We launched the award in memory of Rachael, to discover exciting new voices in broadcasting - and that is exactly what we鈥檝e done.
The new series, made by 主播大秀 Radio 5 live and available on 主播大秀 Sounds, takes a warts-and-all look at the reality of addiction and mental health through the eyes of two women in recovery - Melissa and Jade.
They want to debunk the stereotype of addicts and show how 鈥榚veryday people鈥� like them - a teacher and a mental health nurse - can develop addiction problems.
In the podcast, Melissa and Jade share searingly honest and often hilarious accounts of their experiences. They celebrate visible recovery, bust outdated myths and laugh at the wonders and blunders encountered on the journey from addiction to recovery.
Melissa and Jade were announced as the winners of the Rachael Bland New Podcast Award by Steve Bland at the British Podcast Awards on Saturday 18 May.
The Rachael Bland New Podcast Award was launched in January in honour of the 主播大秀 Radio 5 live on newsreader and presenter who died in September 2018 from breast cancer. Rachael was the creator of You, Me And The Big C, the award-winning podcast she presented with Lauren Mahon and Deborah James, which won praise for tackling the subject of cancer in an original and unsentimental way.
The award was looking for the next new, passionate and distinctive voices in podcasting and received more than 600 entries. The judging panel included 5 live controller Jonathan Wall and managing editor Heidi Dawson, producer of You, Me And The Big C, Mike Holt, Rachael鈥檚 husband Steve Bland, Rachael鈥檚 colleague and close friend Uma Doraiswamy, and 主播大秀 Radio editor Dixi Stewart.
On winning the award, Melissa Rice says: 鈥淚鈥檓 so overwhelmed. The fact that someone is allowing addiction to be talked about in such a way鈥� I can鈥檛 believe it. I鈥檓 so honoured. Thank you so much.
Steve Bland says: 鈥淔rom an early point during the judging this entry leapt off the page for us, and when we heard the audio we knew they were our winners. The personalities of these two women are just fantastic and they totally embody everything Rachael would have wanted out of this competition. We鈥檙e really excited about this podcast and I鈥檓 really looking forward to working with Melissa and Jade.鈥�
Jonathan Wall, controller of 主播大秀 Radio 5 live, comments: 鈥淲e launched the award in memory of Rachael to discover exciting new voices in broadcasting, and that is exactly what we鈥檝e done. 5 live podcasts are distinctive in their storytelling, they鈥檙e funny and they鈥檙e honest. What we鈥檝e found here is all of those things, and more. It is going to be a great addition to our already very strong line-up of podcasts.鈥�
The podcast will launch in September 2019 and will be produced by Steve Bland and Uma Doraiswamy for 主播大秀 Radio 5 live. It will be available to download on 主播大秀 Sounds.
GB