It's radiothon time again, and JOY 94.9 FM is pulling out all the stops, labouring away to get the station up and running in its new home of 225 Bourke Street.

JOY's new HQ is nestled in the heart of the city, in the commanding art deco City Village building. The building is impressive - and large. bnews actually got lost in the search for JOY's office, stopping at five floors before we reached our destination.

Stephen Hahn is JOY 94.9 FM's station manager. Stepping over building material and dodging workmen to greet us, he says that he welcomes the move.

 "I think we have a new level of enthusiasm about the radio that we make. The diversity in the building will make a great impact on the way the radio generates its output," Hahn says.

The change of location is due to the Melbourne City Council initiative City Village, a scheme which offers a number of community organisations affordable rents in one inner city location. The idea is to create a wealthy resource of community groups that feed off one another's ideas and initiatives.

Moving from above a hardware shop in South Melbourne to an open plan, naturally lit office in an art deco city building marks a distinctive new era for the station. If figures are an indicator, JOY seems to be thriving, with a current regular listenership of 216,000 (monthly), up from 187,000 in 2006.

"We've done amazing stuff with really limited resources. This is a bit of a growing up process," says Hahn.

He believes it is a great opportunity to look at the station's diversity, how it represents the community and a chance to take a few more risks.

"This is not corporate, and I don't want this to be corporate. We're independent media, but it's professional in what it does. We're well resourced, with good people and we can make really interesting content."

But will the new move affect the most important people, the listeners?

"I think the new location and the excitement and enthusiasm about the move here will cross over into generating really new, interesting and enthusiastic radio. It's like we've had a breath of fresh air, so it will be a good thing for the audience," Hahn says.

"Having access to creative and social change groups will only make it a lot easier for us to generate interesting content, and having the new studio will make it a lot easier to put to air," he says.

A pioneer radio station for the Melbourne Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Queer (GLTBIQ) community for 16 years, JOY relies heavily on public funding. The annual radiothon is a crucial part of this, fetching up to 20 percent of the station's funding.

The 10-day event is being held from 13 to 22 June, and is an appeal to the community to tune in and become a member or donate to the station.
The radiothon kicks off with Campervan this Friday, when presenter Bridget Boson will host special guests Deputy Lord Mayor Gary Singer and his partner Geoffrey Smith.

"We are building on the success of last year. We hope to get more members, because the more we get, the more it shows we're doing the right thing by the community," says Hahn.

 "I urge people to become members, keep the village well running. Don't be the only gay not in the village!"

An open day will be held on Saturday 12 July, to celebrate the relocation. There will be a BBQ and the station will be open to the public to see the new space and meet some of the presenters.

In keeping with the new start, JOY are also launching a new magazine for members called Hear Here, which will cover some of the station's behind the scenes stories.

JOYFM will also be holding a training session for volunteers in September for broadcast training, so there's no shortage of things to get involved in.

By ANDIE NOONAN