Meet the Mancunian-8.16- Matthew Carroll-transcript

Intro

Welcome to Season 8 of the Meet the Mancunian podcast: social impact stories from Manchester. A warm Mancunian welcome from your host, Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe. Thank you for joining me today.

Every Tuesday, I bring you the stories of Manchester's unsung heroes, the individuals who helped to create positive change in our community. My aim is to inspire you, dear listeners, to follow your own passions, whether through volunteering or working in the social impact sector. I'm also keen to spotlight good causes. and create more awareness and support for them.

Whether you're tuning in on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or on my website meetthemancunian. co. uk, get ready for a season filled with inspiring tales of social impact within our beloved city.

Welcome to the season finale, the 16th episode of season 8 of the Meet the Mancunian podcast, social impact stories from Manchester. This episode is a special one. It features the 100th guest since I started my podcast in January 2022. Really grateful to all my wonderful guests and listeners who have supported me on this almost three year incredible podcasting journey.

The Meet the Mancunian Podcast will take a break and return with Season 9 in October 2024. A special collaboration with the Spirit of Manchester Awards featuring both nominees and winners.

Introduction to Matthew Carroll and Evolve Radio

[00:01:32] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Passionate about community radio, we hear from Matthew Carroll, Station Manager, Evolve Radio, in this episode.

In Matt's own words.

[00:01:41] Matthew Carroll: But regarding other challenges, I don't think I've ever come across any other challenge, because when you're in community radio, when you're in hospital radio, you're accepted for who you are.

Nobody judges you, nobody will think any differently if you want to come out for a stage of time because of what's going on in your life and that's the good thing about it. So that's always been a good thing for me because I could always go back to it and always pick up where I started.

[00:02:10] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Thank you so much, Matthew, for taking the time today.

[00:02:12] Matthew Carroll: It's okay. Are you okay?

[00:02:15] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: I'm doing well. It's a lovely day.

Matthew's Journey into Community Radio

[00:02:17] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Tell us about how you found your passion for community radio. When did that start and where did that start?

[00:02:22] Matthew Carroll: I started when I was around about 19 years of age. I would enjoy hospital radio. I left college and I studied mechanics at college and I wasn't too sure what I wanted to get into. , I did have a full time job as well at the same time. I started from there 25 years ago, this year.

Achievements and Commitment to Community Radio

[00:02:40] Matthew Carroll: Big achievement to be honest is 25 years in voluntary services and working in community radio and hospital radio. I don't think there's many people that can say they've achieved to that level. From day one, I've never, and I say this every day to people that I speak to about getting into community radio, hospital radio, I've never had the ambition to go any further because I've always been complacent.

I've always been happy with what I was doing. I could have gone on to bigger and better things. I took the opportunity to send demos out to all the big stations, but I didn't do that because I think my heart was always in community radio, hospital radio and it gives you a sense of feeling because you know you're helping people. And especially when you're doing hospital radio, because the people that are listening are in hospital, they're getting better, and they're there for their rehabilitation.

And when you're working on community radio, you're helping people within the community like you was on my show a couple of months back. And I think working with other parts of the community as well as having your own, self abilities, I think it works well for me. And that's where I kept myself and stayed humble to the fact I am committed to working within the community. Because I am from Wythenshawe myself. And I've worked hard to be where I'm at today.

[00:04:11] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Thank you so much for sharing your journey, 25 years of community and hospital radio. Like you said, that is something and, that strong connection to the community that you serve is so important.

The Birth of Evolve Radio

[00:04:24] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: And now you've got a new venture that you want to share with listeners, which is Evolve Radio. So tell us about that. How did you get involved and where did that start?

[00:04:33] Matthew Carroll: I got involved with Evolve just as a presenter. I wanted a new challenge. I wanted to do something else. And at the time Evolve Radio wasn't even thought about going into the community. It was an online station.

And I've put my knowledge about working in the community into this and become a station manager of that station. And with the other gentlemen that I work with at Evolve, the other station manager, we've decided that Stockport didn't have a community radio station as such that are out there in the community.

And we wanted to make the community of Stockport come together because Stockport's up and coming. There's a lot of new stuff there. There's a lot of new buildings going up, and there's a lot of new shops that are taking place in the central Stockport.

We found that after doing some research, that Stockport. was missing that kind of station, because other places have got one, but especially Wythenshawe and it works very well.

The obviously Wythenshawe FM has been in Wythenshawe as a community station for over 20 years. And it's very established. It's very well known and that's what we want to try to achieve with Evolve as well.

My heart stays with Wythenshawe FM because, I worked on the station on and off for 20 years, but as I've been in radio for so long, I think my ability to bring this station together and to make this work has taken off. And it's gone from one level to the next. So that's where we're at with it at the moment. We're just making sure that everything's right. We're tying up a lot of things with the station and we're bringing it to the community in Stockport.

[00:06:14] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: I've spoken to quite a few guests from Stockport and I know it has quite a vibrant social impact and community ethos. So I'm sure it would be very welcome.

Challenges in Community Radio

[00:06:25] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: What are the challenges you've faced over the years with community radio? Are there difficulties that you've had to overcome?

Overcoming Mental Health Struggles

[00:06:32] Matthew Carroll: I think a lot of my challenges have been mental health, to be honest with you, with my own mental health, and obviously with being in and out of, I've always done something, whether that's doing a show or that's taking part in being on a committee at a station, I've always had myself at a station and I've always kept that in my heart. But with struggling with my mental health, and I think your listeners will understand if they have struggled with theirs, it takes a lot of your self ability out of you.

So one day you can be okay, next day you can just up the wall, you can be, your anxiety, your depression levels can go haywire. And I think for me, that's been a big challenge because there's a lot of other things in my life that I've, probably wouldn't have to have time to go in to with you. But them challenges in my life, I've put other challenges within my radio career and I've always said to myself, I will get better eventually. And I have done.

And it's only after 10 years, maybe 11 years that I've decided that I wanted to go into counselling about it. And I've just finished my counselling courses and I feel 95 percent better than I did before I started them. And I think anybody that, I can say one thing about mental health that it is a big challenge. And if you don't overcome it and you don't face it, then it's gonna take your life away before you know it.

And I think my recommendation to anybody that's suffering it, and they've got something in their life that they can focus on, they need to focus on that, because if they don't, then they're going to struggle a lot. And they're not going to be able to overcome it as much as they need to get over it, if you know what I mean So like I said after 11 years of me now decided that I wanted counselling. I think i've had about 10 sessions over the last couple of months. And it's helped a lot. And having this focus with Evolve Radio now is helping even more.

Because it's facing them challenges that you're only going to get better. And that's, that's the only one thing I can say. If you face your challenges, you get over it, and you work hard to achieve your goals, for myself especially. I'm just a 44 year old man from Wythenshawe. Not had much in my life that I've looked forward to, but I now will look forward to every day because there's something different coming out of it all the time. And people do find every day you struggle, but they don't need to because If they focus on something they want to focus on, you'll achieve your goals, no end.

But regarding other challenges, I don't think I've ever come across any other challenge, because when you're in community radio, when you're in hospital radio, you're accepted for who you are. Nobody judges you, nobody will think any differently if you want to come out for a stage of time because of what's going on in your life and that's the good thing about it. So that's always been a good thing for me because I could always go back to it and always pick up where I started.

[00:09:50] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Thank you so much for sharing how you have overcome some of the mental health challenges and how being goal focused and having some clear things to look forward to, whatever they are, maybe something small, something big is so important.

And I'm sure listeners will really appreciate your sharing that. I know it's a struggle for very many people and totally relatable. It is a pressured world out there, but there's a lot of good things as well.

So when you think about the impact you made over the last 25 years of community radio, if you want to look back at the last four or five, what would you say stands out for you?

Supporting New Talent in Radio

[00:10:29] Matthew Carroll: Helping other people get into community radio and hospital radio as well because like I mentioned earlier on, I've never had that focus of making it big within radio because I know there's a lot of challenges and there's a lot of people in between you and making that big step. So I think for me it's helping people.

And that's one of the things we want to try and make a stand about with Evolve Radio and it's helping the people in the community because I think for me that's what's helped me. And if I can help other people get into radio with my knowledge. Just because I've not made it into mainstream radio, into commercial radio, or into the BBC, that doesn't matter because I've achieved my goals.

I've achieved what I wanted to achieve, and that's what I want to try and instill within the people within Evolve Radio that it doesn't matter what your challenges are or what you face or whatever, and you can do whatever you want to do. And that's my ambition to try and run training courses, not only to help people get into radio, but help people overcome little bits of life.

I'm not a counselor. I'm not a person who can sit and talk about mental health but I know a lot of people that work in the health industry with my day job as well so we can always point people in the right direction. We can always help people with that.

But if someone's out there say 18 to 21 year old trying to break into radio and they don't know how to go about it. That's what Evolve Radio is going to help people with. It's going to help people to not only get that ambition, but to make them come out of the shell as well. Because as you can tell by me, I'm a good talker. I can talk, I can relate, I can put a radio show together. I can do interviews, you can do all this, but that person that's starting out in radio can't.

I think for me that's where I've lacked in the past, and that's where I want to make things differently. Because when I was first starting out, there was a few people that helped me, but there wasn't that many people pushing me to get further, get where I need to be. And that's one of the reasons why I've not done it to be fair and that's what I want to try and help people with in the future.

[00:12:48] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Thank you so much for sharing how you're trying to support people, both getting into radio and also helping people in the community.

Personally, I've benefited a lot from Wythenshawe FM coming in as a community radio station to support someone like myself, not just helping to share it with more listeners, but also sometimes introducing guests to me, which I'm really grateful for. And Matt, you were one of the people who did interview me over the years, so I'm really grateful for that support.

When you think about the field of community radio, is there a common myth you'd like to bust? Is there something that people are thinking about community radio that you want to say that it's not correct?

[00:13:28] Matthew Carroll: I think everybody that works in community radio are genuine people. And I've always been pushed by my dad to do what you want to do because if you achieve your goals, then you're achieving something, aren't you?

If you achieve one goal a year or you help one person a year, you're doing something good in your life and there's a lot of people that have been my influences. Probably a lot of people will know this person that I'm gonna mention now.

It's the High Sheriff of Manchester Eamon O'Neill. Big influence in my radio career because I've seen him on BBC Manchester with Jimmy Wagg for 30, I think they did it for 36 years all together on a Sunday. And if you can achieve that, then you can achieve anything. Obviously, Eaomon for the second time has become the High Sheriff of Manchester, so he's doing something right in his life.

And that's the status of the people in the community that we work with, you know what I mean? Eamon's been a big pillar in the community for a long time for different reasons but it's always good reasons and, influences in your life. That they're there for a reason and they're there for you to take notice of and that with my dad and with Eamon and I think they've been the biggest influences for me to push myself to get where I need to be today.

[00:14:55] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: That sounds inspiring. 36 years in BBC over many, over many generations you've probably influenced, if that is the case.

Advice for Aspiring Community Radio Enthusiasts

[00:15:05] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: For people looking to start this movement in their local communities, how do they get started?

[00:15:10] Matthew Carroll: I think my biggest advice is don't ever give up. I give up for a little time because of my mental health and it took me a long time to get back into where I needed to be and what I wanted to do. And I've done all sorts of things in radio from having a show that goes over 20 radio stations at hospital and community, which was a very big health show at one point. That was my get back into radio show , which was very good and achieved a lot of things with that show.

But it's never giving up, because if you give up, then your goals are never going to get achieved, work hard as well because if you work hard, what you want to achieve and the only person that can do this is yourself. Nobody else can do this.

 I've learned that from my own heart telling me to do things and my head telling me to do things. Remember they're two total different things . Your heart sometimes overrules your head. But if there's something in your heart that you want to achieve, you've got to go with your heart. Because your head sometimes just talks nonsense and you're never going to achieve it, if you don't go with your heart. And achieve your goals because if you don't, then no one's going to achieve them for you.

And being in the right place at the right time as well. We've had a lot of people come through the door that at Evolve recently. And some haven't been right, some have been right. But it's being in the right place at the right time to achieve them goals.

And if you're not in the right place at the right time and you don't work hard, then you're never going to achieve what you want to achieve. And I think that's my biggest advice and never give up.

[00:16:48] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Great advice and I think the bits that really resonated with me is trusting our heart and sometimes our heart knows better than even our mind intellectually what it's telling us. People can express it in different ways, follow your gut or follow your heart.

An opportunity for you to talk about anything I haven't asked you about. Anything coming up in Evolve Radio that you want to maybe highlight?

[00:17:09] Matthew Carroll: Just the actual working in the community to again to achieve our goals as a station because we understand the stations around us have a lot of achievement over the years, and we want to achieve what they've achieved, but we also don't want to step on their toes as well at the same time. And that's why we decided Stockport was a better area to go to because there isn't that many around.

 It's the training courses that we're going to offer people to come into Evolve. We're going to offer different shows out at different parts of the day for people to learn how to do radio. And I think some of this is going to make us different than other stations. Because you can get into radio, we can sit you down, we can sit you in a studio, but doesn't mean you're going to know what you're doing.

So these training courses that I'm going to run. And we're going to get somebody out as well, a very good friend of mine called Gavin, who's been in radio for a long time. We are going to run these training courses together. We may run them on video, or we may run them in a meeting room. We'll probably do a bit of both, but this is what we want people to understand that we've got a full time schedule at the moment at Evolve Radio. That doesn't mean things are not going to change in. We've only got a full time schedule at the moment because we need to but we will leave slots available for up and coming people.

And, if they do well, there's going to be permanent slots there as well for people to to sit into, to get what they want to achieve. And I think, that's the main thing with Evolve that, it's a radio station, it's a business, it's got to run as a community business, and it's got to get sponsorship. It's got to get, like for myself, get paid, the other station manager to get paid. But it's also going to put back into the community what Stockport needs for different people to achieve the goals at the colleges. We're going to get involved with Stockport College as well to send people over for media courses and stuff. And we're going to work hard with the community to, not only for us, but for them as well.

[00:19:22] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Sounds really interesting and I'm sure Stockport residents would really benefit from some of the training courses and the opportunities to host either a short term or long term show.

I didn't mention when we started but you're actually my 100th guest, so congratulations.

[00:19:39] Matthew Carroll: Thank you. Now that's an achievement as well, isn't it?

[00:19:42] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: It is for somebody who's brand new to Manchester and didn't know anybody. So I'm really grateful for all the partnerships and the introductions. So any reflections on being the 100th guest? Anything you'd like to say to listeners?

[00:19:55] Matthew Carroll: No, I think for me, just reflection is the mental health side. I know getting into something can be very daunting and getting into radio, it's a very high powered business as I've obviously figured out. I went on holiday last week and I didn't stop on holiday either with my phone, people contacting me and stuff.

 That's what it's all about. It's all about putting effort in. It's all about making sure you're achieving your goals. But if you are struggling with mental health, these courses that we're going to run are going to be beneficial to them because we're going to touch on a little bit of it as well.

And the two of us, myself and Gavin, we're gonna make sure that these courses go with the bang and to help just, just to reflect on yourself really, and what you want to do, what you want to achieve in life.

Because at 44, I've never thought about it before and I thought about it over the last couple of months what I want to achieve. And at 44, I've only just figured it out. And that's to become what I'm becoming today. I'm a station manager at a community radio station. To work hard and to help people in the community as well. because I done it for so long but never thought about giving it for other people.

So that would be my biggest reflection just to make sure that you know what you're doing and if you are suffering with mental health just to get the help you need and do something that you're happy with doing. Because if you've got that focus then that focus is the main thing that's going to get you better.

[00:21:30] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: It's at the cusp of a new chapter of community radio, Evolve Radio. And also somebody who's trying to overcome their own mental health. It's great to have you on the show.

Signature Questions and Personal Reflections

[00:21:42] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: I now move to the signature questions I ask all my guests. So the first one for you is, Manchester was a colour, what colour would it be and why?

[00:21:51] Matthew Carroll: Definitely blue because Manchester City, 100%.

[00:21:55] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Fair enough.

If you could choose a famous landmark in Manchester to represent you, which one would it be and why?

[00:22:02] Matthew Carroll: Manchester Cathedral. Because it's built strong and it's built to last and what's inside is really nice. Sometimes on the outside, it's a bit aged and a bit weathered, but inside is absolutely gorgeous. And that's what I can say about myself.

[00:22:18] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: I like that and the Manchester Cathedral is beautiful. I go there for Christmas usually. It's really nice.

If you could trade lives with someone in Manchester for a day, who would it be with and why?

[00:22:29] Matthew Carroll: I'm gonna say Noel Gallagher because one of my absolute great artist growing up and Oasis was one of my favourite bands. And still today, Noel Gallagher is one of my favourite artists, so I'd love to sit and have a coffee with him or a drink. Because I think I'd like to go out and have a drink with him and talk about Manchester City, talk about music, and, I think it'd be a really good day that.

[00:22:54] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: I think that'd be lovely.

What's the most important life lesson you've learned so far?

[00:22:59] Matthew Carroll: Giving up, and when I found out that I couldn't have children, that was one of my biggest things in my life that I'd nearly give up and I didn't want to do anything, didn't want to see anybody, speak to anybody.

But I've come to realise that there's ways and means of having children. And that was my biggest time just when I wanted to give up. But you can't, you've got to carry on, you've got to achieve. And I think it's hard sometimes, isn't it? It's hard to get on with your life when something big comes across it. And I think for me, overcoming that was probably one of the biggest things I've overcome in my life.

[00:23:39] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: I can understand how hard that would be but like you said keeping going and seeing what's the good you can do in the world or in your little community.

What's the most important personality trait someone would need to work in your industry?

[00:23:53] Matthew Carroll: Big personality, to be honest, if you have a big personality, be the biggest person that you can be. Because I think when you're working in radio, when you're working in this kind of environment, you've got to have a personality, but you've also got to have achieved things in your life. But also, to make you a stronger person, you've got to overcome different things that have come in your life as well.

And I think the things that we overcome makes us stronger. And then it makes us the people we are today. Like I mentioned several times that I could have give up because of situations in my life, but I've overcome them. Having that personality and having that strong will about yourself is key.

That's what I look at in people all the time, and if you've not got that, then I just don't think you've got the personality radio will have, and even in life, you should have a big personality. You should want to be full of yourself because not full of yourself in being big headed, but full of yourself in, within yourself, within your body, because that's what makes you. Your personality makes you different from somebody else, that personality makes that other person different from somebody else, and I think that's what makes us our personality too.

If you've got a boring personality, you're not the kind of person that I should associate with because, my life doesn't need negative people. It needs positive people. And it's come across negative people and don't need that in our life. We just need the positivity because that's what makes us better.

[00:25:33] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Love that about your personality making you and bringing your authentic self to every interaction. And that is exactly what I believe as well.

How can interested people reach out to you and where will they find you and Evolve Radio online?

[00:25:48] Matthew Carroll: So it is EvolveRadio.UK you can listen on Alexa as well, but if you go on the website. EvolveRadio. UK It tells you all the ways you can listen to us on there. And all the different changes you can get us on Facebook. I think it's EvolveRadio. UK but we're going to look at changing that. But for the moment it's EvolveRadio. UK and you can see all the changes that are happening to the station.

While we do a transition over into being a community station. EvolveRadio. UK Lots of different changes are happening and you can see all the presenters on the website as well. They all have different bios. You can have a look through them. And you'll understand then what I mean about personalities and the people we've got on. Because Evolve Radio is a positive platform and that's how we need it to stay.

[00:26:35] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Same for Meet the Mancunian podcast. We're all about spreading good news and inspiring people. And everybody goes through tough times, but how do you overcome them? What lessons do you learn from them and how can you help other people?

[00:26:49] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Thanks so much, Matt. It's been a pleasure to have you.

[00:26:51] Matthew Carroll: Pleasure talking to you. Thank you very much.

Outro

Matt, I really enjoyed learning about supporting community radio today.

Dear listener, thank you so much for listening to the 16th episode of the Meet the Mancunian Podcast, season eight.

 Tune in every Tuesday for a new episode during the season, or log on to www.meetthemancunian.co.Uk to listen to all the episodes and learn more about my podcasting story.

I'll be taking a short break and return with season nine in partnership with the Spirit of Manchester World in October, 2024.

Thank you for joining me on the Meet the Mancunian podcast: social impact stories from Manchester. I hope today's conversation has sparked new ideas and inspired you to act in your community.

A big thank you to my wonderful community for your continuous support and valuable feedback. Your stories shaped the very essence of my podcast driving me forward with purpose. I'm eager to hear your thoughts. Visit my website at www.meetthemancunian.co.Uk to share your insights. Remember, this podcast is your platform too.

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Keep fostering connections and always remember the power to change the world lies within each one of us. Until next time.