Gareth Cottrell

About Me

I started my radio career at the tender age of 16 answering phones for a Saturday sports show.  After a year I decided to take my interest seriously and enrolled at Manchester University doing Media Radio Production.  A degree course is difficult for anybody however in my case it was even harder. From childhood I had suffered from a serious stammer which made communication very difficult.

Before I continue let me make it clear that during my childhood I had undergone several attempts at NHS speech therapy, with very little success. With this in mind I felt there was no hope and I would be lumbered with this problem for the rest of my life. Having a stammer doesn’t just effect you physically it also effects you mentally and zaps your self confidence. I was always teased and bullied at school. When the going got tough I would occasionally, fake illnesses in order to have a day off. Certain teachers would sympathise and give me support; but others would force me to read in class, which was a terrifying experience.   

One day however, my mother returned home from my younger brother’s school and told me she had found herself in conversation with a parent named Melanie Ashton. Mel was an experienced drama teacher and the conversation had strayed onto my predicament. She was certain she could help so I contacted her and my treatment began.

The first few sessions consisted of breathing exercises with a belt around my chest beginning each sentence with a big breath. Next was to build up my confidence by interviewing several of Mel’s drama pupils. As you can imagine this was a very embarrassing and terrifying experience for me. After about a month I could string a sentence together. After 3 months my speech was broken up but holding a conversation became possible. After 6 months I had been blessed with the use of my voice. I could now speak on the phone, ask for things in shops, and be included in conversations expressing my own views and feelings.

I graduated in 2005 with a degree in Media radio production which was one of the proudest moments of my life so far. After graduating I did the commercial radio rounds starting at Radio Aire and finishing at Key 103 Manchester. I then started presenting at Tameside Radio which I continue to do to this day. However in between all my commercial radio presenting and producing I dreamt of owning my own radio station. I launched Online World Radio on September 21^st 2009. Within 4 months of broadcasting we were awarded bronze in the International Web Radio awards. This was a huge achievement and since then Online World Radio has gone from strength to strength.