A North East hospital radio has celebrated its diamond anniversary for an impressive 60 years on air broadcasting everything from music to commentary to thousands of patients over the decades.
Volunteers at Durham Hospitals Radio celebrated 60 years of broadcasting last weekend (August 26-28) with a bumper schedule of music, guests, and requests.
The station has been broadcasting since the early 1960s, giving comfort and support to patients at the University Hospital of North Durham.
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When it began, the station was just a record player on a trolley that was moved from ward to ward. 60 years on, the volunteers have their own studio in the old Porter’s Lodge at the Dryburn Hospital.
Guests for the big 60th celebrations included former BBC presenter Alfie Joey, Steve Colman of Smooth Radio and even Jeremy Vine who started off his career at the station.
Eileen Thompson, who has been presenting shows at the hospital for 11 years, spoke of the “great” weekend
“60 years is just incredible, and the weekend has been absolutely phenomenal. The staff and patients have been thrilled about it all.
“How we have progressed from a portable record player to a studio is just amazing to see.”
Chairman of the station, Terry Clough, has been volunteering at the station for all its 60 years.
He first got into presenting when he worked at a vinyl store in the early 1960s. The station runners at that point would borrow vinyl to play for patients, where Terry was asked if he wanted to have a go at presenting.
And, in Terry’s words “the rest, as they say, is history”.
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Terry played a huge role in the celebrations, as he opened the three-day event on Saturday, August 26, and closed it on Monday, August 28 at 8pm.
He said: “It was a long weekend, as we were broadcasting for three consecutive days, and of course we had various guests.
“It was a good experience and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I ended up rounding the celebrations off with two hours of choice music from 7pm-9pm on the Monday night.”
The station has said that they are always looking for volunteers to present, and anyone interested can click here to find out more.
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