As Hospital Radio Stafford approaches its 50th Anniversary in 2022, the service has commemorated one of its longest serving members.
Armand Chatfield, 86, first presented a live show on Wednesday January 19 1972 after the first broadcast of the service on Monday January 17. He is still presenting today with ‘Art & All That Jazz’ on Tuesday evenings.
As part of the recognition, he has been made Life Vice President of Hospital Radio Stafford and one of the services broadcasting studios has been renamed The Armand Chatfield Studio.
Mr Chatfield, an avid record collector, said:
“I was completely gobsmacked at the prospect of having a studio named after me.
“I like listening to people and helping where I can and Hospital Radio was an outlet for me to contact millions of people who like listening to music, cheer them up and make them feel a lot better.
“Always try and be the right sort of person and help where you can.”
Despite the first broadcast taking place in January 1972, the station began to grow in the summer of 1971 when members were looked for through the Staffordshire Newsletter, which is what encouraged Art to apply.
Now operating in the Rear Lodge of County Hospital Stafford, it first started out under the stage in the main hall of St George’s Hospital, Stafford.
As well as being one of the longest serving members of the charity, Mr Chatfield also holds another distinction by living in the last house in Stafford, on Jerningham Street, to be lit by gas, only converting to electricity in 1989.