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The Radio Academy is a registered charity dedicated to "the encouragement, recognition and promotion of excellence in UK broadcasting and audio production". [1] It was formed in 1983 and is run via a board of trustees, with a chair and a deputy chair, and a managing director. [2] Their responsibilities include designing, planning, and implementing projects and programmes. [3]
The Radio Academy runs a range of events throughout the year, including the annual Radio Academy Festival. [4]
The Academy also runs regular Masterclasses for young people who would like to work in radio. [5] In addition, the Academy's Branches regularly hold local events across the country. [6]
Since 2016, The Radio Academy has run The Audio & Radio Industry Awards (The ARIAS) which award prizes to the best programmes and presenters of the past year. Previously, it organised the Sony Radio Academy Awards, which ended in 2014.
Throughout its existence, The Radio Academy has organised various honours schemes, including The UK Radio Hall of Fame, [7] Fellowships, the John Peel Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music Radio, the PPL Music Icon Award, the Local and Regional Lifetime Achievement Award, the Radio Production Awards, and the Most Played Artist on British Radio. [8]
In 2011, the Radio Academy launched its annual 30 Under 30 scheme, recognising talented young people in the industry by publishing a list of 30 "ones to watch" each year. [9]
The UK Radio Hall of Fame was started in the mid-2000s to honour the stars of British radio that have longevity and success in their broadcasting careers. [10] In its initial years, honours were given at a ceremony each December held at the Savoy Hotel.
The highest honour The Radio Academy can confer upon a member of the UK radio/audio industry is a Fellowship of the Academy. Fellowships are awarded to recognise individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the industry and/or the Academy, usually from behind the scenes rather than in front of the microphone. Several new Fellowships are announced each year. [11]
Patrons of the Radio Academy are organisations and companies that contribute to its charitable works by bulk-buying Membership for their staff. [12]
Emily Margaret Watson is a British actress. She began her career on stage and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1992. In 2002, she starred in productions of Twelfth Night and Uncle Vanya at the Donmar Warehouse, and was nominated for the 2003 Olivier Award for Best Actress for the latter. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her debut film role as Bess McNeil in Lars von Trier's Breaking the Waves (1996) and for her role as Jacqueline du Pré in Hilary and Jackie (1998), winning the British Independent Film Award for Best Actress for the latter. For her role as Margaret Humphreys in Oranges and Sunshine (2010), she was also nominated for the AACTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role.
Floella Karen Yunies Benjamin, Baroness Benjamin, is a Trinidadian-British actress, singer, presenter, author and politician. She is known as presenter of children's programmes such as Play School, Play Away, Jamboree and Fast Forward. On 28 June 2010, Lady Benjamin was introduced to the House of Lords as a life peer nominated by the Liberal Democrats. In 2024, she was honoured with the BAFTA Fellowship award for her services to television.
Dame Jennifer Gita Abramsky,, is a British media producer, philanthropist and Chancellor of the University of East Anglia. She was chairman of the UK's National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF). Until her retirement from the BBC, Abramsky was its most senior woman employee; she was Director of Audio and Music.
Alice Rawsthorn OBE is a British design critic and author. Her books include Design as an Attitude (2018) and Hello World: Where Design Meets Life (2013). She is chair of the board of trustees at the Chisenhale Gallery in London and at The Hepworth Wakefield gallery in Yorkshire. Rawsthorn is a founding member of Writers at Liberty, a group of writers who are committed to supporting the work of the human rights charity Liberty. She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2014 Birthday Honours for services to design and the arts.
Jack Jackson was an English trumpeter and bandleader popular during the British dance band era, and who later became a highly influential radio disc jockey. The BBC's nickname "Auntie" is often credited to Jackson.
Sir Nicholas David Coleridge,, DL is a British former media executive, author, and cultural chair. He is chairman of Historic Royal Palaces and a Fellow and Provost Elect of Eton. He is chairman of the Prince of Wales' Campaign for Wool since 2013. He has been chairman of the Victoria and Albert museum (2015–23) and was co-chair of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee Pageant, a complex event with more than 10,000 military from the UK and Commonwealth, and performers from across the nation. He is an ambassador for the Landmark Trust and a patron of the Elephant Family.
Sir Ian Lemuel Taylor is a New Zealand businessman and former television presenter based in Dunedin.
Edmund Arthur Lowndes de Waal, is a contemporary English artist, master potter and author. He is known for his large-scale installations of porcelain vessels often created in response to collections and archives or the history of a particular place. De Waal's book The Hare with Amber Eyes was awarded the Costa Book Award for Biography, Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize in 2011 and Windham–Campbell Literature Prize for Non-Fiction in 2015. De Waal's second book The White Road, tracing his journey to discover the history of porcelain was released in 2015.
The Ivors Academy is one of the largest professional associations for music writers in Europe. The academy works to support, protect, and campaign for the interests of songwriters, lyricists, and composers. It represents music writers of all genres and has approximately 2000 members.
Mark Cutifani is an Australian businessman and current chairman of the energy transition metals board at Vale Base Metals. He is the Senior Independent Director with Laing O'Rourke and chairs the board's Sustainability Committee. He is also a non-executive director of Total S.A and chairs the board's Sustainability Committee.
Radiocentre is the industry body for commercial radio in the UK. It exists to maintain and build a strong and successful commercial radio industry. The organisation works on behalf of over 40 stakeholders who operate over 300 licensed radio stations across the UK and represent 90% of commercial radio in terms of listening and revenue.
Sir Paul Martin Ruddock, is a British businessman, philanthropist and patron of the arts. He is a co-founder and a former CEO of Lansdowne Partners. In addition he is a former Chairman of the Victoria & Albert Museum and Chairman of the University of Oxford Endowment.
Professor Nigel Peter Weatherill, BSc, PhD, DSc, FIMA, C.Math, FRAeS, C.Eng, C.Sci, FREng, FRSA, DL is the former Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive of Liverpool John Moores University (2011-2018).
Hannah Mary Rothschild is a British author, businesswoman, philanthropist and documentary filmmaker. In addition to screenplays and journalism, she has published a biography and three novels. She sits on charitable and financial boards. In August 2015, she became the first woman to chair the board of trustees of the National Gallery in London.
John Norton Braithwaite Whitney, CBE was a British writer and producer who was involved in the introduction and development of commercial radio and television in the UK during the 1970s and 1980s. He held various posts such as Managing Director of Capital Radio, Director General of the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA), and Chairman of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). In addition he was involved with numerous charities such as Artsline, Stage One, and the Shakespeare Globe Trust, and in 2008 he was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to broadcasting and charity.
Derek Bell was Professor of Acute Medicine at Imperial College London and continues to be an emeritus Professor. He has been a Consultant Physician at Central Middles Hospital, The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and most recently at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Appointed as the joint chair of two NHS Trusts in 2021. His initial leadership saw him and others receive parliamentary criticism. Professor Bell was the director of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) CLAHRC for Northwest London. He was President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, elected in November 2013 he took office on 1 March 2014 succeeding Neil Dewhurst. He was re-elected for a second term on 24 November 2016. He was awarded an OBE in the 2018 New Year Honours for services to Unscheduled Care and Quality Improvement.
Dame Ann Geraldine Limb is a British educationalist, business leader, charity chair and philanthropist. In September 2015, she became the first woman Chair of The Scout Association since the organization was founded by Robert Baden Powell in 1907. Limb also serves as the 789th High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire, the first Quaker to hold this office.
The Audio and Radio Industry Awards are annual awards awarded for excellence in UK radio and audio presenting and production. Established in 2016 by the Radio Academy, they succeeded the Radio Academy Awards, the academy's honours system of 1983 to 2014. They are awarded for productions in the previous calendar year. In contrast to many other media award ceremonies, three winners are selected by judging panels for each category and graded Gold, Silver or Bronze.
Alan Frederick Cowman AC, FRS, FAA, CorrFRSE, FAAHMS, FASP, FASM is an internationally acclaimed malaria researcher whose work specialises in researching the malaria-causing parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, and the molecular mechanisms it uses to evade host responses and antimalarial drugs. As of May 2024, he is the deputy directory and Laboratory Head of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI) in Melbourne, and his laboratory continues to work on understanding how Plasmodium falciparum, infects humans and causes disease. He was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society in 2011 and awarded the Companion of the Order of Australia in 2019 for his "eminent service to the biological sciences, notably to molecular parasitology, to medical research and scientific education, and as a mentor."
