1983 WD2 Children's Show
WD2
The concept and idea for the Ward 2 children's show was discussed in 1981 between PJ and Nick Westlake. Nick's outgoing and chatty character made him the obvious choice to put this together.
The idea was to take the portable cassette player down to ward 2 and interview all the children and get them to choose two records. Then return to the studio the same afternoon and broadcast the results at 5pm till 6pm.
The show was launched with Nick at the helm and received a warm welcome from the staff and the children. The show was launched as WD2 short for ward 2 which was the children's ward at that time.
In 1982 when Nick departed from the station PJ took over the reins and injected new ideas into the show and he became a regular on ward 2. New posters and an increase in time proved a winner and in 1983 the show was not to be missed.
What helped to make the show more successful was the ability to encourage members of the nursing staff to be interviewed, tell jokes etc.
The staff involvement included them thinking of ways to embarrass PJ whenever he turned up on the ward.
The staff would sing songs with the children and also compile ditties which would receive laughter from all in earshot.
Saturday's WD2 Show
5 till 6.30pm
Another of those posters created by PJ and mastered with a stencil set and typewriter.
The poster carried the new program schedule for Saturdays WD2 show and was hand coloured before displaying on the wards.
The new look poster heralded the increase in time from 1 hour to an hour and a half and PJ in the chair.
WD2 Program Schedule
Keeping track of who asked for what and where and when an interview would appear was down to the program sheet filled out whilst visiting the ward.
WD2 Nurses
The nursing staff who made a difference each week. Below regular contributors Louisa Mcilroy, Suzanne Ambrosia, Yvonne White, pay the studio a visit.
Promotion of the WD2 show also included jingles voiced by our favourite nursing staff.
Stars
The stars of the of the show were the children. and not forgetting the staff.
Their were lots of characters on both sides of the bedclothes all contributed to make the show fun for the children.
One character was Edward Sibcy who spent eight weeks with us and became a real character. On his departure his father wrote the letter listed below.
WD2 Christmas Party 1983
At the end of the year ward 2 staff would invite back all the children who had spent time in the hospital over the past year .
In 1983 PJ was on hand to interview the children and help provide music for the event and help with the party games.
Christmas Party 1983
WD2 Show
" It's for the kids"
