On Air
The Caroline Support Group
From 1964 until 1991 Radio Caroline managed to survive, through some very hard times, without seeking outside help.
However in late 1989 the UK and Dutch governments mounted an armed raid on our ship, with the intention of closing us down once and for all.
We recovered to a degree from this raid, but then suffered a disastrous shipwreck. The Ross Revenge was towed into Dover harbour in a ruined condition. Caroline was off the air, we had no money at all and the situation looked hopeless.
At this point the remaining staff decided that they would work for no wages. Some listeners and enthusiasts created an informal club to make small regular donations.
Thus is 1992, a crew went back on board the wrecked ship to see what could be saved.
The first action of the new support group, was to negotiate and pay the salvage costs for the ship and start basic repairs. The broadcast crew put some semblance of Caroline back on the air, albeit by obscure means such as Shortwave broadcasts, temporary low power broadcasts or by borrowing air time from other stations.
As more people joined the support group, if became possible to get our ship out of Dover and back under our control and we were able to experiment with satellite radio broadcasting, a pastime that was then in its infancy.
Radio Caroline re-opened as a satellite broadcasting station on 20th February 1999, and over the last decade has slowly built a strong and loyal audience which was greatly boosted by taking up Sky 'EPG' channel 0199 in June 2006.
However, Caroline does not simply rely on the generosity of our supporters. We still all work for no wages and go to extreme lengths to keep costs down. Our marketing section Caroline Sales, ploughs all profit from sales back into the ship. We seek any advertising and sponsorship that can be found to add to our income.
So, by these means, donations/sales and sponsorship we remain totally independent and can now look to further expansion both at home and abroad.
If you would like to help us speed up this process, you can join the Radio Caroline Support Group. This involves completing a mandate form and setting up a regular standing order. We will then put you on our mailing list and send you an e-mailed newsletter from time to time. You can of course cancel you donations at any time you wish, but we find that very few people, having joined, decide to withdraw.
To join the Radio Caroline Support Group go to the Support Group page at http://www.radiocaroline.co.uk/#support_group.html
