Stray FM offers listener an Ultimate Ride Home

By James Cridland for media.info
Posted 16 April 2015, 6.23am edt

A North Yorkshire teacher in Bedale has been flown the 27 miles to her home in Knaresborough by helicopter, thanks to Stray FM.

Stray FM’s drivetime host Will Smith came up with the idea for the competition called “The Ultimate Ride Home”. Will asked listeners to tell him their route home and then picked one lucky listener out.

Will said “There are so many roadworks around the area at the moment, I wanted to give a listener a chance to beat the queues for a day. Yorkshire is beautiful from the ground but it is even more amazing from the sky.”

Stray FM teamed up with local Aviation company Helijet to make the trip happen. The adventure involved broadcasting on the radio from the Helicopter.

Many landmarks from the Stray FM area were seen during the flight including The Great Yorkshire Showground, Lightwater Valley, Ripon Cathedral, Fountains Abbey and even Stray FM itself.

The winner of the competition, Gillian Mulholland who teaches at Bedale High School, said “It was the best ride home ever, so many people watched me take off and land including all my family, neighbours and colleagues. I will never forget the day”.

Stray FM has a market share of 9.7% and broadcasts to an area of 144,000 people.