Manchester city centre

Using creative skills to amplify the voices of women in Greater Manchester

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This International Women’s Day, meet Saoirse Gribbon a 24-year-old creative from Altrincham. She has always had a love of radio, whilst studying Music at university she hosted her own local radio show at a community radio station in Altrincham – she was self-taught and loved the freedom of exploring and sharing new music with her audience.   

To progress her career in the creative industry she undertook a Skills Bootcamp in Video Podcast Production with Reform Radio to widen her audio skillset and appeal to employers. On the course, she learnt a range of transferrable skills related to navigating the creative industry; working to a brief with external clients, asking interview questions, captivating an audience and more. She improved her technical skills greatly and despite her worries about learning postproduction, she enjoys it and regularly uses her new skills.  

During the Skills Bootcamp in December 2024, she began her weekly podcast ‘’After the Applause’’. The focus is highlighting the underground music scene in Greater Manchester and the North. As a young woman, she is particularly interested in amplifying the stories of other female artists. She is managing everything herself with the skills learnt from Reform Radio and is self-funding the project. For IWD she is releasing 2 episodes: 

  1. An interview with NØELLE, an immersive hyperpop artist and producer. She will be discussing her experiences within the Manchester music scene as well as her work combining spatial audio and visual arts. 

  1. An interview Freequency, a female rap artist from Manchester. This episode will cover navigating her career through a male dominated sector of the industry, and advice she has for womxn wanting to break through and build their brand within the rap scene. 

The future feels bright for Saoirse and her podcast; she is incredibly grateful for her experience at Reform Radio calling it ‘’a safe space to struggle’’; the confidence, skills and support she has gained from the Skills Bootcamp have allowed her to start her passion project and in turn promote the work of grassroots artists in Greater Manchester. This National Careers Week and International Women’s Day we recognise and appreciate residents like Saoirse who have upskilled to progress their career and are using it to amplify the voices of others.  

If you want to listen to Saoirse’s podcast ‘After the Applause’, it's available on Spotify, Apple, Amazon Music and many other podcast streaming platforms.  

Explore our website to learn more about the skills programmes we're offering at Greater Manchester: Work and Skills (external link)