Hospital Radio Bedford took the decision to lock the doors on its studio in the basement of Bedford Hospital’s South Wing to support the NHS it loves and stay at home. ‘This was a really tough decisions’ says Membership Member Ian Griffiths. ‘At a time when it is even more important to support our community it felt like we were abandoning them, despite the fact that we are still able to provide a pre-recorded programme 24 hours a day, we actually needed to do more during this crisis, not less.’
‘Radio is the best media to help with loneliness’, Ian continues ‘and with the entire population isolated we felt it important we continued with as much live and relevant programming as possible.’
The team came together ‘virtually’ to share their collective knowledge and equipment to set up as many home studios as possible. ‘There are now 5 presenters broadcasting from their homes and a further 4 sending in on the day recordings’ says Andy Norbury the Promotions Member and Trustee, who along with Ian spear headed the remote studio initiative. ‘We hope to increase this in the coming weeks and extend our live coverage as we all have a little bit more time on our hands!’
This achievement has only been made possible by the whole team sharing experiences and supporting each other. The stations Training Officer and Trustee Frank Palmer who has been with HRB for 44 years and IT Lead and Trustee Ronnie Stanley (OBE) have provided their wealth of experience to enable the radical change to operations. The youngest member of the HRB team Dan Kingston was one of the first presenters to take the helm of the new CSI broadcast, meaning this initiative has truly spanned the full age range of the 28 strong membership team.
Recent studies have shown that music has significant health benefits.
‘Radio broadcasters can play a major role in replacing isolation with socialization’ – Kelly Orchard
https://www.rbr.com/how-radio-can-improve-mental-health/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3WM314mvNKTv8zfSJr5jjMw/6-things-music-could-do-for-your-mind
https://www.theskinny.co.uk/music/opinion/the-power-of-sound-how-listening-to-the-radio-can-help-combat-loneliness
Edwyn Collins film Music is my life
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCrlWIxVCSc
Hospital Radio Bedford, broadcasting under the umbrella of Bedfordshire Health Radio (BHR) charity, aims to be the number 1 radio station for health and wellbeing in the local Bedfordshire area and beyond. It is a registered charity which has a home in the basement of Bedford Hospital South Wing. Staffed by 28 volunteers it broadcasts a mix of live and pre-recorded programmes 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. With community at its heart, the station programme offering covers a vast range of music genres and lifestyle content. As a public service, HRB also covers significant local events such as the Remembrance Day service on the embankment. HRB is proud to be part of Bedford Hospital’s patient services and be an active part of the community.
Future aspirations for BHR are to broaden its broadcast range into DAB.
If there are any budding presenters out there the station is always on the lookout for more volunteers. As well as presenters, HRB is looking for production members and administration help. With the wealth of experience HRB has with its current volunteers, full training is given to new recruits. Contact members@hospitalradiobedford.org.uk
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Contact:
www.hospitalradiobedford.org.uk
promotions@hospitalradiobedford.org.uk
Distributed by Pressat
Additional Contact(s):
Andy Norbury 07432 621929
Laura Taylor 074 7272 5914
