Northumberland Hospital Radio celebrates gold anniversary
A volunteer-run hospital radio station that broadcasts to patients in Northumberland and North Tyneside is celebrating its 50-year anniversary.
Northumberland Hospital Radio (NHR), which is a registered charity, broadcasts 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The station provides patients and staff with a quality blend of easy listening music, mixed with news, and talk radio-style interludes. Patients can access NHR via their bedside entertainment unit. Accessing the radio station is free. Patients don’t need to purchase a viewing card.
Although Northumberland Hospital Radio is an independent registered charity, it is also part of Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust’s voluntary service. To celebrate the milestone, Bright Northumbria Healthcare Charity gifted the station £5000. The radio station plans to use the donation to replace ageing equipment and expand their services.
The station was founded in 1974, then called Radio Wansbeck, by the League of Friends with a £100 grant. In 2000, Northumberland Hospital Radio expanded its programming to a 24-hour service, with the introduction of an automated PC system, an innovation at the time. The service grew from strength to strength, moving into a new studio at Wansbeck General Hospital in early 2003, as the station approached its 30-year anniversary. The move was largely funded by a grant received from the Northern Rock Foundation.
Iain Miles has been a trustee at Northumberland Hospital Radio since 1986 and a volunteer since 1985. He is now station director. Reflecting on the station’s 50-year journey, he said:
“We are over the moon to be celebrating 50 years of NHR. Hospital radio still provides a unique and important service that plays a valuable role in the patient experience. Being in hospital can be a difficult and stressful time. By providing a light entertainment music and information service, we give patients a welcome distraction to help pass the time.
“I have been with the charity for 39 years and it’s been amazing to see the station grow from the days of only broadcasting to the old Ashington Hospital in West View, to a service that covers all hospitals in Northumberland and North Tyneside. The generous donation from Bright Charity will allow us to replace equipment we brought with us from the old Ashington Hospital to Wansbeck over 20 years ago and help with planned expansion of the service we offer patients and staff.”
Robert Graham, head of Bright Northumbria Healthcare Charity, emphasised the importance of the station’s volunteers:
“Patients are at the heart of everything we do. Being in hospital can be a scary time and services like Northumbria Hospital Radio provide patients with some relief and a form of distraction. NHR has now been operating for 50 years and its success is a testament to the hard work of our brilliant volunteers. Volunteers provide an important service within Northumbria Healthcare and we are incredibly grateful for their generosity and continued support.
“If you are interested in joining the Northumbria Volunteer Service, we’d love to hear from you! The trust has hundreds of volunteers conducting a range of roles across its hospitals. Our volunteers tell us that they find their experience to be really satisfying, with 93% saying that they would recommend it to others.”
