Since he was the first voice heard on Bendigo's Vision Australia radio more than 20 years ago, community radio has been a cornerstone in Ken Jones' life.
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The humble volunteer has been recognised for his services to Bendigo with a Medal of the Order of Australia.
His life has taken a remarkable path which has led to this honour.
In 1975, Ken lost his right arm and right leg in a motorcycle accident, when a car veered into his lane.
Working for Telstra at the time, his job took him from Benalla to Bendigo in the 1990s.
After retiring 25 years ago, Ken, now 70, turned to community radio and volunteering as a way to stay connected to people.
The entertainer
He discovered his love for bush poetry as part of the Bendigo Goldfields Bush Poets, and would perform for nursing homes across Bendigo.
He found nursing homes to be a "good asset" for the community and loved entertaining people who were in the later stages of their lives.
"I was aware that [nursing homes were a] great asset for the community in the fact that you've got somewhere to go if you can no longer be at home," Ken said.
"I always thought that was good.
"They [nursing home residents] never used to get many visitors ... so they used to enjoy that."
Ken's wife Anne said she loved how Ken's poems would resonate with nursing home residents.
"It's really good for a lot of the older residents because it's what they grew up with," she said.
"They can't recite them outright, but as soon as you start saying them ... it's just going through their brain.
"So it's really good, even for people with dementia."
Ken loved poetry because they were "short and sweet" and he could recite them off the top of his head.
Road trauma awareness
Throughout his years volunteering, Ken would often speak on behalf of a road trauma awareness program.
He said he would travel to schools to explain how quickly actions on the road could turn catastrophic and talk about "how easy it was to be involved in an accident".
"[I would say] 'how many of you kids ride a motorbike' and the hands would go up," Ken said.
"I said 'how many were wearing a helmet?' and there was about two hands that went up.
"I've got a dent in my head from the accident and I said 'that dent in my head, that was from my accident' and I had a really good crash helmet."
In bed with Ken
In another setback, Ken suffered a major stroke in 2023.
The stroke resulted in loss of movement in his left arm and swelling to his right leg meaning he could no longer wear a prosthetic.
Still eager to be a part of community radio and with support of his local listeners, Phoenix FM arranged a new program titled In Bed With Ken.
Fellow Phoenix volunteers Anne Conway and Bill Whitbread would come to the nursing home with microphones and Ken would choose the playlist.
Anne and Bill then edited the program, which still airs once a month.
It meant although Ken was dependent on his wife and carers at the nursing home, he was still connected to the community.
While he said living after a stroke was frustrating, he still loved the time he could spend with family.
Ken is the father of three kids and three grandchildren, with one grandchild close by in Bendigo.
Despite Ken admitting to not being "overly keen" on the recognition of an OAM, Anne said she was incredibly proud of her husband's efforts.
"He's done amazing," she said.
"He's got the right attitude.
"It's nice to be acknowledged in this day and age where you have so much negativity and so much criticism.
"It's just nice for somebody to go one step further and say 'hey, well done'."
