Torbay Hospital Radio's Richard in The Chain gang

By Richard Levesley, Torbay Hospital Radio

It all started with a trip to the pub.

One of my ambitions was to appear on a feature called The Chain on The Radcliffe and Maconie Show on BBC 6Music.

The idea is to pick a track that is unique and links in some way to the last, there have been over 8,400 tracks in the time the show has been on the air.

After coming home from my local, The Crown and Sceptre in St Marychurch one Friday night, I had a look for my track on the database for the feature and it wasn’t there, so I emailed over my suggestion of Someday We’ll Be Together by The Supremes and went to bed.

The next morning, my sleep was shattered by a researcher calling from the show saying I’d been selected, and they asked if there was anything I was up to later on.

I blearily replied: "I do a show on Torbay Hospital Radio between 3pm and 5pm called the Sports and Social Club..."

A short while later, I was sat in my kitchen listening to the intro music for the feature, eager to speak with the broadcasting legends that are Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie and around 900,000 listeners.

The chaps couldn’t have been nicer and took a genuine interest in me as a ‘fellow radio man’ as they said.

The highlight was Mark teasing me for missing the start of the show, saying: "I’ll listen to your show but only from 4pm."

I hope he did, as I totally agree with him that ‘mucking around on the radio is about the best fun you can have’.

For me, it is also a fantastic stress buster from a challenging job as a housing caseworker for a local authority.

I may not pull in 900,000 listeners but I have a dedicated band of people that never fail to surprise me with the range of requests, everything from the 1950s to the present day. Even after two years, it’s a thrill when someone thanks me for playing something they want.

On the sport side, I try to match this by covering as many sports that are available to me when I’m on air with the focus on local professional teams such as Torquay United or Exeter Chiefs.

One of the most difficult moment was when United conceded a last-minute penalty to Altrincham to all but confirm their relegation to National League South, and I really felt for the supporters and fans that day.

If my own team Sheffield Wednesday are playing against a local side like Plymouth, then all attempts at neutrality goes out of the window, as one of our new presenters will attest when we took the lead and I almost burst his eardrum shouting.

I can only do this because of our fundraising events and how generous the public are. We owe them everything from steam train fairs to local pop-up events in the Co-op, and it’s great to meet people at them, so please feel free to come and say hello if we’re somewhere near you. We’re usually in a marquee in stylish black polo shirts.

You can find where we are next by listening to us at Torbay Hospital Radio online or at 95.9FM in the Torquay area. You can also support us by making donations on line at torbayhospitalradio.com.You can even donate to us by playing the Torbay Lottery where you can net yourself up to £25,000.

We’re going from strength to strength having just taken over Channel 37 on Tower Sound at Newton Abbot Hospital, and would love some more volunteers to help us fundraise, take requests in the hospital or present shows.

We have a signed photo of former Radio 2 legend Ken ‘Popmaster’ Bruce in the studio who started off his career on hospital radio in Glasgow in the 1970s, so you could follow in his hallowed footsteps by joining us today.