Rachael Crowther on Radio 1

Last week we said that Audlem girl* Rachael Crowther, now living in London, might be on BBC Radio 1 on Friday afternoon. Here's Rachael's report where it looks as if she got some news reading in too:

We entered the hallowed hallways of the BBC's shiny New Broadcasting House on Friday afternoon feeling trepidatious to say the least.

Clearly far too keen, we were over an hour early and so sat around in the reception attempting to be nonchalant about the whole thing; there was even time to sneak into a studio and brush up on our news reading skills, Fiona Bruce had better watch out!

Opposition

We met our 'Feet up Friday' opposition, four young farmers from Wormleighton village in Warwickshire. After filling in a questionnaire for Greg to quiz us on (What is your best party trick? Dream job? Worst habit etc) we were left to check out our competition.

It transpired that Radio 1 had never seen two groups who had got on so well and bond as one team, aaahhh! After a quick photo shoot we were briefed heavily about the do's and don'ts of radio (which immediately went straight out of our minds) and we were ushered beyond the glass wall into the studio where DJ Greg James was already well in to the show and making it all look so easy.

Producer Pippa counted us down and we were first on to introduce team British Exploring to 3 million listeners – no pressure! Luckily our colleague Alex did a grand job summarising the society with its wilderness expeditions.

Embarrassing

The rest of us were left to field the embarrassing stories which included a young colleague fainting during the 'cereal box' game, an openly nosey neighbour who takes photos of people using her bin facilities and some very freaky ear popping (oh the humiliation).

After the young farmers introduced themselves and went through similar embarrassment, we were then at the mercy of the listeners to text in and vote who they wanted to stay on air. Unfortunately the text voting Gods were not on our side and the young farmers beat us hands down to stay on the show.

Team British Exploring then relaxed at the back of the studio (as one does) and there was lots of opportunity for branded photos, questions and autographs in-between Greg being on air.

Our time on the airwaves came all too quickly to a close but luckily the young farmers were more than happy to join us for a drink at an obliging public house to celebrate their success and enjoy the company of new found friends before heading back to Warwickshire.

BES

The British Exploring Society is an 81 year old charity that was founded by Murray Levick who was a member of Captain's Scott's fateful last expedition in 1911. We offer wilderness expeditions to remote parts of the world for young people aged 16-25.

If you would like to know more please email rachael@britishexploring.org, call us on 0207 591 3141 or visit www.britishexploring.org for lots more information about our expeditions.

2014 sees us off to Namibia, the Arctic and Himalayas so please do get in touch if you fancy joining us! If you would like to consider an expedition in 2015 and beyond then let us know and we can email you when applications open early 2014.

*Last week, Rachael said she was flattered to be still regarded as an Audlem girl although living now in London. We suggested that Audlem was a little like the Eagles' Hotel California: "You can check-out any time you like, but you can never leave!"

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