Ken Bennett chats with Canon Sharon ahead of her final Whit Friday before leaving the Saddleworth Parish

Ian Wolstenholme visits Hack Oldham to meet RACHEL WATERS and her incredible music group. Rachel tells us how this community initiative is really breaking down barriers to performing music in public....

For more information visit https://www.hackoldham.co.uk/about-7

Ken Bennett chats with local pharmacist DR IAN STRACHAN who offers some timely healthcare advice, including information about the latest COVID-19 booster and the new Pharmacy First initiative.

Ian Wolstenholme chats with the people responsible for bringing the "pop-up" theatre to Oldham town centre for the coming months.....

Ian Wolstenholme chats with JULIE HESMONDHALGH, AROOJ SHAH and JIM McMAHON about the exciting news that Oldham Coliseum as a producing theatre on Fairbottom Street in Oldham is really just a sleeping beauty....

Ian Wolstenholme chats with SIMON TEIGNART Chairman of this local community group....

Ian Wolstenholme visits the Oldham Music Centre to eavesdrop on the weekly rehearsals of THE OLDHAM COMMUNITY CHOIR....

For more information, or if you would like to go along and maybe join the choir, contact us at Oldham Community Radio on 0161 682 0997 or email [email protected]

An absolutely heartbreaking story....

I’m Ian Wolstenholme and I used to work in the veterinary space as a manager in 2 local independent small animal practices.  Like many similar sectors - optical, dental and so on, many of these often family-run practices were acquired by a handful of corporate businesses, losing their identity and ethos.  It was one such experience that made me decide to leave the profession back in 2018, though, as a pet owner, you are never away from the vet, be it for routine vaccinations and other preventative care or, heaven forbid, a real medical emergency.  

Like so many of my colleagues, I’ve known for a long time that there is a wide range of prices for similar services depending on the practice and, like much of retail, has caused consternation at least, and at worst, huge public anger.  So much so that the Competition and Markets Authority the CMA recently published its multiple  concerns the vet market and has decided to launch a formal market investigation into pricing and transparency of services and business in the sector.  The CMA is asking that anyone who may be substantially impacted by their proposals should contact them by 11th April 2024.  You can have your say by typing cam vet review into google and following the dot gov dot uk links.

Last week saw the annual British Small Animal Veterinary Associaltion congress take place over 3 days in central Manchester.  It seemed like a perfect opportunity to go along to find out more about the current mood across the profession as well as revisit my proverbial old stomping ground.

Programme first broadcast on 29th March 2024

In this episode Ian Wolstenholme visits the Year 4 class at St Anne's Primary School in Lydgate, Oldham, to meet some of the children about to complete the Archbishop of York's Young Leaders Award.