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Radio Northwick Park

Website: www.radionorthwickpark.org

Charity Number 274806. This Charity is run by volunteers to provide patient visiting and a broadcast entertainment service to the North West London Hospitals NHS Trust and affiliated with the Hospital Broadcasting Association (HBA). We started in 1971, have 130 members who volunteer on a weekly basis and became one of the first hospital radio stations in the country to become 24 hours and broadcast on the Internet. Each year we visit approximately 3,500 patients and are regularly the most tuned into radio station within the hospital, beating all other free radio stations such as the BBC and all commercial stations. In 2010 we’ve been nominated for ‘Station of the Year’, which we’ll find out at the end of March if we’ve won.

Objectives

  • Help relieve sickness, infirmity and old age amongst persons living in the Harrow and Wembley area.
  • Provide a local broadcasting service for hospitals, old peoples homes and similar institutions.
  • Visit patients around the wards on a daily basis.
  • Train volunteers from aged 16 on technical broadcasting equipment, spurring future careers in radio.
  • Participate in community events and outside broadcasts.

Trustees / Committee

Chairman: Matt Blank
Secretary: Isabel Reubin
Treasurer: Keith Chilvers
Volunteers Coordinator: Elliot Isaacson
Fundraising Officer: Kristina Frenchum
Programme Controller: Ben Punter
Publicity Officer: Richard Whiteley
Technical Officer: Ben Hart
I.T. Officer: Jon Hart

Project: Main Studio Refurbishment

Our current studio is a legacy of the 1980’s as it was last refurbished in 1988. On a technical level all our wiring is over 22 years old and in some cases (computer networks) out of date. Although we have a digital mixer we do not have the capacity to include more up to date equipment such as a digital playout system. The room is not suitable or accessible for patients to visit the studio. We often get requests from patients to visit the studio, particularly from orthopaedic patients or those recovering from minor operations. We estimate the cost of this refurbishment to be £25,000. This follows on from our £10,000 Media Suite refurbishment in 2009.

The refurbishment of the main studio would have a direct impact on the patients and volunteers, as we will be able to provide:

  • Improved and more local entertainment, including guests and acts, especially music for our target audience.
  • Integrating us more with the hospital by increasing participation from hospital staff including doctors and promoting more patient related information e.g. after care and follow up outpatient appointments, as well as to local news and information both internally & externally.
  • Increased space and training opportunities for volunteers resulting in an increase in the number of patient visits. This could also increase the number of live hours broadcast as we will have more trained volunteers resulting in more interaction with patients e.g. on air phone call or patients visiting the studio.
  • Patient’s relatives can keep in touch with their loved ones through the enhanced online services. They can also leave messages and dedications via us to pass on or actually call live on air to pass their message on.
  • Currently we broadcast 54 live hours a week. With the new studio facility in place we believe we could increase this by 20% (over 10 hours per week). This would be achieved by beginning our live week shows earlier at 4pm and finishing at 12 midnight. We are also looking at ways of increasing the age range of our volunteers, especially for those who have retired as this could open up a whole range of broadcasting opportunities during the 9am – 4pm period during weekdays. Having the new studio facility would make this a realistic option. This would also enable us to increase our visiting service as we could provide a further request show during the daytime hours.
  • Overall it will create a more professional environment.