A COMMUNITY radio station, first launched to support patients at Winchester Hospital, is celebrating 40 years since becoming a charity.
Winchester Radio has been helping the community since September 1984. The station, based inside the Royal Hampshire County Hospital, is run by volunteers and aims to support people over 50 by promoting what is happening locally, signposting to other charities and services and reducing isolation.
One of the four trustees, Paul Blitz, was one of the founding members and helped design the very first studio.
Paul said: “The technology has changed absolutely amazingly. We used to play gramophone records in the first studio. Technology then shrunk down a bit to use cassettes and then we went to digital.
“We all work here, we just don’t get paid. For some of us it’s quite a job and it is equivalent to a professional job.
“We’ve probably got more listeners than we think because I keep bumping into people who say they listen. We feel like we’re doing something worthwhile.”
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Paul was later joined by fellow tech-minded volunteer Nigel Dallard in late 1987. Paul, Nigel, and current chair Anna O’Brien make up the three trustees, with a combined total of more than 102 years of experience in managing a hospital radio station.
Nigel said: “CDs first arrived shortly after I started. We’ve still got CDs here but it’s all played off the computer now.
“Way back in the 80s when I first started Winchester Hospital Radio was on air for about three or four hours of an evening and the rest of the time it was Radio 2 being piped around the wards because if there wasn’t a presenter physically here there was no way for us to broadcast.
“With the addition of the computer play out system, around 2000, suddenly we were able to broadcast 24 hours a day. The other big change within the hospital is that if you came here as a patient, typically you would be here for over a week and the latest statistics are around a day to day and a half so they are in and out as quick as they possibly can.
“It’s about giving back and helping folks. Compared with where we were back in the 80s and 90s, it’s more community led radio stations like ourselves that are going to be the only local stations left. Stations like Radio Solent are covering an increasingly bigger area so they will not be mentioning these other local grassroot charities and services like the ones we are signposting.”
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One of the charity’s youngest volunteers, Amber Westley, emailed the charity’s chair every year while at school to see if she was old enough to join yet.
Amber, a qualified journalist, finally joined in 2019 at an exciting time for the station when it first became OFCOM licenced, broadcasting on FM across Winchester and surrounding areas.
She said: “I was part of that process of reaching that community as we became a community station. It was a really cool time to come on board because everything was changing and we were approaching this new thing together.
“As a member of the local community I love hearing what is happening in the community and to be able to be a part of that and tell people what is going on is amazing. Especially during recent years and the pandemic, being able to contribute to the morale of our local community when times are tough has helped me and helped my neighbours and listeners.”
Despite the commitment of around 30 volunteers who help keep the station going, every year is still a struggle to get enough funds to cover licencing fees, equipment and running costs.
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Charity chair Anna O’Brien, who joined in 1998, said: “Money is the biggest challenge. We are a small grassroots charity. Sometimes we talk to people and they are amazed that we are all volunteers but we have so many committed people who make it work.
“Where government and people are shorter of money, the places you can apply for funding are shrinking and more and more good causes are competing for the same pot.
“People wouldn’t have to give us very much to make it sustainable so even if people were only giving us a little, that would help keep us on air. It goes straight back into the radio, we only spend money if we really have to. In a small charity, you really have to watch the pennies.
“When a listener gets in touch and tells us the difference we have made – it’s the best thing. Keeping people connected is such a key thing whether it's people in hospital, poorly at home or during the pandemic.”
Click on the top image for a gallery of Winchester Radio over the 40 years. For more information go to winchester.radio/.
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