'Hearing people's life stories are my favourite part of life as a Torbay Hospital Radio presenter'

By Shelley Szender, a presenter at Torbay Hospital Radio

It's been two years since I started volunteering as a presenter at Torbay Hospital Radio.

Where have those two years gone?

Along the way I have met some genuinely lovely people. My favourite part of my show is when I have guests on.

I am quite a nosy person, so someone telling me their life story, really floats my boat.

I love it when a side hustle is turned into a business, take Scott Williams for example.

Scott, in a previous life, was a taxi driver but during lockdown he taught himself photography, posted his work on social media and now this is his full-time job. I must say he does have a fantastic talent.

Also, Brian Ivey, who played darts with his mum and dad as a teenager, took an interest, played around the pubs and now runs a Darts Academy in Paignton.

Our station sponsor Karen Breyley worked in care and recruitment but faced redundancy, so set up her own care company Friends Helping at Home, which is going from strength to strength.

When time permits, I enjoy our outside broadcast. We are very fortunate to have our own outside broadcast manager, Keith Reeves, whose dedication and passion for Torbay Hospital Radio doesn’t go unnoticed.

We are attending a great deal of outside broadcasts this year; they’re good fun.

We are at Ipple Tipple, Marldon Apple Pie Fair, Kingsteignton Ram Roast... this is just a small selection of events.

However, if this is something you fancy helping with, we are always looking for volunteers. We are not just looking for radio presenters, we have a number of voluntary roles.

On Friday, April 14, Keith and I set up camp in the reception area at the hospital. It was lovely meeting the hospital visitors and staff who were interested in hearing about the hospital radio.

Some staff took away radios for their workstations, wards and some even took away our headsets which are tuned into the hospital radio, for the patients.

Tracey from the Ricky Grant unit even modelled a headset for our Facebook page.

While standing in reception, I was mistaken for a Way-Finder, the trustee band of volunteers who help visitors navigate the hospital.

You will see them when they come into hospital, they have the T-shirt to prove it!

I did actually enjoy doing this. Helping someone does give you an enormous sense of wellbeing, and secondly, I love talking and meeting new people.

One lady I helped, I informed her to follow the signs, I noticed she had done a complete loop and was back in reception, going off in totally different direction, so I chaperoned her back to the lift, press the lift button for the floor she needed and sent her on her way.

I wasn’t going to confess to anyone that I was reading the map just the same as they were, but we all need reassure at times, and I was happy to help.

I’m just glad no one asked me for medical advice.