A TYNEDALE assistant podcast producer is up for an international award.

Jenna Green, of Hexham, created radio show ‘Hot Sauce’, alongside friends Eldrain Naidoo and Ndaba Waile-Maphosa, while studying in Melbourne, Australia.

And now, the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) show has been nominated for the ‘Best Radio Program - Music’ at the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA) Community Radio Awards, celebrating innovation, perseverance and community within the sector.

It comes after the show won ‘Best Seasonal Radio Program’ with a perfect score at the SYN Media internal station awards.

Not only that, but the show, dedicated to platforming and promoting BAME musicians and their work within genres such as afro beats, dancehall and hip hop, was also the first of its kind in Melbourne.

As well as celebrating artists, the talk show also aimed to voice societal issues and facilitate meaningful discussions surrounding some of the issues faced by the BAME community.

On the nomination, Jenna said: “It was totally unexpected to be honest, I had no idea the show was even nominated in the first place! It’s the last thing I expected to hear waking up in Hexham.

“Now that it’s starting to feel real, it feels amazing, and I feel unbelievably proud to see first hand that young people really can make a difference and create change.”

Jenna explained that while on her year abroad she was just keen to try out radio and never did she expect anything quite like this.

She added: “We made the show as three students, at the time working alongside our studies. The show became important to us after we realised how under represented our community was in the Australian mainstream, and how little was said about the issues we faced.

“We’d all felt silenced for a while and figured if you don’t feel invited to sit at the table, create your own.”

And quickly the show racked up listeners far and wide.

Jenna explained: “We soon gathered listeners as far as Brazil, the US and, of course, the UK -that weren’t just my mum! People from Hexham tuned in and sent really supportive messages.

“To receive international and national recognition like this, is just beyond what we could have ever imagined, and beyond what I could have ever dreamed of going on to do growing up in Hexham.”

The show is set to return next month, with Jenna joining from her makeshift studio in the Tyne Valley.

The results will be announced November 2.