Bosses at a Perthshire community radio station are battling to raise £25,000 by January 14 to continue broadcasting.
Heartland FM, which is headquartered in Pitlochry, has had its income slashed this year due to advertisers pulling out.
A Crowdfunding page has been set up by the charity’s board to help save the station.
It’s the first time the volunteer-run station has had to turn to suuporters for cash.
On top of losing its scheduled broadcasts, the Heartland FM team say they would be forced to curtail training programmes with local schools and colleges.
Smaller donors will get name checks on air and a chance to present the time every hour for a day.
Donors who provide larger sums of money will be entitled to a spot on the station’s Wall of Fame, a starring role in next year’s radio pantomime and even an opportunity to rename one of Heartland’s six recording studios.
Services are also being exchanged for donations, including IT repairs and photobook publishing.
Trustees say many of their regular advertisers are in the hard-hit tourism and catering sectors, where businesses have struggled to even retain staff.
A spokesperson said: “Due to a significant drop in advertising revenue caused by Covid-19, we need to raise £25,000 by the January 14, 2021, for our running costs, including transmission fees, broadcast licenses and fees.
“We want to help local companies promote their business to reignite the economy and get ready for a prosperous 2021.”
Bosses say fundraising is going well and they hit the 10% mark on day one.
With more than £3,000 in the kitty already, chairman Graham Huggins says he’s pleased with how things are going.
He said: “I’ve been looking through the comments people have made and I’m very happy.
“It’s always nice to get that feedback and not only that, it’s feedback with people putting their hands in their pockets and contributing.
“I’m particularly pleased with the way the launch has gone. I think everybody worked hard and it came across very professionally on all our services.”
Heartland FM is the oldest community radio station in the UK and the current team has decades of experience.
The station says most broadcasters in their field only make it for around seven years.
