Princess Royal Hospital

Mid Downs Hospital Radio searching for volunteers

Mid Downs Radio

Radio station seeks new members By Sol Mead

Mid Downs Hospital Radio (MDR) with studios at the Princess Royal Hospital is seeking to recruit new members to participate in the running of the station including becoming presenters. The station broadcasts to patients, visitors and staff across the PRH complex on 1350AM. It also can be heard online around the world through the MDR website and also via the TuneIn app and Amazon’s Alexa with programmes that include music, entertainment, news and community and health information.

The station has been broadcasting for 46 years and is a charity registered with the charity commission and is run entirely by unpaid volunteers. We now want to recruit more people to get involved in different elements of the station’s operations ranging from managing its finances through to production and technical work in maintaining our broadcasting services, in addition to new presenters.

MDR’s track record of recruiting new presenters shows that many people join us without any experience of putting together a radio show, talking over a microphone or operating a studio desk, but with our hands on training they have gone on to present their own show and take part in outside events. Many presenters who have joined hospital radio have also gone on to make a career in radio/television, which shows that hospital radio has long been the starting point for well-known broadcasters. For instance, Charlotte Wright, who is Political Editor on BBC TV South East, started out with MDR. Anyone interested in volunteering with MDR please contact John O’Sullivan on membership@mdr.org. uk. There is also further information on the website: www.mdr.org.uk

Mid Downs Radio: broadcasting 24/7 to Lindfield's community and more

By Wendy Swinton-Eagle

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Mid Downs Radio has continued to broadcast 24/7 throughout the pandemic from studios on the first floor of the Princess Royal Hospital. The station is a registered charity and provides music, entertainment and regularly updated information on health, hospital, social care and community matters to patients, staff and visitors to the hospital complex as well as to the wider local community.

All our presenters are volunteers who host a wide variety of shows. Local Lindfield Rural councillor and veteran vinyl DJ, Sol Mead, presents a weekly Soul, Blues & Rock Show on Wednesdays from 5-7pm. You may also have heard him compering at Lindfield Village Day and Lindfield Christmas Festival Night. He is preceded on Wednesday by more Lindfield residents, Linda Wishart, with her kaleidescope of music and lively chat and Simply Redhead duo Wendy Swinton-Eagle and Mopsy Whitworth who host a guest interview and live performance show. All have been active in supporting the wonderful Lindfield Arts Festival since its inception.

Since launching our Listen Live service through the website and TuneIn app there has been an increase in listeners and MDR continues to support other charities and organisations by publicising their work and events through interviews and in some cases providing promotional fillers that go out regularly on air and reciprocal website links. If you would like to know more about promoting your charity through MDR, contact Wendy Swinton-Eagle at: wendy@mdr.org.uk.

MDR funds itself through grants and membership fees but mainly through hiring out our distinctive Outside Events Unit and now the new fully equipped Mobile Disco complete with professional DJ Lee Gillett all at very competitive rates.

To find out more about Mid Downs Radio, to read our latest magazine or to Listen Live please visit our website www.mdr.org.uk . For membership enquiries contact Dave Hammond at membership@mdr.org.uk. To book the OEU or Mobile Disco contact Cathy Barnett at cathybarnett@sky.com.