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2007 Our Presenting Stars and Backstage Information

Radio Heatherwood Backstage 2007

Whilst there was a very public side to the promotion of the radio service, behind the scenes a number of other events and changes were taking place to the working practices of the radio station.

2007 Year Thirty One Story Unfolds

2007 was a very busy year for the station management and as the year unfolded there was much to do and organise

For further information about this year:- Follow the links

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Welcome to our Picture board

Some captured moments of our volunteers,during this year.

Our Stars of 2007

  • Dave Smith
    Voluntary Service:- 1979 to 2016
    37 Years
    ©RadioHeritage
    Dave Smith Saturdays. Click to Enlarge:-
  • John Murphy
    Voluntary Service:- 2000 to 2013
    13 Years
    ©RadioHeritage
    John Murphy Saturdays.
    Click to Enlarge:-
  • PJ Davidson-Smith
    Voluntary Service:- 1980 to 2016
    36 Years
    ©RadioHeritage
    PJ Saturdays.
    Click to Enlarge:-
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  • Sylvia Dungate
    Voluntary Service:- 1996 to 2008
    11.9 Years
    ©RadioHeritage
    Sylvia Dungate Tuesdays.
    Click to Enlarge:-
  • Alan Holder
    Voluntary Service:- 1989 to 2008 19 Years
    ©RadioHeritage
    Alan Holder Tuesdays.
    Click to Enlarge:-
  • Helen Simpson
    Voluntary Service:- 2005 to 2007
    2.4 Years
    ©RadioHeritage
    Helen Simpson Thursdays.
    Click to Enlarge:-
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  • Roger Hawkes
    Voluntary Service:- 1988 to 2008
    19.5 Years
    ©RadioHeritage
    Roger Hawkes Studio One.
    Click to Enlarge:-
  • Lucy Walker
    Voluntary Service:- 2004 to 2007
    2.7 Years
    ©RadioHeritage
    Lucy Walker Mondays.
    Click to Enlarge:-
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  • ©RadioHeritage
    Sylvia Dungate &
    Alan Holder

    Sylvia Dungate & Alan Holder in Library Tuesdays.
    Click to Enlarge:-
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  • James Shurley
    Voluntary Service:- 2005 to 2007
    2.2 Years
    ©RadioHeritage
    James Shurley Thursdays.
    Click to Enlarge:-
  • Sarah Foot
    Voluntary Service:- 2002 to 2007
    4.5 Years
    ©RadioHeritage
    Sarah Foot Tuesdays.
    Click to Enlarge:-
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  • Katie Ayers
    Voluntary Service:- 2005 to 2016
    11 Years
    ©RadioHeritage
    Katie Ayers Mondays.

    Click to Enlarge:-
  • Ian Shephard
    Voluntary Service:- 2004 to 2008
    3.4 Years
    ©RadioHeritage
    Ian Shephard Mondays.

    Click to Enlarge:-
  • Ian Butcher
    Voluntary Service:- 2004 to 2016
    12 Years
    ©RadioHeritage
    Ian Butcher Saturdays.

    Click to Enlarge:-
  • Celsio D'Souza Mondays
    Voluntary Service:- 2005 to 2011
    5.5 Years
    ©RadioHeritage
    Celsio D'Souza Mondays.

    Click to Enlarge:-
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And in the End

Extract of Xmas Message 2007:-

I thought I would take this opportunity to highlight some highs and lows of this year and reflect on our achievements. In addition what has 2008 in store for the radio service?

I’ll start with the positive news of the donation secured by butch which allowed us to change the screens in both studios’ to the flat screen type. This has made it much easier to operate the studio now and I’m sure you have all felt this has made life easier.

The staff recruitment still poses major problems for us as we are still unable to attract the right sort of applicant. We have attracted over 22 applicants this year but when we break down the reason why they weren’t suitable we find the same old failures.

This year saw the departure of Helen from Thursdays and this immediately had a knock on effect that we had to close the night because James promptly left shortly after Helen left.

It takes almost a year to get a presenter up to a reasonable speed so I was a bit gob smacked when we lost two in quick succession.

Sarah left in the early part of the year to have a baby but sadly to date has given no indication she wants to return.

In addition the station said goodbye to Lucy Walker and Marcela Wiggins. Marcela had been with us off and on for 15 months and after a number of starts stops and her family commitments we decided it wasn’t in our interest to continue her training. This incident has lead us to the note which is added to the welcome notes for new trainee’s that training isn’t actually open ended and we will call time on someone if we think they won’t make it.

We are always concerned that those coming into the station do not abuse the trust of those full time members who have to give up their time to train new staff. Radio Heatherwood is not here to further peoples careers at the detriment of it’s own genuine volunteers. At this point we should say that the service was devised with the express wish to provide entertainment and a friend at the bedside for patients. Any career opportunities for the staff, doesn’t enter into the equation as far as the league funding of the service goes.

The year saw a number of rather nasty individuals who sent derogatory replies in answer to our rejections of their applications.

On a positive side we have been added to the do it org web site as well a number of others which advertises we need volunteers.

It still remains a tough a task in encouraging the right sort of recruit to our teams.

In the back ground all the development work was completed for patient’s staff and their families to text the radio. Whilst this has been put on hold because of the low staff numbers I’m optimistic that in the near future we will be able to launch it and add some new interaction with our listeners.

The web sites for both the league and the radio have been changed slightly this year with the application form page now more comprehensive.

The rhapsody service gained some new voices this year with Shep Katie and Ian adding a small amount of trailers to the selection. I would hope that this coming year they can return to the training for this and increase their contribution so that we may remove old voices no longer with us. In addition I think we need to get Man with the Plan onto rhapsody as well, this coming year.

The bulletin board has really come into its own now and has proved that it’s a great way to brief out information as well as keep in contact with other members of staff. When we launched this service I held a poll to ask do you think it’s a good idea. Of the staff at the time three didn’t see the need to have it. Over the years at the station I have tried newsletters, posted newsletters, email newsletters but response you could count on one hand. Now everything is in one place so current news and old news can be looked at in your own time. The feedback that you get from the wards provides a great boost to us all, when we read your comments from the patients, keep it up.

A number of presenters this year gained long service certificates and they can be rightly proud of their achievements.

At the start of the year we tightened down on the opening and closing sequence for the station. We have made a major improvement in this area but we still suffer from bad opening and closing handovers on occasions and we need to be more careful and aware of the correct procedure which does give a clear indication to listeners of the live and not live program changes.

In 2008 we will be moving the webshop promotion up a gear and will add to rhapsody as well as notification to staff on the wards as well as patients. The web shop will over time I hope gain popularity, as the outcome for the radio will be additional monies which we can use to improve our service. The radio station relies on the running grant from the league and donations each year from our sponsors. It would be nice to think that perhaps the radio could gain a regular income from the web sites.

2008 see’s the 20th year Anniversary of the am service for us and it’s also the 50th year of the league. The am service will celebrate 20 years this coming April and the league this February. As part of the league 50 year celebrations we will be updating the league web site with new info etc and in addition all volunteers of the league will receive a special edition mug as a thank you.

Our radio service relies on all our staff pitching in and making a contribution. Radio Heatherwood is not one person it’s a team effort. And what a great team we have.

Well done everybody, Merry Christmas to you and all your families

Many thanks and see you all in 2008

P Davidson-Smith Secretary December 2007

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Archive Gems

Just some extra's we found:-

2007 That Was The Year That Was!

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