Thu 09 Sep, 2024

Highest possible Radio Academy accolade awarded to our CEO Phil Maguire

The Radio Academy awarded four new Fellowships at this year’s Festival. One of these Fellowships was awarded to our very own founding Chief Executive Phil Maguire OBE.

The Radio Academy is a charity dedicated to the development, promotion and recognition of excellence in UK radio and audio.

Each year they organise The Radio Academy Festival; a full day of discussion, debate, sharing and celebration. This year the theme was Impact Amplified.

Podcasters, broadcasters and audio creators came together to uncover new ways of amplifying the meaning and increasing the impact of individual stories and social moments.

As part of the Festival celebrations, The Radio Academy took the opportunity to present four new individuals with ‘Fellowships’. People are awarded Fellowships in recognition of the outstanding contributions and achievements they have made to audio, as well as a commitment to the values of the Academy: to share knowledge and experience with others for the benefit of all in the sector. It is the highest honour awarded by The Radio Academy and this year our CEO Phil was one of the four deserving winners.

Phil Maguire OBE is Chief Executive of the Prison Radio Association. Awarded an OBE for service to radio production and prison radio in 2019, he has spent the past 18 years as founding Chief Executive of the PRA – providing strategic, operational, editorial and creative leadership to this multi-award winning organisation, specialising in creating ‘media for change’.

Phil’s Fellowship was presented by Roma Hooper, Chair of Clinks and founder of the Prison Radio Association who said:

Phil is warm and generous, a very talented producer, great networker and his ambition to make sure the world knows the benefit of prison radio has led him to set up Prison Radio International. These phenomenal achievements deserve huge credit and he is an utter joy to work with. He is an inspiration to all those he works with including our prisoners.”

Award-winning presenter Lady Unchained also joined in with the Festival action; making an appearance on the ARIAS Winners Stage to discuss her recent Gold Award for Best Specialist Music Show at this year’s Audio and Radio Industry Awards. She received her Gold for her National Prison Radio show Free Flow.

She sat down with Dan Noble from Absolute Radio to talk about the impact she’s had on National Prison Radio.

We are so proud of Lady Unchained, and we are so proud of Phil as he adds yet another accolade to his belt.

Congratulations Phil, enjoy this moment to reflect on everything you have achieved not only with the Prison Radio Association over the last 18 years, but across your entire career. We would also like to pass on huge well dones to the other three Fellowship winners – Kellie, Liam and Adele. So deserved!


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The Prison Radio Association is a registered charity. We produce award-winning radio and podcasts to help people to cope with life inside prison and thrive on release.

If you would like to support our work, and enhance the futures of people in prison across the UK you can make a donation at prison.radio/donate.