Meet volunteers who broadcast ‘light relief’ over hospital airwaves
They’re the unsung part of hospital life helping to keep patients occupied and entertained during challenging times. Laura Clements caught up with the hospital radio presenters finding new ways to connect with South Wales’ listeners in the middle of a pan
FROM bedrooms to kitchens and even in a tiny airing cupboard, the volunteers behind hospital radio have continued to broadcast to patients and staff in hospitals across South Wales.
If ever there was need for radio to boost spirits in hospitals, it is now more than ever.
Rookwood Sound, which broadcasts to Llandough Hospital, avoids the corona word entirely, while on Bridgend Hospital Radio, presenters try to keep their listeners updated on the pandemic as much as possible.
But one thing all stations have in common is the requests are pouring in like never before – with the two most-requested songs being David Bowie’s Heroes, and The Farm’s All Together Now.
Not that every request is “appropriate” for broadcasting on the airwaves, admits Wayne Dunkley, who presents a ’70s and ’80s themed show on Bridgend Hospital Radio.
Let’s not forget these are, after all, strange times in which we’ve seen a mask-less Donald Trump touring a US mask factory to the accompaniment of Wings’ Live and Let Die booming out over the plant’s tannoy.
“Everything is lighthearted and cheerful on the show,” the 59-year-old presenter said.
“The objective of the show is to play tunes that people recognise as their tune.
“But sometimes, when the requests come in, it’s not appropriate so I have to look for a similar tune to bring that request to life.”
Hospital radio is a very British tradition.
It is an often overlooked and under-appreciated feature of our health system, yet one that so many turn to for some light relief in the darkest of times.
They are tiny operations, reliant wholly on volunteers, and few people outside of hospital know of their existence.
But for Wayne, it’s just about being there for patients.
“It’s about giving light relief for all that’s going on at the hospital,” he said, talking at break-neck speed over the phone.
“It’s not a distraction but there’s something more positive, listening to your favourite songs.
“You just put a smile on someone’s face by putting on a record they haven’t heard for a while.
“You’re a friendly voice that’s not telling them they are having an operation.
“It’s just playing music and having a chat on the radio, that’s all it is.”
Wayne, modestly, downplays his role and glosses over the fact that he is also the station manager and a trustee at the station, as well as a presenter.
They are roles he does willingly and without payment alongside his day job as a furniture manufacturer.
He has been doing it for 25-odd years.
In the early days, he was squeezed into a broomsized cupboard that could hardly be called a studio.
“It was 5ft by 8ft,” he said.
“When I turned round to pick a record, I would touch the wall behind me!”
But hospital radio has moved on from those humbler beginnings.
Before the pandemic, Wayne presented his show from a modern studio in the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend, with two glass panels looking right out into the beating heart of the hospital.
Now, all broadcasting is being done from home.
“I just went into the hospital one day and noticed the radio station was there,” added Wayne.
“I always had a passion for it, so volunteered.”
One thing he’s noticed during the pandemic is lots more requests coming through than usual.
As well as Bowie, he plays A Bridge Over Troubled Water a lot too, a tune that has cemented itself as the unofficial NHS anthem.
But for him, the challenge is never to repeat a tune.
“If someone is stuck in hospital for a week they like to hear a bit of variety,” Wayne said.
In keeping with the theme of his show, he adds a ’ 70s touch by playing something like Super Trouper by Abba, which he says sends the same the pandemic they have message. shown they are just as
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They have all had to adapt as lockdown forced them out of their studio.
“It’s been challenging but thanks to technology and a lot of patience, we’ve all adapted fairly quickly to keep our service going during this time,” Jamie said, speaking from his makeshift studio at home.
His colleagues have turned their spare rooms, offices or even kitchens into temporary studios to be able to record fresh shows to be broadcast.
Jamie presents a lockdown request hour which goes out three evenings a week.