From a Capital Radio-obsessed childhood to twenty years at the heart of community radio in Suffolk, Julie MacLeod has built a life around being a friend on air.
Julie MacLeod's love of radio began in 1970s London, where Capital Radio was a constant soundtrack thanks to her builder dad, who kept it on all day. She was woken for school by Graham Dene, followed Capital through to Heart, and later became a devoted fan of Melody FM before it became Magic. After a career in central London she and her husband retired to Suffolk, where boredom led her to answer a two-line newspaper ad for hospital radio volunteers.
What started as two hours a week in the studio turned into two decades of broadcasting. When the hospital station's guest presenter died unexpectedly, Julie stepped into the gap, working her way onto the management team and eventually becoming station manager. Alongside chief engineer Serge, she helped the station secure a community radio licence, giving Bury St Edmunds and West Suffolk their own local station just as neighbouring stations like SGR FM were being absorbed into national networks. Over eight years she covered breakfast, read the news, presented magazine programmes and recruited new volunteers.
These days Julie brings her soul, Motown and disco leanings to voicetracking, drawn to the planning and craft of building a radio “clock” that goes out to listeners. For her, radio's real value is companionship; a way for isolated or lonely listeners to feel less alone. Whether that's a daft story or a favourite song keeping them going. She's looking forward to spending more time on a soul show of her own, and to enjoying an autumn in Suffolk in the meantime.
“You can turn the radio on, it costs nothing, and you're not by yourself.”
