BACK ON AIR
This is Law calling!
Wishaw’s hospital radio station wants the people of North Lanarkshire to tune in as it resumes its live broadcasts.
Presenters at Radio Law, the charity station based at University Hospital Wishaw, are reaching out to the many households with family members who work at the hospital as well as those being treated there.
The station’s live broadcasts are returning to the airwaves and go out not just to patients but to residents in the towns and villages across North Lanarkshire.
The COVID-19 crisis has meant the Wishaw hospital’s charity radio station’s twice-daily live broadcasts had up til this week been reduced to an automated music service. That was mainly down to the virus pandemic preventing those who run the station from entering the hospital building.
But live shows are now back thanks to its volunteers who have been working hard over the last few weeks to come up with a solution.
Show presenters are now able to broadcast from the comfort of their own homes thanks to one of its tech-savvy volunteers.
Greg Mclaughlan, 28, from Motherwell has been working voluntarily at the station for a number of years.
He explained: “Normally we do stuff in the wards and broadcast from within the hospital studio.
“It’s currently off-limits so we’ve had to go for a totally different approach.
“We have a guy Andy Boyd who is very technically minded and he’s made it possible for us to control our system and broadcast from the house on our own laptops and PCs. It’s quite a complex studio we have but he has managed it.
“We have a core group of volunteers and recently had a massive boost with new ones joining up, but we’ve had to put their training on hold for the time being.”
The station’s live broadcast service relaunched on Monday and will provide families with a way of connecting with loved ones in hospital.
Greg is using his time at home productively to help spread some positivity to those who are ill.
He is currently off work and stuck at home for 12 weeks “shielding” as he has an underlying health condition.
“Our aim is to provide a unique connection for the patients and staff in the hospital to their friends and family,” Greg added.
“All our volunteers are doing this out of their own time and hope it will make a difference to the hospital community.
“The plan is to do as many ‘shout outs’ and messages on air as we can.
“We’ve always been there to support the patients but we’re here for the staff as well, as they have been working so hard.
“The radio service is completely free and we’re online, so those both in and out of hospital can listen in.”
And some of our readers may be wondering about the station name.
“The station started off broadcasting at the old Law Hospital in 1967 and when Wishaw General opened it moved down there,” Andy said.
You can find the station on Facebook and listen in live at: radiolaw.org.uk
Requests for shout outs and messages to patients and staff can be emailed to: studio@radiolaw.org.uk