Station of the Year
Sponsored by PPL
This award showcases the best of hospital radio, from the interaction with station listeners to the delivery of an engaging station output. The entry should show the judges a variety of programme content from the station. The entry may include material from any special programmes or events covered during the year.
Radio Ysbyty Gwynedd
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The Judges said... "This station shows unbounded warmth, positivity and includes some great voices on air. All the variety of programmes you’d expect are in this entry and the quality of the speech content is first class. What struck us most was just the professional tone of a station that we’d never heard before – a really lovely listen."
Radio Tyneside
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The Judges said... "A true radio station in every sense of the word. Very much at the heart of its community.It’s event coverage is excellent and there’s a wonderful sense of place. The voices and shows are unmistakably Tyneside and this station clearly super serves its audience."
Radio Brockley
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The Judges said... "The speech content of this station is outstanding. It’s calm, considered, well produced and delivers an important service to its audience."
Best Male Presenter
Sponsored by PRS for Music
Designed to accurately demonstrate the diversity of presentation skills and awareness of, and engagement with, the audience. Entries should showcase a variety of subjects and style. Passion, energy and personality should be evident to the listener.
Connor Morgans
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The Judges said... "Connor’s enthusiasm is believable and compelling. He’s inclusive of both patients and staff whilst sharing relatable stories which makes you want to be his friend."
Jake McElvogue
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The Judges said... "Jake has a lot of knowledge about the music he plays and his enthusiasm shines through. We were really impressed with his openness about his personal life and mental health in the entry and genuinely think this would help people listening. Not easy to do so great work Jake"
Neil Ogden
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The Judges said... "Likeable, personable a radio natural with a sense of fun. He talks with his patients and clearly includes them in everything he does. We enjoyed Neil’s entry greatly. "
Best Female Presenter
Sponsored by PRS for Music
Designed to accurately demonstrate the diversity of presentation skills and awareness of, and engagement with, the audience. Entries should showcase a variety of subjects and style. Passion, energy and personality should be evident to the listener.
Jo Hobbis
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The Judges said... "Jo just sounds really connected. Passionate about what she’s doing. She loves being on air – you can just tell. Nice voice and very enthusiastic. "
Adelle Davies
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The Judges said... "She has a great manner about her on air. Is very relatable and clearly bring a strong interview technique to her presentation skills. "
Vicky Pinder
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The Judges said... "We loved Vicky. She’s wonderfully self effacing with a comforting style to her presentation."
Best Speech Package
This award is designed to showcase the power of speech through the medium of radio. Entries should be submitted from a single programme, outstanding interview or a special event. If using an event that has been covered, it should be a one-off programme and not part of the station’s regular output.
Radio Brockley
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The Judges said... "A very impressive, well produced piece. It was a positive, uplifting slice of hospital life that took us outside the studio and introduced us to people making a difference. "
Bath Radio
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The Judges said... "This was a lovely piece of radio – expert, informative, sure-footed and joyful, with a sense of humour. It was very engaging. "
Radio Tyneside
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The Judges said... "This was an unusual topic, well executed. It included warm conversation with an impressive man who is using his experience of sorrow and loneliness to support other people."
Best Special Event
Celebrating the best events that are broadcast across our member stations. Events that are one-off programmes and not part of the station's regular output.
The Hospital Broadcasting Service
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The Judges said... "A fascinating insight into the background and launch of hospital radio in Glasgow. It was so interesting and was definitely a document that wouldn’t be out of place on the BBC "
Winchester Radio
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The Judges said... "A great community initiative that brought people together through the power of radio. Really interesting and informative. "
Radio Glamorgan
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The Judges said... "We loved this entry. It was a very moving piece of radio, presented in a careful, engaging way."
Best Newcomer
Designed to celebrate and recognise new talent across the hospital broadcasting community, this award is open to anyone who joined a hospital radio station for the first time during the two years prior to the closing date.
Hannah Gilchrist
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The Judges said... "Hannah’s a really warm and friendly presenter with a lovely relaxed pace. She delivers great content, with a perfect mixture of topics. A really great listen. "
Tiz Harris
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The Judges said... "Tiz is already a polished performer. She’s well researched, well prepped and delivers a great show for her listeners. "
Claire Cummins
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The Judges said... "Claire is just infectious and fun with a sense of mischief. Listening to Claire is like listening to a friend"
Best Specialist Music Programme
Sponsored by PPL
Designed to demonstrate the presenter's expert knowledge of the music in question. Evidence of energy and passion for the genre should be evident to the listener. The entry may also include any content applicable to the programme. For example, an event guide/what's on feature relating to the show. Entries may include any genre such as jazz, classical, country etc.
HWD Hospital Radio
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The Judges said... "A real rock jock, who draws you in to the programme in a passionate way. Thoroughly entertaining and knowledgeable on the subject. "
Hospital Radio Plymouth
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The Judges said... "This is a unique show. Love the passion, the local music and interviews presented in a knowledge, friendly, engaging way."
The Hospital Broadcasting Service
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The Judges said... "A presenter with huge enthusiasm, fantastic knowledge and a great voice – really brining the programme to life."
Best Programme with Multiple Presenters
Sponsored by PPL
Recognising that many hospital radio stations have programmes presented by a group of people, this award celebrates the ingredients that make hospital radio unique, such as patient and staff interaction, requests and personality.
The Heff & Beth Show - Hospital Radio Medway
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The Judges said... "There’s a refreshing and lovely honesty to their style. Plenty of funny moments that made us laugh out loud, coupled with more serious moments which made this entry compelling and interesting. Love them"
Steve & Jen Unplanned -Arrowe Sound
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The Judges said... "Genuine and natural presenters with a ton of laugh out loud moments. They’re not scared to be totally real. We loved the teasing and banter between them."
Daniel & Mark's LGBT Pride Hours - Harrogate Hospital Radio
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The Judges said... "These guys are a proper laugh. They’re local, natural and real presenters with a sense of fun. They clearly love doing this and it makes it a compelling listen. "
Best Station Promotion
Designed to allow demonstration of delivering an engaging, clear and concise message within a specific time, this entry must be produced and presented by the station. The entry can consist of a promotion or trailer and should convey the message and attract the ear of the listener.
Radio Glamorgan
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The Judges said... "An excellent piece of work which comes from the heart. It’s clear about its message with great use of actuality. Emotional while celebratory too."
Southend Hospital Radio
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The Judges said... "This was just a great piece of work from someone who understands the target audience and the nature of the programme. Great Archive clips and music, creating a real sense of me. "
Harrogate Hospital Radio
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The Judges said... "Really nice of humour and different voices. It sounds really connected to its community and audience. "
Recognising Innovation Across Hospital Radio
Designed to recognise those behind the scenes, this award celebrates pushing the boundaries, using innovative, novel or pioneering ideas.
This award is open to all across the various roles hospital broadcasting organisations may have. Technical to administrative, fundraising to Trust or Board engagement – this award celebrates achieving a goal using new and inspiring techniques.
During these challenging times, we know that stations have had to make changes to be able to continue their excellent service, going over and above just using a playout system. For example, how have you raised funds to ensure you have been able to cover your broadcasting costs? What other innovative ways has your station used to keep broadcasting and providing a service during these challenging times?
Radio Hillingdon
The initial idea for this project grew from another project that was underway to develop a bedside unit to replace Hospedia.
Station founder member David Brown who is also a software programmer saw the potential to create an adapter to attach to a TV to show station and hospital information and play our output.
The TV adapter would allow Radio Hillingdon to be heard by members of the general public coming into the hospital main entrance and waiting areas, giving us much better publicity. This would also allow patients and visitors access to
local community information via both information slides and our broadcasts. Something we have wanted to do for many years.
During the 2020 lockdown David developed his own software to see if the idea was viable.
The result is a very small unit with a ‘Raspberry Pi Zero W’ in an aluminium case that plugs into the HDMI port on a TV.
The unit shows a slide show on the TV screen while streaming Radio Hillingdon out of the TV speakers.
It gets its power either from a USB port on the TV or an external power supply.
The software regularly checks our website for Slide Show Lists and when they change will download and show the new slides.
The 40 slides run in a loop and repeat after 20 minutes.
If the WiFi goes off for more than 10 second the unit switches to playing pre-recorded programmes that are preloaded onto the unit, switching back to the live stream once the WiFi returns.
The hospital restaurant showed an interest in trialling a unit as they already had a large TV playing Smooth Radio.
Staff liked the slide show and music when going into the restaurant and asked for units to be installed in their departments too.
So far we have 7 units running, 5 in the hospital (the Restaurant and the waiting areas of A&E, A&E Paediatrics, Clinical Decisions Unit and X-ray) plus 2 in a local Care Home (one on each floor).
Each of these locations already had TVs so it only cost approximately £50 per unit to install, excellent value for the publicity we get.
The John Whitney Outstanding Contribution Award
The award celebrates an outstanding contribution, by an individual, to their station/hospital radio. The nominee does not necessarily have to be a long-serving member, as a contribution over a short period of time can also be transformational to a station. The nomination should explain why the candidate has made a real and long-lasting impact. The nominee must be working in hospital radio, may be drawn from the broadcasting arena but may equally be found from a technical or administrative background. They may have worked for single or multiple stations over the years.
Paul Blitz
The winning nomination wrote:
Community-spirited, enthusiastic, hardworking, and helpful to us and other hospital radios, Paul is one of Winchester Radio's Trustees, and our Chief Engineer. He has a degree in Electronic Engineering, and has worked in electronics/IT all his life, currently as a self-employed technical trainer/consultant.
During 36 years volunteering at Winchester Radio, Paul has led the design, building and commissioning of all four sets of our studios. He has also been a Trustee of the charity for 29 years.
As part of the latest studio rebuild, Paul designed and built audio equipment (distribution amplifiers, routing switchers, silence detectors, etc) at a cost of less than £600, saving us around £8,000 compared to commercially-available units. He now makes these units available at cost to other hospital and community radio stations.
Paul has always offered support to other stations, starting by hosting a bulletin board in pre-internet days. He took weekly trips to Hospital Radio Basingstoke for 6 months in 2000 after fire burnt down their studios, and in September 2021 he responded to an urgent plea for help from Gosport Hospital Radio, driving to their studios, effecting a temporary fix whilst taking equipment home for repair.
Since the launch of our health and wellbeing community radio service, Paul has continued to enhance the capabilities and resilience of our technical systems, resolving issues even at unsocial hours – sometimes remotely, sometimes on-site at the studio.
We have almost fully-redundant computer systems and audio switches that failover from one to the other, email a number of us when the silence detectors operate, and if silence is detected from one of the playout computers email us a screenshot and then reboot the computer.
Paul also regularly contributes to our broadcasts: recording and editing local community events, voicing public service announcements, and presenting shows.
This is despite the fact that, in recent years prior to the pandemic, Paul was regularly travelling both nationally and internationally with work. If we have a computer problem, Paul is always available to remotely-access the studios over one of the VPNs that he has set-up.
At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown, Paul quickly enabled remote broadcasting capabilities, and delivered a combination of new and existing audio equipment to our volunteers to allow them to continue to broadcast, from home, and dealt admirably with the many support queries that this caused.
Paul Blitz is quite simply one of life's "Unsung Heroes". He never makes a fuss or seeks recognition – just gets on with whatever needs doing. He has, and continues to make, a real impact at Winchester Radio. We are hugely appreciative to Paul for all he does.