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.
BHBN
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The Judges said... "A great year for the station. The team really got involved with the many events taking place in their community with high quality programming which painted pictures for those unable to attend and join in. This was a clear winner with a compelling entry."
Radio Glamorgan
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The Judges said... "This perfectly shows what’s great about hospital radio. Excellent speech content which married the station in to the local community alongside some great, passionate, music programming."
Radio Redhill
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The Judges said... "They loved this entry. Lots of great interviews and outside broadcasts which is mixed with practical health-based conversations and great music. The result is a richly textured radio station.."
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.
Paul Stanley
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The Judges said... "Paul is friendly and knowledgeable and really connects with his listeners. They loved his entry and can see why listeners would warm to him. He clearly understands his audience and is a really engaging listen."
Thomas Nelson
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The Judges said... "Thomas is confident and the judges loved the enthusiasm throughout the entry. They also liked how he could go from more light-hearted topics to more serious content with ease."
Andy Holmes
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The Judges said... "Andy was warm, friendly with a good connection and was very good at putting callers at ease."
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.
Virgina Irvine-Fortescue
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The Judges said... "What a lovely voice – said one judge. It’s like Joanna Lumley doing Hospital Radio! They judges agreed there’s a real connection in the stories and pictures she paints but also an ability to deliver the basics of radio in a super-professional fashion. A really REALLY good listen!"
Eileen Thompson
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The Judges said... "A presenter that’s warm and a credit to her station. They said there’s a real friendliness from Eileen, which the perfect tonic for those listening."
Yvonne Gallienne
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The Judges said... "They loved the variety of content, delivered really professionally with a calmness that’s very relaxing. Lots of work had clearly gone in to presenting the show and the speech content was a great listen."
Best Speech Package
The entry should be a compilation of the programme's output demonstrating originality, production and presentational quality, by the submitting station, as well as listener engagement.
Radio Frimley Park
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The Judges said... "They loved the use of audio in this entry – with great guests, telling a fascinating story that was very well told. What speech radio is all about. "
Winchester Radio
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The Judges said... "This entry really captured the excitement and joy of the day – and produced some really great radio. Well worth a second listen"
Durham Hospitals Radio
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The Judges said... "They said it was interesting, charming and packed with useful information. All agreed it as an excellent listen with a real rapport between those on air."
Best Special Event
The entry should be a compilation of the programme's output demonstrating originality, production and presentational quality, by the submitting station, as well as listener engagement.
Southend Hospital Radio
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The Judges said... "This entry was just brilliant. It included wonderful research and archive material woven together with wit and expertise by someone who’s love of radio clearly shines through. A great listen and a deserved winner. "
Winchester Radio
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The Judges said... "They loved this entry, which included great voices – truly fantastic story telling and real warmth for those involved and for those listening."
Radio Redhill
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The Judges said... "This entry showed a real sense of place, with great energy, community spirit and a fabulous celebration. They especially liked the use of voxes within the entry."
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.
Sam Rees
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The Judges said... "Sam has a really strong presentation style and shows great enthusiasm throughout the entry. They also said Sam shows great interaction with guests as well."
Emily Page
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The Judges said... "This newcomer was a really good listen – has a very natural style and fabulous specialist knowledge with well delivered content."
Shannon Marvell
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The Judges said... "Our bronze winner was a really good listen. Shannon shows great passion and has a warm presentational style."
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.
Radio Hillingdon
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The Judges said... "This was a lovely listen – so much so they want to hear the full show now! They said it had great identification with the audience and included some fabulously curated music within the entry. "
The Hospital Broadcasting Service
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The Judges said... "This was a show with real heart from a presenter who also knows his music and a passion to share it – and that passion shines through in this entry."
Radio BGM
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The Judges said... "This was a show that powers out of the speaker, with a presenter who really knows his craft and clearly loves his music."
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 Happy Hour - Harrogate Hospital Radio
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The Judges said... "One judge said that within seconds of listening they wanted to part of this show and friends with all of the presenters. A compelling, feel good upbeat show where the presenters sound like they’re loving every second of it. The judges agreed the entry was warm, fun and funny with great story telling. A tonic for those listening."
Steve & Jen Unplanned -Arrowe Sound
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The Judges said... "One judge said that not many shows make me crave doughnuts - but this one did! I laughed out loud at Steve and Jen. The judges agreed they have wonderful chemistry and their clear friendship means they can push the bar with ideas because they know each other so well."
Request Time - Red Dot Radio
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The Judges said... "This is a warm and really fun show with presenters who clearly get on with each other. One said I immediately felt that they got on and had a fab chemistry. These guys have something to say – and I’m interested! They serve their audience well. "
Best Station Promotion
Sponsored by Devaweb
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 BGM
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The Judges said... "The judges said this promo ticked all the boxes – it immediately got their interest. One said it quickly made me laugh and gave me a wonderful taste of the show and the guys personalities – all in 45 seconds! I wanted to listen to this show on the strength of the promo AND then go for a coffee with them! "
Radio Glamorgan
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The Judges said... "The judges just loved the fun nature of this promo – very tongue in cheek and a repeat gag that made one laugh out loud. They said the whole feel of the promo made them immediately warm to Radio Glamorgan."
Hospital Radio Chelmsford
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The Judges said... "The judges said a lot of work went in to this promo and it was well worth the effort. One said, it really spiked my interest and gave me just enough to make me want to listen to the whole show. "
Recognising Innovation
Sponsored by Myriad 6 Playout
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?
Steve Coulby, Nottingham Hospitals Radio
Nottingham Hospitals Radio serves patients and staff within Nottingham University Hospitals Trust, who had been looking to replace the Hospedia system with Wifi Spark. Covid held this up, although even with the proposed Wifi Spark solution, NHR identified that some wards wouldn’t be able to access our service (HCOP, Trauma etc). During the pandemic, the station successfully applied for funds to provide WiFi Radios to the hospital capable of taking NHR’s output.
At the time of the application, the station did not fully understand what the provision would look like.
As the station recovered from the pandemic and presenters started to join the station, the workload permitted work on the Wifi Radio solution.
NHR’s programme controller, Steve Coulby, proposed - and hand-built - a solution, based on a Raspberry Pi Zero, Audio HAT and speakers. These were mounted in a strong ABS box capable of standing the day to day knocks of hospital life as well as being easy to clean for hygiene purposes. The Pi runs a Python script which reads the buttons and controls the radio.
The first unit was built and trialled on the main dementia ward. One of the presenters moved their request show to a midday slot and worked with the activity co-ordinators on that ward. The result was incredibly positive, and it has been reported that there have been tears of joy from some patients on the ward. It has proved so popular that the show now regularly has over 40 requests!
Working with the arts co-ordinator and the HCOP Shared governance team the station agreed to use its ringfenced funding to provide 50 of the units, which are NHR branded, have speakers and a headphone socket. Just 4 buttons operate the unit, On/Off, Speaker/Headphone, Volume Up and Volume Down.
We started rolling out the radios to the HCOP wards at the Queens Medical Centre in late October and the response has been fantastic.
• Our listening figures in the first 10 days of November have shot up. The radios alone recorded over 347 hours of use.
• The radios are being placed in ward bays, so each unit typically plays to between 6 & 8 patients each.
Feedback / quotes:
• “We love the radios - they make so much difference to the patients and staff.”
• “When we switch the radios on the mood and atmosphere in the ward improves.”
• “Steve’s units have been transformative.”
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.
David Hurford
The winning nomination wrote:
Our Chairman – Dave is more than just a chairman. He is the engineer, the handyman, the trainer, mentor, friend and quite literally the beating heart of Radio BGM.
Dave has been a member of BGM since 2004 where he singlehandedly saved the station from what seemed like inevitable closure. He worked tirelessly to build support and funds for the station and in just two years Radio BGM moved from the dark ages to the modern age with digital technology, state of the art facilities and a robust training programme which offered local people the opportunity to learn radio and improve their skills.
Dave is quite simply Radio BGM, everything he does is with BGM in mind. He understands the value of the service we provide and is always looking ahead. Dave has spent a great deal of time conducting invaluable networking with the hospital and trust management and put Radio BGM on the map within the NHS. He has worked tirelessly to ensure the longevity of the station and ensured the Directors and Chair of the health board are fully invested in the future of our operations.
More recently Dave steered BGM through tumultuous times during the pandemic. Where many stations ceased broadcasting, Dave was not going to let that happen at BGM. He liaised with both the hospital, local authority our internet service provider and Myriad to ensure we moved to a remote service in a very short space time. Dave’s commitment to ensuring we continued to provide a service throughout these unprecedented times was truly inspiring. With Dave’s efforts, Radio BGM continued broadcasting throughout the pandemic, actually increasing our offering of content by providing daily local news updates which was masterminded by Dave himself. The station received a great deal of praise for the service we provided during the Pandemic which was all thanks to Dave.
BGM was facing its own crisis this year and very nearly lost our internet service due to failing hospital IT. Dave tirelessly worked with hospital management and fought to secure a new connection for the station which after over a year of discussing finally came to fruition in the summer of 2022. It is safe to say without Dave’s involvement in this, BGM would not be available online anymore.
Dave is a creative thinker who is always looking for innovative ways to take BGM forward. When BGM was faced with the issue of patients unable to listen due to lack of earphones or no hard-wired connection, Dave came up with an innovative solution and secured funding for BGM to purchase a batch of internet radios. These are deployed to the wards and are mobile offering both staff and patients the opportunity to listen to BGM wherever they are on the ward/unit. Another shining example of Dave’s unwavering efforts to help keep BGM on air.
We can’t thank Dave enough for what he does, he inspires others, encourages, and supports and you can always rely on Dave. He quite simply is Radio BGM.