This year’s Melomania Lockdown has special significance for one of the show’s presenters.
As the Melomania community radio program begins fundraising for its charity ‘lockdown’ in November, Hollie Wearne, who presents the show with co-hosts Scad and Troy, has a special reason to be grateful to the Royal Flying Doctor Service, one of the charities being supported with money raised from the lockdown. The last lockdown took place three years ago.
Last year there were a total of 909 flights into the southeast of South Australia by the RFDS, including an accident where a truck driver was killed when the B Double he was driving crashed into a business/dwelling. Two women were flown to Adelaide by the Royal Flying Doctor Service, including Hollie’s grandmother who was asleep in her bed at the time of the accident, she suffered severe spinal injuries.
The Royal Flying Doctor Service has provided a 24 hour emergency, medial service since 1928 to those who live, work and travel throughout Australia. Today, the RFDS provides the finest care to more than 290,000 Australians every year, that’s one person every two minutes.
Melomania is broadcast from Bordertown, a small country town on the border of South Australia and Victoria. Like many residents of country Australia, the hosts know the significance of the service provided by the RFDS across the vast Australian continent.
Hosted by 5tcb’s Music/Program Director Sardia (Scad) Kakoschke and volunteer presenter Hollie Wearne, Melomania is distributed to twenty-five community radio stations acrooss Australia. It has won five X-AWARDs including best music program and best interview consecutively. Melomania supports the Leukaemia Foundation and the RFDS with its Lockdown charity appeal.
The Leukaemia Foundation is not just the only national non-profit organisation dedicated to the care and cure of patients and families’ living with leukaemia, lymphoma, myeloma and related blood distorters, but the Foundation also receives no ongoing government funding; therefore, it relies on the generosity of the Australian community for its operation. The Foundation has helped and assisted those who are close to Melomania, including a former 5tcb presenter who was diagnosed with Leukaemia 5 years ago and Scad’s uncle who also suffered from Leukaemia and was told he only had a million to one chances of having children (He now has four).
Events such as the truck crash and the 5tcb presenter’s battle with Leukemia have motivated the Melomania team to reach out and financially support the two organizations.
The Melomania team will be confined to the 5tcbFM studios for the 48 Hour Lockdown on 1st-3rd November, with hosts Scad and Hollie getting locked up, literally with SCMA’s Ray Hazen.
Whilst incarcerated in the studio and broadcasting on the airwaves, the inmates will do approximately forty-eight interviews, some with the Leukaemia Foundation of Australia and the Royal Flying Doctor Service, as well as with artists and bands from around the world. Melomania aspires to raise money for the event with public donations as well as support from business houses either by donation or sponsorship.
Audio and video of the event will be streamed live on www.melomania.com.au so the audience can capture the action on and off the airwaves. The action doesn’t just stop there, Melomania’s country corner representative, Troy, will be quizzing the inmates every few hours on the confessional couch which will be available on Melomania’s Facebook/twitter pages for fans.
Potential sponsors and supporters who would like to be part of the lockdown and support the charities can contact Jodie at G Advertising [email protected] or email the Melomania team direct at [email protected].
Full details of the 48 Hour Lockdown is available from www.melomania.com.au/lockdown