A RIVERSIDE CHRISTMAS
Celebrating local businesses across South West London this Christmas
As a community radio station, one of the reasons Riverside Radio exists is to support local businesses across South West London.
Over the years Riverside Radio has promoted thousands of local shops, high streets, restaurants, bars and venues along with all the creative businesses and start ups which are thriving in this part of our capital city.
Since 2015 the radio station has hosted Christmas light switch on outside broadcast events in Putney, Balham, Earlsfield, Clapham Junction, Northcote Road and Wandsworth Town. These events are highly important as they attract local residents to shop locally and support the local traders. This year however many of these events were cancelled.
Instead Riverside Radio stepped in to offer a virtual celebration of our local town centres and switching on the lights, without a crowd but broadcast on the radio station and through its social media. During these broadcasts we’ve been partnering with our local Business Improvement Districts and celebrating the areas businesses by interviewing them on air via Zoom.
Twickenham
The Mayor of Richmond Upon Thames was on hand to switch the lights on in King Street in Twickenham as we kicked our Christmas outside broadcast tour off in November with Riverside Radio’s Hazel Butterfield who lives in Twickenham reporting from the Christmas tree.
Originally we were going to broadcast LIVE from the historic and very pretty Church Street but the pandemic put that to bed, so we got as many Twickenham businesses together to chat about their plans for the future and to celebrate why Twickenham is the perfect place to do business and why everyone loves being there so much.
Thanks so all those who took part with Discover Twickenham.
Kiss n Make Up, Church Street
The Brewery Market, Church Street
Sandys Fishmongers, King Street
Eel Pie Records Church Street
The Yoga Bar, London Road: Gemma:
Crusader Travel, Church Street
Star Print, Heath Road:
LISTEN AGAIN to our CELEBRATE TWICKENHAM show here
Clapham Junction
The Heart of Battersea
Clapham Junction is at the heart of Battersea and is one of the biggest town centres in the area with the bustling Clapham Junction railway station its also, in normal times, one of the busiest shopping areas and a destination for business.
Since the pandemic hit The Junction Business Improvement District which supports and promoted businesses in St John’s Hill, Lavender Hill, St John’s Road, Battersea Rise and Northcote Road have been highlighting how its local businesses have been operating this year with a stunning film
The Christmas lights and tree were lit up by local 10 year old Kiki who wrote to the Business Improvement District asking if she could have the honour to do the switch on this year. Riverside Radio’s Martin Adams was alongside Kiki as she pushed the big red button and from our Battersea studio we interviewed all these local businesses and asked them for their favourite Christmas songs.
Anthony Laban - Northcote Road
www.anthonylabanbarbershop.com
Marks & Spencer - St Johns Road
12-Rounds Boxing - St John’s Hill
Battersea & Wandsworth Chiropracteurs - St Johns Hill
Taverna Trastevere - St Johns Hill
The Clapham Grand - St John’s Hill
Source Bulk Foods - Battersea Rise
The Northcote Jeweller - Northcote Road
Chalkboard Toy Shop - Northcote Road
Knoops - St John’s Road
Pet Pavillion - Battersea Rise
LISTEN AGAIN to our CELEBRATE CLAPHAM JUNCTION show again here.
Putney
Riverside Radio’s very first Christmas light switch on event was in Putney in 2014 as Wandsworth Radio. Since then we have hosted so many events at St Mary’s Church Square by Putney Bridge including The Boat Race, Summer Festivals and other festive events.
The business improvement district Positively Putney always puts on an incredible festive experience however this year has been a little challenging but we managed to get our team down to the Christmas tree and produce a three hour radio show with interviews from local businesses and from the Mayor of Wandsworth who switched the lights on in style.
Positively Putney has also introduced a festive trail related to the much loved children’s character Elmer the Elephant around the town centre this year. Elmer’s author David McKee lived in Putney when Elmer was created.
Each Elmer poster has a QR code whereby participants can gain reward points for the newly launched Putney Points Rewards scheme.
There will be a weekly prize draw for an Elmer Christmas hamper including Elmer books, plush toys and a family ticket to Chessington World of Adventures Resort to ride on the new ‘Elmer’s Flying Jumbos’ ride.
You can follow the trail and get your map here
Thanks so much to all these local businesses who were interviewed as part of the radio show.
LISTEN AGAIN to our COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS IN PUTNEY show here.
Vauxhall
Vauxhall has an intriguing social history as the place where the new middle classes of Europe were entertained and its once again becoming a destination.
There’s a lively mix of things to fo, places to eat and people to talk to. Vauxhall’s transformation is fast accelerating. Multiple large developers are building tall tower residential blocks and grade A offices, flexible working hubs, new retail and leisure destinations and a number of hotels are emerging. The gyratory is being remodelled and multiple public realm and greening projects are planned.
Thanks to VauxhallOne the Business Improvement District for this fascinating area of SW London we decided to explore the vibrant and stunning mix Vauxhall has to offer.
During our mammoth 4 hour Celebrate Vauxhall radio show we talked to so many local businesses who wanted to take part and be interviewed including…
LISTEN AGAIN to our CELEBRATE VAUXHALL show here
Battersea High Street
Wandsworth Council has invested hundreds of thousands of pounds in Battersea High Street with new street furniture, paving and lights.
So we decided to celebrate this elegant, pretty little street with a fashion shoot, live music and a discovery of its history during our live outside broadcast.
In November Wandsworth Council and the Royal College of Art selected the artist, Hannah Coulson, to bring some brightness to Battersea High Street with a new dazzling public artwork.
Coulson, an illustrator, has designed a unique winter rainbow that will ripple through Battersea High Street, stopping to ‘explode’ in three special locations, where audiences can take selfies against the spectacularly colourful backdrops and share via #BrightBattersea on social media.
Independent funk and pop artist Connor Patterson also popped down to Battersea High Street hot foot from his new album launch at The Bedford in Balham to perform some of his tracks LIVE.
Riverside Radio’s Lucy Cole, Ben Myers and Joey Manzi presented a special live show talking to local businesses such as Ella from Ellas Hair Bar and Bill who’s family have run Raynsford's Greengrocers on the High Street for over a hundred years about the regeneration plans. Councillor Aled Richards Jones who’s the cabinet member for Economic Development at Wandsworth Council was also interviewed about how the council hope to urge new shops, businesses and market traders to operate in the area.
The Riverside Radio team also tasted the most amazing food from Bari Pizzas while chatting to Editor in Chief of Fashion magazine ASBO who had been on a photo shoot.
Thanks to Ian at Think Events London and to the team @BatterseaHighS1
