Paul Harding: Hospital radio expansion is being driven by listener demand

Well, there has been more exciting news at Torbay Hospital Radio in the last week or so. We now broadcast during the day at Brixham Hospital, which means that we now cover the main hospital at Torbay, Newton Abbot and Brixham, meaning that we are now able to reach more patients, visitors and staff at all three. This is a great step forward for us and shows that there is still a place for hospital broadcasting in 2024.

Whilst we are a small, tight group of volunteers we are certainly punching above our weight. Having an FM transmitter at Torbay and with our shows going out on the internet as well means a larger and wider audience than ever before. It is something that we have deliberately aimed to do, but something that has been driven by demand. Once we knew the service was wanted, we put in place a plan to make it happen and it’s not easy, our Chairman, Lee Thomas has always had a vision to raise the profile of the station and his concept has come to fruition.

Running a radio station comes with many challenges, you need infrastructure, money and people as a minimum add to that all of the hard work. We are fortunate to have space at Torbay and we have developed a high-spec space, with two studios. As I have mentioned before we are not funded by the NHS and raise all the funds needed to run the charity ourselves. This involves applying for grants and running outside events which also raise much-needed revenue. A word should go out to Keith Reeves our Events Manager, who organises a whole host of events, with local organisations such as the local Rotary and Lions Clubs. We provide the PA systems and provide music and commentary to a whole host of activities from dog shows to maypole dancing. I think it’s fair to say we will try anything and Keith is always on the lookout for events we can attend.

We were recently at the Queen's Arms in Brixham at their music festival, attending for two days and over the summer you will see us at a whole host of other fetes and fayres at venues from Babbacombe to Marldon, Ashburton to Kingsteignton. If you want to come along the details are on the Torbay Hospital radio website. We are very thankful that members make themselves available, but with a small loyal band we are often spread a little thin so if you fancy helping, go to the website to see how you might help us.

Clearly volunteering is the core blood of how we work and it is very reassuring to hear from other hospital radio stations, who want to know how we do it and do it well. I think the secret is that we do not have any egos to get in the way, presenters just get on with the job in hand and it certainly seems to be working. The shows produced are of good quality and both the station and presenters have received awards over the last couple of years. We produce hours of live content each week and in between we have hours of pre-recorded shows and music playlists to entertain those listening in, whether in the hospital or elsewhere.

So what’s next? Well, we would love to use the digital platform DAB, but for now, we are seeing if this is financially possible for us and we also like to hear our shows going out in doctors' surgeries in South Devon. Our second studio is equipped and we are looking to use this more in the coming year. The trustees of the charity along with a strong leadership team are trying to find ways to make these dreams happen, whilst at the same time remaining true to our core principle of providing entertainment to hospital patients.