DJ completes 24 hour Radio Marathon

Radio DJ Chris Bowden completed an amazing 24 hour On Air Challenge on Access All Aerials (AAA) radio station at Hannahs at Seale-Hayne. Chris, who has Cerebral Palsy, was supported by his brother Craig and the AAA team.

Also known as The Cheesemeister, DJ Chris hosts his only weekly show on Access All Aerials, which is a very special radio station run by volunteers and people with disabilities at Seale-Hayne. Chris is one of 40 DJs who present 28 shows between them. The station is celebrating its 5th anniversary and now receives 231,000 listens and has 1500 followers.

Chris, who is 35 years old and lives in Exeter, has difficulty speaking and cannot independently use his arms or legs. Being a radio DJ on Access All Aerials means that Chris is living his dream. His 24 hour On Air Challenge was his biggest challenge yet. He was delighted to be joined by local radio presenters Andy Gilbert from Exmouth Air and Matt Rogan from The Breeze. He also received really supportive messages from renowned radio presenters Ken Bruce and David Hamilton as well as Jono Colman from Australia. The marathon was listened to by people from all over the world. Several of the regular AAA DJs did shifts throughout the day and night as well as DJs from Cedar in Exeter who have a show on AAA once a week. Cedar is a charity which provides social and learning opportunities for disabled people.

Chris’s brother Craig said “The whole experience has been both exhilarating and exhausting and a lot of fun! It has been Chris’s lifelong ambition to be on the radio and a more recent ambition to do a radio marathon. He was hugely inspired by Chris Moyles’ 52 hour radio marathon which he listened to and watched. Chris is passionate about radio how it works and how he can connect with the audience. We both want to say a big thank you to AAA for all their support and to everyone who has given donations. It is fantastic that we have raised over £1000 to date!”

Jacqueline Edwards from Access All Aerials said “Chris has done brilliantly and it was amazing to be with him when he achieved this and raised so much money to help others. He is a brilliant DJ and you can really feel his enthusiasm when he is on air”.