A RADIO fan from Sale has impressed station hosts after he took to the airwaves while on a work placement.

Ted Burnand, aged 24, of Brooklands, is blind in his left eye and struggles to see things at a distance.

In late 2014, Ted enrolled on a Skillstep course with Henshaws Society for Blind People at the charity’s Old Trafford centre, in an effort to boost his employment prospects.

After ten weeks of learning computer techniques, confidence building and other skills, he spent a fortnight at 94.4FM Salford City Radio, based at Salford Civic Centre in Swinton, where he wowed presenters with his natural talent behind the microphone.

Sufiya Rehman, the station’s manager, said she was impressed by hos confidence and worked on a number of shows which had even included making his own show.

“Ted definitely has the potential to pursue a career in radio and I hope this has inspired him to explore it.”

Ted said: “I really enjoyed my time at Salford City Radio and I definitely would like to go into radio now, perhaps as a presenter.

“It was great to be able to record my own show of 1990s hits. It’s the decade in which I was born and it produced some great music.

“Skillstep really helped me become more confident. It met some great people and I even learned how to cook.”

During the placement, Ted also got to meet Manchester-based singer songwriter Logan Stryx and he even invited Skillstep coordinator Julie Parrish onto the airwaves for an interview about Henshaws.

Afterwards, Julie said: “Ted’s story is a shining example of how Skillstep is helping blind and visually impaired people who want to work, volunteer or continue learning.

“It has given people an opportunity to make new friends and, in some cases, turned lives around.”

Run in partnership with Trafford College, the course is funded by the Big Lottery Fund and there are typically eight people in each group.

The next Skill Step course runs from April 21 to July 9, and to find out more

call Julie on 0161 872 1234, email Julie.parrish@henshaws.org.uk