jump leads and a bottle of water to top up your washer fluid.

• Check the weather at your destination so that you can prepare accordingly, or again forego the trip altogether. Stay tuned to Fresh Radio throughout the day to keep abreast of the road and weather conditions.

• Just because it's cold, don't skip checking over your car before you travel including ensuring all your lights are working and your wiper blades are not worn or damaged and clear the windscreen effectively. Stop by the nearest garage to check tyre pressure, tread and general condition; plus your water (coolant and washer) and oil levels too.

• Take extra clothing with you. Wear Boots instead of shoes and ensure you have a warm hat and gloves.

• Charge your mobile phone and keep it with you in the car incase you have any problems. It's a good idea to put your breakdown service provider's number in your phone.

• Remember, there could be ice. Even if the roads look clear, you might not be able to see it.

• Make sure you have enough fuel for the journey and never travel without having some cash with you for emergencies.

Fresh Pets! with Ashlands Vets

Our pets are part of the family and when something goes wrong or you lose you favourite furry friend, where do you turn?

Fresh Pets, sponsored by Ashlands Vets, is a dynamic, up to date lost and found section at freshradio.co.uk.  So when disaster strikes and you've lost your pet, as soon as you can, log on and upload your details.  And every day at 12.30 we check out the latest lost and found pets on air.

Ashlands Vets is a friendly small animal practice for domestic and small pets.  Theres easy access parking and on site out of hours service too.  Ashlands Vets have a combined experience of over 100 years.  Their friendly, caring team offer you a professional service in a modern equiped surgery, so you know you're getting the very best care for your pets.  Branches in Ilkley and Glusburn.

Ashlands Vets - we care because you care!

Check out Fresh Pets in our helpdesk.

The Easter Chick comes early!

Tommy joined us in the studio for Fresh breakfast along with Chuckles the Chicken.  Pictured here is Chuckles with Julian - isn't she a big bird?????  James took the pic so he's not in it!

Funny thing is that The Principal of Craven College came in for a meeting with Julian after the show and got 'chuckled' by the crazy chick!  He told us it made his day!  Good on you Alan! Ahem. 

There's lots of advice at the West Yorkshire Animals in Need Website

The snow fell on Broughton Hall!!!

There were snowball fights and a very festive atmosphere at Fresh as the snow fell this week! 

Wilson was out with his new camera and Tim thought a good walk in the snow with the dog was on the cards! 

Julian made snowmen and Steve Joy worried about whether the roof would collape with the weight of snow! (ah bless him!). 

But even snow (er sorry, so) we got some great pics of our studios and the grounds around Fresh Towers!

Some from our team didn't make it in as the weather was too bad, but Julian and James did their best with keeping everyone uptodate over school closures and getting everyone to work safely in the mornings! 

On the left is our Christmas tree outside Fresh - at night its all lit up - lovely! 

On the Right is our building in the snow - what a wonderful place to work - and we get to look at this view every day!  Marvelous! 

Ahhhhh....such a lovely place and even more beautiful in the snow!

We love it here - and if you want to come take a look... be our guests!  Give us a call and pop round to see us!  Can't promise James will have the kettle on but we're sure you'll enjoy meeting the team!

Richmondshire Has Talent!

A weekend of music and entertainment at The Georgian Theatre Royal, Richmond. On 6th - 8th November, the theatre came alive to music, dance, poetry and other acts, all bidding to convince the judges that they had talent and ultimately win this Talent show.

It was a tough contest with 20 acts battling it out, chosen from the hundreds who attended the auditions.

The judges were Eugene Hazell, Susan Louise Jinks, Richard Jones and Julian from Fresh Breakfast.  Comparing were Mark Mark and George Critchley.

The winner was Augus Johnston who took away the coveted trophy, supplied by show sponsors CJ Lightfoot Jewellers, £250 in cash, a photoshoot with award winning celebrity photographer Ian Meeson plus the chance to perform on stage next season! 

Pictured here is Angus signing his very first autograph!  And below, the winners, with judges and compare (courtesy of Ian Meeson Photography).

The winners

Fourteen year old Angus Johnston was named winner of Richmondshire Has Talent following a nail-biting weekend of heats and the Grand Final at The Georgian Theatre Royal. Angus performed his own composition with lyrics written by a school-friend and accompanied himself on the guitar.
As well as giving Richmond audiences a spell-binding performance on Saturday and Sunday nights, he managed to fit in a trip to Newcastle to audition for Britain's got Talent on Sunday morning!

Second prize winner was Daphne Clarke, nicknamed "the rap granny" who treated audiences to a thought-provoking and highly entertaining selection of her own work. Daphne's own poetry and the twinkle in her eye proved a winning combination and was aptly timed because her poetry collection is to be published next week. She is also billed as December's poet at Poetry and Pints on 7th December in the Theatre Bar.

Third prize winners were musicians Ben Bason and Ian Featherstone from Richmond School. "Ben and Ian" impressed the panel with their commitment, versatility and outstanding musicality on voice, guitars and keyboard. The pair also took on board all the feedback from the judges over the course of the contest and like many of the acts, benefited from the expert advice and performance tips on offer to them from the four judges who gave their time and services freely to the Georgian.

To see more pictures, check them out in The Gallery

There's more at The Georgian Theatre Royal website.

Ilkley Science Festival

The First Ilkley Science Festival took place on 14th and 15th November at Ilkley Grammar School.  The four girls, who have organised it to raise funds for their trip to Ecuador next year, came into the Fresh Studios on Wednesday to talk about what's in store for the weekend.

The famous Ilkley literature festival inspired the science festival. The students loved hearing leading authors speak and decided they would like to hear top scientists discuss their work. They came up with an obvious solution - organise their own science festival. Leeds University are backing this bid and have helped the students attract six leading scientists to Ilkley to give six talks over the weekend.

The students worked with Leeds University to ensure that the talks are of great interest and will be helpful to anyone studying science at school or university.

The talks range from psychology topics (Chocolate Addiction) through to engineering (How robots are being used in medicine). There are also talks from the areas of biology and medicine.

Pictured outside the studios are the four Year 11 girls, Kirsty, Ella, Molly and Hannah and below in Studio 1 with Julian and James on Fresh Breakfast.

You can find out more on The Ilkley Grammar School Website

The Little Flowerpot Company

New Store opens in Silsden....and Fresh were there!

The girls at The Little Flowerpot Company are excited at the opening of yet another shop!  Building on the success of the shop in Albert Street Skipton, they've JUST opened in Kirkgate, Silsden and Julian from Fresh Breakfast was there to do the official opening! 

Rachel, Katie and Sophie welcome you to their lovely new shop selling flowers for all occassions and lovely gifts too.  The same great service as you've come to expect from their Skipton Shop now in Silsden too!

They've just been on TV too - featuring in the latest series of 'Don't Tell The Bride'!  As interflora agents they can sort out your needs to anywhere in the country too.  Find out more at littleflowerpot.co.uk

Worlds Biggest Coffee Morning

Friday 25th September we got together with Macmillan Cancer Support to help raise money for this VITAL service.

As part of the fun during the day we auctioned off a signed Burnley Premiership 09-10 football with the whole team's signatures!

Congratulations to Catherine from Barnoldswick who won the auction, bidding £100 for the ball!

The money for the coffee mornings across the Dales including our very own event, is still coming in, check back here to find out how much we all raised!

Well done to everyone across the Dales who held an event!

Fresh VIP wins a Laptop!

We teamed up with our friends at Harry Garlick to give one lucky listener a FREE laptop!  

And just for registering as a Fresh VIP, Paul Fearnley walked away with this ace prize - a brand spanking new top of the range Acer Laptop!  He's pictured here collecting his new laptop with Calvin, Skipton Store Manager and Julian from Fresh Breakfast!

Congratulations Paul!

The Fresh Radio Wedding of The Year

with The Rendevous Hotel, Skipton

Saturday 22nd August will be a day to remember for Steve and Pam from West Marton, as they tied the knot at the Rendevous Hotel in Skipton. 

Winners of the 2009 Wedding of the Year Competition, the new Mr and Mrs Mawdesley enjoyed a great day with all their family and friends seeing them married in a lovely ceremony in the Rendevous' canal side conservatory.  Then there was a delocious meal in the main ballroom (which looked stunning by the way) and of course speeches!

Julian and James were there with their partners, enjoying the day and, as agreed on Friday's breakfast show they wore matching pink ties!  Hmmm.  Here's the proof!

Jeremy Gartland and wife were also there after racing across the Dales after finishing his show in the northern studio to be at the wedding.

There's loads more pictures in the gallery - have a look.  Congratulations to Mr and Mrs Mawdesley from all of us at Fresh and The Rendevous Hotel.