Beat Breakfast reaches ten South East communities with ‘Breakfast At Yours’

Beat 102 103 has reached ten South East communities as part of the ‘Breakfast at Yours’ initiative that is part-funded by Coimisiún na Meán.

This summer, we brought Beat Breakfast on the road, visiting some amazing communities and groups right across the region.

Beat Breakfast presenters Niall and Sho met with a wide range of extraordinary people going above and beyond for their local community.

From May to September, along with Beat Breakfast Producer Cillian Doyle, Niall and Sho broadcast Beat’s flagship breakfast programme, Beat Breakfast live from each of the chosen ten community groups.

From animal charities to pride groups, and from mental health charities to schools, the live broadcasts showcased the wonderful work and community support services that each of these ten groups offer to people in their locality and their wider area.

One of the groups visited was Pride of Deise in Waterford and member of the group Cuan Cusack said it was fantastic to be able to promote their values and events, and increase awareness of the work they do to such a large audience.

“The Breakfast OB was a great opportunity for us to share information about our festival. We were able to conduct interviews with organisers and key members of our community. The production team was accommodating and provided us with space to discuss what we wanted, working out how our message fit into the Beat Breakfast show format. This allowed us to share our message of inclusivity and provide a preview of what to expect at Pride 2024. The OB was crucial in promoting our values and increasing awareness of our events to a larger audience.Two youth committee members had the opportunity to play Beat the Bomb and scored very highly. Additionally, a committee member played a lingo game with Niall and Sho, which was enjoyable for all. It is a great way to promote events and festivals, because you reach a wide audience of people, who may not be following you on social media.” - ” - Cuan Cusack, Waterford.

Kilkenny based Teac Tom, provides mental health support and suicide intervention services to those in need. Anegla Hayes from the Thomas Hayes Trust reflected on the live broadcast in Kilkenny and said it they had a great time hosting the Beat Breakfast crew.

“Having the Beat Breakfast team broadcasting from Teac Tom, was a fantastic opportunity to raise awareness of the work of Teac Tom. Reaching out to the community over the airwaves, captures an audience that might not be aware of Teac Tom, and how to access the supports. Our aim is to build resilient communities, and reduce incidences of suicide. So, the more people we can reach and let them know this, the better. The team was just wonderful and very empathetic when hearing the story. The whole team from the driver of the beast/engineer to the broadcasters were so energetic, funny and bubbly, but humbling, as they were mindful of the reason behind Teac Tom, the sadness and tragedy behind it, but the HOPE that we give to people each day was very evident. We had such a laugh that morning – cooking the breakfast, the mug of tea and the chats. It brought a different vibe to our centre. It was exciting and a great distraction at that hour of the morning – I would say it woke up the whole street.

The final Breakfast At Yours live broadcast with Beat Breakfast was held in the home of the Daly family. Amanda and Cathal and all the family were given the chance to donate to a chosen charity of their choice. They chose to donate the €1000 to Carlow SPCA, an amazing organisation that they say is close to their hearts.