Oakes grows into calling!
Every Saturday, Lydia Oakes takes to the air and presents UCB2’s early evening show. But life behind a microphone wasn’t her original career plan. She spoke to Chris Rolfe
When Lydia Oakes started out at UCB’s Kingdom Academy last September she was certain about two things: she was interested in writing shows but had no desire to present them.
So it came as quite a surprise when she discovered a passion for presenting that led to her hosting her own weekly show less than a year later.
“I’d studied creative media at college then signed up for UCB’s Academy – its media training programme,” she explains.
“You get to spend time in all the different departments and to take part in worship weekends and weeks, so I went into the course looking forward to seeing the comms, marketing and graphic design sides of the business. I really wanted to explore writing shows too.”
As she made her way around UCB, Lydia, who attends Elim’s Bethel Church Oldbury, near Birmingham, felt drawn in particular to UCB2 – named “The home of hope and worship”. She loved learning how to put shows together; picking themes and writing voice segments around the schedule of worship music.
These behind-the-scenes roles were great, she says, but being on air held no attraction – at least at first.
“I felt strongly that I wanted to write and be involved with the music side, but I didn’t want to be in the studio.
“But then, as I spent time there as part of the course I felt my passion for it growing.
“It felt like my heart was going to explode whenever I was in the studio.
“It was a massive change and very surprising!”
The team at UCB spotted potential in Lydia as she began writing segments for shows. Among them was an Easter devotional series for presenter Chloe Wilson which Lydia was thrilled to see air on her show.
She also wrote a bank holiday special in May, focused on American singer-songwriter Ellie Holcomb’s new album All of my days. This experience led to Lydia starting as a trainee presenter on 1 July. From there, she has been given her own three-hour weekly show on Saturdays between 5pm and 8pm.
She presents a worship-themed mix of music and chat interspersed with news, information, song reflections and a charity section.
“Presenting is about knowing how to spot a theme in a song or take something from the news and having your eyes open to how it can be shared,” she says.
“You can talk about anything – it’s just knowing how to relate it to your listeners.”
One of her favourite sections is her “God’s world” feature.
“I love spending time outdoors in nature or going down the lane for walks on my lunch break and I often find God speaks to me there,” she says.
“This gives me ideas for things to talk about in my show.
“The other day I saw a family out picking berries and it reminded me of Sundays with my family when I was younger. It’s so natural and there’s so much freedom there. I like to bring that into the show. Everyone can learn something or be inspired, encouraged or challenged by however God chooses to speak to them through it.”
Another favourite is time spent reflecting on the songs in her show.
“Worship is where my heart is, so I’ll take a word or an angle of encouragement, challenge or inspiration from a song.
“I enjoy researching the reasons songs were written too because they often have powerful stories behind them. ‘Jireh’ by Chandler Moore was written after a house fire, for example, which was a really difficult time for him and his family.”
Overcoming her fear of the studio and starting her show have helped Lydia grow in confidence and faith.
“Chloe told me that when I first started she saw a spirit of fear in me, but I’ve found courage and overcome that and she says she doesn’t see that anymore.
“I definitely feel that too, because as I’ve done things that have really scared me I’ve learned not to hold back but to step into them, let go and see what happens.”
App is a real bright spark!
New from UCB is a devotional app, Spark, designed for churches, families and kids.
The video-based app features a daily devotional backed up by reflections and interactive tasks.
Targeting children aged 10-12 in particular, it aims to kickstart a healthy habit of getting into the Word of God early in their lives.
“Spark has been a passion project at UCB for a while now,” says Paula Cummings, head of PR and marketing at the broadcaster.
“We wanted to create an app which would help kids develop a love for the Bible at an early age, a love that we hope will stay with them for a lifetime.
“The app is designed to be lively and quirky and the videos each day are inspired by readings from the UCB Word For Today.”
This article first appeared in Direction Magazine. For further details, please click here.
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