The first jingle advertising the trolley shop was created and
broadcast.
In March a link to the chapel for relaying services was completed
after nine month's.
A record librarian was appointed and he had obtained several more
records.
Radio Heatherwood entered a float for the Ascot carnival in June. The
following day a team of presenters and nurses played Ascot united in a
charity football match which raised £20.
The first birthday of the station produces glowing reports in the
local press of the success of the service.
One of the many characters which have become part of the history of
Radio Heatherwood, was the lady Mrs Cox, who was known to all the
staff as the Duchess, a patient on Ward 4.
It's a dismal experience to be stuck in a hospital bed especially
after all the grapes have been eaten and the magazine small ads read
twice.
For many patients their only respite from boredom is the set of radio
earphones beside every bed.
Heatherwood Hospital is one of the places where teams of volunteers
aim to take the patients out of their bed and back to their lounges
with the logical extension of local radio, hospital radio.
Last Friday the Heatherwood radio system celebrated its first birthday
as a regular service, although a one man operation had been limping
from breakdown to breakdown for four years before that.
But it was on June 10th 1976 that the new studio under the wing of
Heatherwood Hospital's League of Friends was opened in the maternity
ward by Michael Parkinson and Diana Dors.
The League put up £6,000 for the work and the hospital authorities
chipped in with £1,000 and a room to build a studio in.
"This room was given to us and it just grew" explained
League of Friends Chairman Ron Mason, who was one of the prime movers
of the scheme.
Therapy
The station began by putting out shows three night a week but has
already doubled its output to presentations every night except
Saturday, to the 250 beds.
Now Ron reckons that about half the patients listen in most nights.
He says the programme's are good therapy for them simply by being
enjoyable.
" We could quote lots of instances where patients have got
depressed in hospital and we have helped them get up and go. I think
it's because we break through to them away from officialdom"
The radio scheme aims to take the patients' minds off actually being
in hospital. "We reckon that if a D.J. can put a patient back in
his own lounge listening to the radio for a second then they have done
their job."
To do this the DJ.s have got to meet the patients. So each of the
nightly teams goes round the hospital before their programme is
prepared to collect the patients' requests and chat with them.
It follows that the content of the. programme's are almost totally
controlled by the listeners, and D.J.s who step out of line are very
smartly told so on their next trip round the wards.
But, each team has its own individual way of presenting the requests
which make up 90 per cent of the air time, so the show's don't become
the same.
During its' year of existence Radio Heatherwood has come forward a
great deal both in content and the professionalism of presentation.
But more changes are planned by the radio sub-committee of the League
of Friends.
Changes
The biggest change likely to come over the next year is an additional
studio and a change in channel away from the present Radio 4 slot on
the internal system.
"We'd like to see the broadcasting time extended as well,"
says Ron, " to take in Saturday evening, and perhaps all day
production." But the whole systems runs on voluntary labour and
donations of records and cash to keep the library and technical
equipment up to date and up to scratch.
There will now be a short commercial break.
'"We'd like to ask the public to donate any old records they
don't want or don't like the sound of any more to the Radio
Heatherwood Library " is the plea from Ron.
But as important if not more important are the people who put the
records on, chat to the patients, and generally help them to get over
their stay in hospital. " We're thinking of approaching local
organisations to get teams to handle the Saturday evening slot,"
explains Ron. "
But if we're going to get the all-day presentation off the ground we
will really need shift workers who can spare a bit of time and we are
always after more people to join the present teams."
So if you fancy the station's philosophy of contact with the patient
for the patient and think you can help, in any way. Ron will be only
too pleased to hear from you at Radio Heatherwood.
(Source Unknown)
As with all press reports from time to time the facts aren't strictly
correct!
