Awards & Alumni

In 2004 the station won four awards in the annual Student Radio Awards. The presenter Val Mellon (now heard on the national DAB station Core—see below) won a gold award for Best Entertainment Show, as well as a bronze award for Best Female. A further gold award was presented to the station for Technical Achievement, in recognition of the station's platform-independent webcast system. A silver award was also given to the station for Best Sports Programming, in respect of the station's live coverage of the annual Oxford vs. Cambridge rugby union Varsity match. Sports coverage also earned the station a silver award in 2003, for their annual coverage of the May Bumps—an inter-collegiate rowing competition held on the River Cam.

In 2005 CUR1350 was nominated for 4 awards, the 2005 awards seeing twice as many competing entries as the previous year. The nominations for CUR1350 were: Technical Achievement - for the wireless internet link for the Bumps 2005 tannoy, Sports Broadcasting (Ed Bolton) - for The Sports Show including interviews with Chris Eubank, Specialist Music (Samuel Green) - for Kol Cambridge, the UK's only broadcast Israeli/Jewish radio show, and Station of the Year.

In 2007, CUR1350 was nominated for a station-record of nine Student Radio Awards, making it the most nominated station of 2007 . These were for Best Technical Innovation, three for Best Entertainment Programming (Charles Lyon's Weekend Breakfast, Jaine Sykes' Rock Paper Scissors and Ella Belsham and Alex-James Painter's Morning Glory), Best Specialist Music Programme (Tobias Bown's Volume 11), Newcomer of the Year (Jaine Sykes), two for Best Female Presenter (Katherine Godfrey and Jaine Sykes), and Station of the Year (Michael Brooks et al.). 2007 was a successful year for CUR1350 as it scooped a Bronze SRA for Best Entertainment Programme with Charles Lyons' Weekend Breakfast and a Gold SRA for Katherine Godfrey in the Best Female category. CUR1350 also won Gold for Station of the Year for the first time in its 29 year history.

In 2008, CUR1350 was nominated for Station of the Year, Specialist Music (Sandy Mill), and Outside Broadcast (The May Bumps). The station won Gold for Best Chart Show (presenter Charles Lyons, producer Martin Steers). This was also the SRA national chart show's inaugural year.

In 2009, CUR1350 received two nominations at the Student Radio Awards. These were for Best Student Radio Chart Show (Tobias Bown and Simon Ruggles) and for Best Event/Outside Broadcast for the May Bumps 2009.

In 2012, Cam FM were awarded a bronze for Best OB/Live Event in respect of their coverage of the 2012 May Bumps rowing competition. Cam FM were also nominated for Best Speech for the Fo' Show, and the Best Station award.

In 2022, after a too-long hiatus, Cam FM was nominated for three awards at the SRAs: Best Sports Programming (Bumps), Best Producer (Olivia Copeland) and The Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Award (Her Voice). For the first time in 10 years, the station won a Silver award for Olivia Copeland in the Best Producer category.

In 2023, Cam FM's renewed success at the SRAs continued, when the station - as well as putting in a record 15 entries across various categories - was nominated for three more awards: The Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Award (Melanin Queens, presented by Sarah Akande), Best Presenter (Daisy Cox), as well as the prestigious Best Station award. The station likewise won in two of these categories, scooping up Bronze for Best Presenter and Gold for The Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Award (Cam FM's first Gold award in over a decade).

In 2024, Cam FM was nominated for a record-smashing 10 awards at the SRAs - the most in the station's entire 45 year history (Best Student Radio Station; Best Station Sound; Best Technical Achievement, Opening of the Jesus College and ARU Studios; Best Sports Programming, Lent & May Bumps 2024; Best Presenter, Daisy Cox; Best Entertainment Programming, Daisy's Magical Mystery Mix; Best Creative Speech Programming, Daisy's Magical Mystery Mid-Week Movie Mumblings; Best Specialist Music Programming, Snouk's Classical Bops O Clock; and The Diversity, Equality & Inclusion Award for the 2024 LGBTQ+ History Month charity broadcast). This put Cam FM as the joint-most nominated station across categories in the whole of the UK, as well as Station Manager Daisy Cox as the joint-most nominated individual presenter out of all UK stations. Fingers and toes are all crossed for the ceremony in mid-November!

Notable Alumni

Several members of the station have subsequently achieved considerable success in the wider world of radio & television, including:

• Anne Morrison, Director of the BBC Academy, was previously the Programme Director of the Network Supply Review. She worked as a director and producer on numerous factual and documentary BBC TV programmes. She became Head of Features in 1994 and subsequently ran a range of factual television and radio departments at the BBC. In 2006 she was appointed Controller, Network Production, BBC Television.
• Jane Ellison, one of the original founders of the Cambridge University Broadcasting Society, is now Commissioning Editor for General Factual Programmes at BBC Radio 4.
• Simon Cooper, also one of the founders of the society, was the Group Public Affairs Director of the GCap radio conglomerate before leaving to establish a public image consultancy firm.
• David Clouter, another of the original founders and CUR's first ever presenter in 1979, returned to the station in 2010 to present a weekly rock show with former programme controller Chris Berrow. In the interim, David spent 15 years in BBC National Radio and subsequently set up digital station TotalRock with the late Tommy Vance.
• Colin Philpott, another founder of the Cambridge University Broadcasting Society, is Director of the National Media Museum. He previously worked for the BBC where during his 24-year career he fulfilled a number of roles as reporter, producer, documentary maker and editorial manager. His last post before leaving the BBC was Head of BBC Yorkshire.
• Ellie Buchanan (aka Woodstock Taylor), also one of the founders of the Cambridge University Broadcasting Society, was a freelance BBC presenter for many years and now works as a singer and songwriter.
• Andy Gillies was the co-presenter of CUR's first sports programme. He moved to Hereward Radio (later Mid Anglia Radio) where he became programme director. He later joined BBC Radio Sport, and was editor (radio sport) from 1994 to 1996. Andy is currently working as a freelance sports reporter.
• Tony Johnson, another member of the original team, designed and built CUR's original transmission system in 1979, and went on to work with Tim Berners Lee at Stanford Linear Accelerator Center and in 1992 designed MidasWWW, one of the first ever web browsers. He continues to work on browser development at SLAC.
• Peter Rumney, another founder, is an award winning playwright, director & poet. His play Jumping on my Shadow won the Arts Council England Best Play Award 2002 and the John Whiting Award.
• Kevin Greening, a presenter on BBC Radio 1 throughout the latter half of the 1990s, went on to present on 102.2 Smooth FM, which broadcasts across Greater London, until his untimely death aged 44 in December 2007.
• Colin Burrows is the CEO of Special Treats Productions, providers of television and internet content for the film industry. Prior to this he spent time as a producer at Capital Radio and BBC Radio 1.
• Matt Fincham produces the Annie Mac show on BBC Radio 1, and has formerly produced the Radio 1 Breakfast Show with Nick Grimshaw, and been the Assistant Producer to the Radio 1 Breakfast show with Chris Moyles.
• Matthew Price is now the BBC's Europe Correspondent, having previously been BBC's New York Correspondent and Middle East Correspondent.
• Chris Mason is BBC Political Correspondent, having previously been Radio 5 Live's Political Reporter, BBC Europe Correspondent, and before that a reporter on BBC Radio 4's Westminster Hour programme.
• Tom Swarbrick was a presenter and producer at BBC Oxford. After being nominated for a Sony Radio Academy Award, he is now a reporter for Classic FM, LBC 97.3, Capital Radio, Heart and XFM
• Richard Straffon was the overnight presenter on Key 103 in Manchester until April 2005, and is now the drivetime presenter on 97.6 Chiltern FM.
• Sarah Major now presents and produces BBC Radio Sheffield's Sunday Breakfast programme.
• Spencer Kelly is presenter of the BBC TV programme Click Online and formerly presenter on Ocean FM broadcasting across Portsmouth and Southampton.
• Chris Dearden is now a news reporter for BBC Wales, after a stint at BBC Essex, BBC London and BBC South East Today.
• Kate Arkless-Gray, station manager from 2001 to 2003, is now editor at Audioboo and a freelance radio-producer/broadcast journalist.
• Jaine Sykes, researcher and assistant for the BBC TV programme The One Show and previously a broadcast assistant at Wise Buddah Creative.
• Bern Leckie, current Programme Controller of GCap's DAB stations Core and Chill.
• Martin Steers, Commissioning Executive for Eagle Radio and Eagle Extra.
• Val Mellon, presenter on the national DAB station Core.
• Rob Ousbey, Production Coordinator at national speech DAB station Oneword Radio.
• Simon Ruggles, is a specialist guest presenter at Argos TV and returned to Cam FM in 2012 to present a weekly show.
• Chris Berrow, Cam-FM programme controller from 2011–12, is now a Broadcast Assistant at BBC Radio 2 and also regularly presents on other BBC stations.