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Mike Cartwright

Over the years, Mike Cartwright has reported on some of the biggest local, national, and international news stories. He was born just outside of Grimsby and attended school in the area, before travelling to Cardiff to attend university. His first role in Journalism was at the long-standing weekly newspaper, Lincolnshire Chronicle, where he worked his way up from Trainee Journalist to News Editor for Grimsby, Cleethorpes and Immingham.

Then, Mike made the move to BBC local radio, where he spent 25 years of his career. His roles included News Editor at BBC Radio Lincolnshire, News Room Producer at BBC Radio Humberside and Morning Editor of the flagship morning programme, as well as a Senior Broadcast Journalist and South Bank Editor. He has reported on thousands of stories, from the final ferry crossing of the River Humber and the grand opening of the Humber Bridge, to the huge explosion of a nearby chemical plant, to the effects on the local community following 9/11.


A few years ago, Mike shared his expertise with the new generation of broadcast journalists and became a Lecturer at The Grimsby Institute, teaching radio modules and offering real-life production experience on the college’s journalism courses.

Today, he continues to produce fascinating audio content for schools and local community groups with his venture, Soundschool.


Soundschool is commissioned by community organisations, such as the local library service, to create documentaries on different aspects the area’s history or on current issues. Mike will also visit schools across Northern Lincolnshire and beyond to produce documentaries and docu-dramas based on the pupils’ topic of work, such as the Roman invasion of Britain or the Battle of Britain and the Blitz. Children get involved in role-plays and research, writing letters home from evacuated children, war diaries, reporter pieces from the scene, for example. Then, Mike brings the children’s work to life through audio.


Mike says: “Grimsby is all about people and the community. There is a sadness seeing the town decline over the years, it appeared to be so vibrant, full character and colour with great businesses and people. The docks were a completely different world all of its own. This is why it’s really important to keep Grimsby on the map and show how important a place it is in the world.”

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