| Ben Jackson |
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Ben Presents BBC Radio Leicester's Breakfast show.Gold Winner 2007 & Silver 2008 of The Best Breakfast Show in The BBC Frank Gillard Awards. Ben Jackson started at CWR in Coventry in about 1990/91 as part of a 'youth' show run a group of students from Coventry University (or Poly as it was then!), and though he says that there was no real plan he ended up making packages for the breakfast show and doing radio car pieces for just about anybody who would have them. After he finished University, he carried on working there, still on a largely un-paid basis, for a year or so whilst also working at AA Roadwatch in Halesowen.
From there, it was the wonderful world of the car park reports at WM in Birmingham. This was essentially his first break, as apart from anything else, it was paid work so he could stop living on the floor of a friend’s house! After doing that for a few months Ben got the chance to fill in as the Breakfast PA for the breakfast show at Radio Leicester. It was back into the world of packages and radio cars and eventually presentation. He did a few fill-ins for the afternoon show and finally got the early breakfast show 'Daybreak' which was on from 5 till 7. Then after a couple of years, the then breakfast show presenter left and Ben was offered the gig with the programme reverting to a six o'clock start. He was just 23 at the time, so it was a massive learning curve and a huge leap of faith for the management! The rest is history! When not behind the microphone Ben loves old cars and bikes as do his two sons Kit and Felix. In fact he took his bike test last year so that he could ride a Royal Enfield to John O'Groats and back in order to raise money for a local Childrens Hospice (BBC Radio Leicester has already raised £560,000, for it with the Ruby Rainbow appeal held as part of their 40th anniversary celebrations). Ben will also be doing the Pioneer Run in March on a bike built in 1914! It's like the London to Brighton run, but for bikes. Cooking is a huge passion for Ben as well and you are in for a treat if you are lucky enough to be invited around for diner! Living as he does in a village in Leicestershire in a house he’s been renovating for the last couple of years, he reckons that it has got to the point where it's now falling down slower than he is putting it back together which is a bit of a relief! |
