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Shirley Lynch - July 2022
Briefly: Born and raised in England. 1 of 6 children — 5 girls and 1 boy. Came to Australia (by myself) in April 1968. I loved Australia from the moment I stepped off the plane onto the tarmac at Sydney Airport. It felt as though I had arrived in the country I was meant to be in. Although it wasn't necessary then, I became an Australian citizen in June 1970 thus becoming a dual citizen of Australia and the UK. Married an Australian man in November 1970 and gave birth to my daughter, Claire in June 1973.
Growing Up:
All my life I have had an interest in music, especially dance. I can remember my Aunty Jean taking me to ballet lessons with my eldest sister Veronica when I was 3 years old. A few years later, realising that I didn't have any real talent for ballet, I turned to ballroom dancing. Won a competition held by The Victor Sylvester ballroom dance classes and took lessons with them.
At 13 my life changed when we moved house from Ipswich to Sudbury (in Suffolk). No more dance lessons, ... but I discovered Cliff Richard and Rock n Roll ! You couldn't stop me then, in Sudbury there were two Coffee houses (the Bambi and the Bongo) they both had a juke box. It became a family tradition that we five girls worked in one or the other before we left school, - as much for the music on the juke box(es), as for the money.
In 1967 I became disenchanted with the work situation and decided that I would like to go somewhere away from the small country town we lived in. After talking it through with my parents we decided that I should apply to Australia House to emigrate. This came to Fruition in April 1968, with four days’ notice, I packed up and left.
I lived with my aunty and uncle in Bondi for a year and then moved into a flat at Maroubra, where I stayed until I married. Those were the days of radio band competitions, music in the park on the weekend, beach parties etc etc., I loved it. I met my first husband through my workplace. My parents (in 1970), two of my sisters and their families (in 1983 and 1988), also emigrated to Australia
Through my work at Lysaght Brownbuilt Industries I was finally able to go to University to study for a diploma/degree, something I could not afford to do in England, whilst there I minored in creative arts, which was learning to write scripts, direct and produce TV programmes. As part of this we attended lectures and had practical time at the Radio and Film School. There I learnt how to operate a sound board.
As the years went by my daughter Claire, took ballet, jazz and tap lessons. Naturally, she was my priority and I am so lucky in that we both love the theatre, music and dance.
Roll on a few years, my daughter is all grown up; I had divorced her father and met a wonderful man. Philip and I married in 2003 and we decided to follow my job to Coffs Harbour a year later. Our lives were full and very happy. We made a host of new friends, especially through the Go Girls. It was one of the Go Girls, Josie; who suggested that I become a member of 2AIRFM.
Phil became unwell in 2018 and during his remaining time on earth he kept saying to me that I needed to keep living and should audition to become a Presenter on the radio. After he passed away (in 2019) I thought about what he wished me to do. Six months later, when the Station was advertising for new Presenters, I decided to give it a go.
Val was my trainer and she was very thorough. We found that I had a real aptitude for presenting a mixed music radio programme. Actually, we were both surprised at how easy I found it to use the sound board! I had completely forgotten about my time at the Radio and Film School but subconsciously the knowledge was there all the time. I use both CD's and the computer to gather the music for my programmes.
I am now a very proud Presenter and member of 2AIRFM's Fund-raising Team.
The Fund Raising and Outdoor Music Team hold various activities throughout the year to raise the necessary funds to enable the Station to stay on air and keep up with all the upgrades needed to present quality programmes. Our next major events are an Open Day in August and an Observation Walk in September.
Volunteering at 2AIRFM is something that we all love doing, especially when people ring up and tell us how much they enjoy the music.
Shirley Lynch
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