HRP Shortlisted at HBA Awards - 01/02/10
Hospital Radio Plymouth has once again been shortlisted at the Hospital Broadcasting Association's Awards.
HRP has been shortlisted to receive the title of Station Of The Year, having been awarded Silver in this category last year, and having been the overall Gold winners in 2008.
We are also in the running for two other awards - Best Speech Package, our submission being a short documentary by presenter Isobel King on the issue of congenital heart disease, and Best Station Promotion for our Level 12 trailer, which advertises the weekly children's programme.
Station Manager Andrew Hill said, "This is fantastic recognition of the consistency of quality our volunteers have delivered in entertaining patients following our revamp in 2007."
The winners will be announced at a ceremony in Glasgow at the end of March.
To listen to Isobel's entry for Best Speech Package, click here.
HRP Holds 40th AGM - 18/01/10
Hospital Radio Plymouth has held its 40th Annual General Meeting this month.
During the meeting elections were held for the appointment of several Executive Committee officers. Andrew Hill, Richard Hilborne and Emma Tyler were all re-elected to their respective positions of Station Manager, Head of Audience Liasion and Public Relations Officer.
Joining the committee are Janine O'Flaherty, who was elected as Membership Secretary, and Gemma Pragnell, elected as Fundraising Manager.
Gemma said, "I'm really pleased to have been elected Fundraising Manager. We already have several exciting events planned for this year, including the auction, and I'm enthusiastic about finding new ways of raising funds for the charity."
Bob Searle, Keith Jolley and Nicola White continue in office and are not due for re-election until the next AGM.
HRP Unveils New Logo - 02/10/09
Hospital Radio Plymouth has rebranded with a new logo this month, to help mark our 40th anniversary.
We held a competition, sponsored by Plymouth Car Recoveries, inviting local residents to design us a modernised logo. The winning design, submitted by 25 year old web designer Matt Bohea, was chosen by a panel of the charity's trustees.
The new logo was unveiled by Lord Mayor Cllr Ken Foster during his visit to the studios on 2nd October, which was the 40th anniversary of the station's official opening. Our open day was also attended by competition winner Matt, NHS staff, volunteers from Truro Hospital Radio and Alison Seabeck MP.
Click on the image of the plaque below to hear the unveiling ceremony
PR Officer Emma Tyler said "We received a lot of high quality entries to the competition, but Matt's design stood out as particularly eye-catching and modern. We are pleased to adopt it as our new logo as we head hopefully into another 40 years of broadcasting!"
Click here to listen to Matt talking to Station Manager Andrew Hill about his winning entry.
Matt Bohea with Lord Mayor Cllr Ken Foster and Lady Mayoress Cllr Wendy Foster
HRP Player of the Season - 01/10/09
Plymouth Argyle player Jamie Mackie has been named the first winner of Hospital Radio Plymouth's new sports award, having been voted the inaugural winner of the Ray Rose and Arthur Grant Memorial Award for Player of the Season.
The award was created in memory of two of our long serving past commentators, Ray Rose and Arthur Grant, who between them had over 80 combined years behind the microphone broadcasting commentaries to patients from Home Park. The award is given to the Argyle player who has collected the most man of the match awards from the commentary team over the season.
Ray and Arthur both taught in local schools; they were both involved with Plymouth Schools' FA for many years as selectors and were coach of the Plymouth U15 Squad and manager of the Plymouth Primary Squad respectively.
The current HRP commentary team, who provide live coverage of all Argyle home games, praised Jamie Mackie for his never say die attitude towards the game in the 2008/9 season, never giving up on a lost cause.
He was presented with the award at the studios recently and was also interviewed by Assistant Station Manager Keith Jolley about his time at the club.
Player of the Season Jamie Mackie with Keith Jolley and Argyle Live presenter Adrian Rickard
Lions fundraiser for Hospital Radio - 08/09/09
The Lions Club of Plymouth are holding an evening of spectacular songs to raise money for Hospital Radio Plymouth.
This event will take place on Wednesday 23rd September at Parkway Sports Club on Ernesettle Lane, 7pm onwards. Tickets are £3 on the door; the evening includes a raffle with all proceeds going to the station.
Hospital Radio Plymouth's link to The Lions Club of Plymouth goes back to the station's beginnings, as it was the Lions who originally began collecting record requests from patients before our official opening in 1969. As we approach our 40th anniversary, we are grateful for their ongoing support as they have named us their Charity of the Year 2009/2010.
To read more about The Lions, please visit their website
Atlantic Freedom on the Josh Andrews Show - 13/08/09
Mark and Steve from Atlantic Freedom joined Josh as special guests recently on his Sunday afternoon show.
They will be rowing 3000 miles across the Atlantic this December to raise funds for local charity Ellie's Haven. Josh plans to keep in touch whilst they undertake their challenge and has also pledged to eat the same food for 24 hours - in the form of dehydrated army rations!
For more information about Atlantic Freedom and to listen to the interview, visit www.atlanticfreedom.com
Wills firm launches advertising campaign on HRP today - 01/08/09
Local firm, Wills and Probate Countrywide, has launched a 10 week advertising campaign on Hospital Radio Plymouth today.
As part of a new service to advertisers we have introduced a facility for firms' adverts with us to be heard on our website. Click here to find out more.
Station Manager, Andrew Hill, said "Sponsorship and advertising is an important income stream to keep Hospital Radio Plymouth going. We are delighted to welcome Wills and Probate Countrywide as a new advertiser with us especially at a time when we have launched a new facility for audio copy of adverts to be listened to by visitors to our website."
Firms wishing to contact us about sponsorship and/or advertising can call us on 01752 763441.
Grand Summer Raffle - 25/07/09
Many thanks to those who supported our Grand Summer Raffle. The draw took place during our boat trip on Saturday 25th July 2009 - click here to see the results.
Happy 40th Anniversary HRP - 22/07/09
Hospital Radio Plymouth has been broadcasting to the city's hospitals since 1969 - and forty years later we're still going strong!
October 2009 brings our 40th anniversary, and the charity is marking this special milestone throughout the year.
A celebratory Dinner & Dance to bring together current and former members of the charity will be held, including special awards and after dinner entertainment.
We will also be marking the anniversary on air with a series of programmes featuring former members as well as vintage broadcasts from our archives.
For more information on how HRP is celebrating 40 years of broadcasting, please contact the studio
Plymouth Volunteer Team of the Year - 03/06/09
Award success for Hospital Radio Plymouth continues this year, as we have been named as Volunteer Team of the Year at the Inspiring Volunteering Awards 2009.
The awards ceremony took place at the Roland Levinsky Building on the 2nd June, jointly hosted by The Herald, The University of Plymouth and the Plymouth Guild. The event celebrated Volunteers Week, which seeks to recognise the work of volunteers within the local community and is now in its 25th year.
There were seven awards, of which the Volunteer Team of the Year category attracted many strong entries, said The Herald. Judges chose Hospital Radio Plymouth as the overall winner, stating they were impressed by the age range of our volunteers, how the team gels together and the diversity of what the station does to entertain hospital patients.
Programme Manager Keith Jolley said "It's fantastic to be recognised. There are a lot of people doing a lot of hard work. Our volunteers range from age 16 to mid 80s and it's wonderful that they are recognised."
Station Manager Andrew Hill added, "I am humbled to have been selected out of all the other charities and organisations. It's a tribute to all the hard work of our team. It's very special."
HRP Volunteer Challenges BBC for Broadcasting Award - 30/04/09
A volunteer at Hospital Radio Plymouth is in the running against BBC journalists for a top broadcasting award.
Congratulations to our member Josie Scobling, who has been shortlisted at the EDF Energy South West Media Awards as Radio Journalist of The Year. The other two journalists competing for the same award are BBC Radio Bristol's Nigel Dando and Robin Markwell.
Josie entered the awards with her documentary "Shirley's Story", which was produced for Hospital Radio Plymouth and recounts the devastating effects a stroke can take. It has already been recognised this year, having won the Silver Award in the Best Speech Category at the HBA Awards in March.
The EDF awards cover Bath, Bristol, Cornwall, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire, and Josie is the only hospital radio journalist to have been shortlisted. Asked about the awards she said, "I'm delighted to be shortlisted. I entered on the off chance that something may come of it having checked Hospital Radio volunteers were eligible, so it was a surprise to receive an email inviting me to the awards ceremony. Hopefully being up against BBC journalists will prove to the more sceptical in the industry that Hospital Radio isn't just for amateurs!"
The awards ceremony will take place at the Plymouth Pavilions on the 4th June.
HRP Celebrate Award Success - 30/03/09
Hospital Radio Plymouth is celebrating after scooping an array of accolades at the HBA awards this weekend.
Our youngest member, 16 year old Josh Andrews, was named HBA Volunteer Of The Year. The award is bestowed to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to hospital radio and Josh was selected predominantly for his work entertaining the children's wards in his Level 12 show. He also received a Commended Certificate in the Best Newcomer category, and following the awards has been invited to attend Westminster in June to address MPs as part of a delegation about Youth Volunteering.
At the 2008 awards we were the overall winner of the hotly contested Station Of The Year title, taking the Gold Award. 2009 also brought us success in this category, as we won the Silver Award. Our congratulations to Radio Fox who pipped us to the post!
Josh with HBA President June Snowden
Josie Scobling picked up a Silver Award in the Best Speech Package category for her documentary "Shirley's Story" - the judges said they were impressed with the quality of her piece and how it sought to raise awareness about the devastating effects a stroke can cause. Isobel King was also successful, picking up a Highly Commended Certficate in the Best Female Presenter category.
The event was held in Blackpool and included special video messages of congratulations from both Gordon Brown and Sir Terry Wogan, who is the Patron of the HBA.
Station Manager Andrew Hill commented, "This is a very successful start to our 40th anniversary year. To have our oldest member, Connal Cather, get the coveted John Whitney award last year and our youngest member, Josh Andrews, named as HBA Volunteer of the Year in 2009 is a clear reflection of the level of volunteer commitment we have across the spectrum of ages." He added, "The awards Isobel and Josie received are well deserved and given the strong competition from stations across the UK it is quite some acheivement to get Silver for Station of the Year in 2009 after our Gold in 2008. All our volunteers can be proud of the role they have played in these results."
Isobel, Josh, Josie and Andrew
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