Chris Mountford & Deanna Fletcher at the Jerusalem Radio Awards

Stoke-on-Trent's local community radio station, Cross Rhythms City Radio 101.8FM, has had an amazing couple of months, winning three national radio awards.

The Jerusalem Media Awards recognise excellence in broadcasting a Christian message and stations who enter come from the whole spectrum of radio broadcasters including the BBC, Commercial radio and specifically Christian stations.

Out of 8 awards given, local station Cross Rhythms won 2 of them and was runner up in a third!

Reflecting the esteemed competition Cross Rhythms was up against other winners including BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 4.

One award was for a short production segment called 'Forgiveness', the powerful story of a South African lady who forgives the murderer of her husband and son. (This clip can be heard at www.myspace.com/crossrhythms).

The other Jerusalem Award went to Cross Rhythms radio presenter Deanna Fletcher who presents the Audacious Radio Show, winning the Under 25 Presenter award.

From our local base in Stoke-on-Trent these awards show Cross Rhythms is increasingly becoming a significant media player at a national level. Our vision is to impact youth and the wider community for good through local community radio and a strong website, and in recent years we have seen our popularity go from strength to strength. Cross Rhythms is about great music, very local content and is undergirded by a clear Christian ethos. Our style of radio is very relevant to today's culture where people are not only looking for great entertainment and up to date information, but are also searching for more meaning, values and hope in a very uncertain world.

Cross Rhythms began in 1983 as a half hour radio show on a local commercial station. Today there are three Cross Rhythms FM stations in Stoke-on-Trent, Plymouth and Teesside.

At a second awards ceremony recognition of the pioneering media work of Cross Rhythms was given to the Cross Rhythms founders Chris and Kerry Cole at the Christian Broadcasting Council Conference, held in Buckinghamshire in late November.

Presented with the prestigious Gold Exploits Award for their pioneering of Cross Rhythms, CBC Chair Olave Snelling declared: "This CBC Gold Exploits Award is a passionate tribute to the pioneering work of Chris and Kerry Cole. We applaud Cross Rhythms and the magnificent work it does through music and speech, and for spreading hope in the community into untold numbers of lives, particularly among young people."