Harlow Hospital Radio

EPPING INFANTS SCHOOL SUMMER FAYRE 15/07/2006

It was a ‘bright sunshiny day’ as Harlow Hospital Radio once again attended the Epping Infants School Summer Fayre and a fantastic time was had by all!

There was not a cloud in sight all day long and it was so hot – it was practically burning

With Andy Meadows, John Bryson, Andy Roberts, Sam Allison & Robin Barnard as well some sterling help from Maxine Major all together the day went along swimmingly with John, Andy and Sam acting as anchors / commentators for all the events including the raffle draw and of course some great music was also provided to keep the crowds going

Everyone had a great time and the school couldn't thank us enough!

If everyone there enjoyed it as half as much as us then we certainly did well!

Quite a few photos where taken during the fayre, a few of which appear below:-

HARLOW HOSPITAL RADIO PRESENTS A QUIZ NIGHT TO REMEMBER! 06/05/2006

Last Nights Quiz Night at the Harlow Hospital Social Club certainly was one to remember

There was a fantastic turn out of no less than 8 tables all filled with budding boffins ready to join in with the fun – which started as soon as our hostess with the mostest Andy Roberts appeared as none other than the legendary Elton John himself!

Also along for the ride but slightly more restrained was Kieran Wills and of course Robin Barnard who both helped out with marking and collecting answer sheets

The teams also consisted of several enthusiastic member of Hospital Radio including Andy Meadows , Aaron Page , Stewart Taylor, Dean Cordell, John & Jane Bryson, and of course Mr Steve Cooper (or was it John Lennon???)

It was then eyes down for the quiz itself which was 10 rounds of questions, including several audio based rounds; there was a wide range of questions from theme songs from James bond movies to ships that may have sunk! Some where easy while some where a little more tricky

The competition was very hard thought with everyone scoring very impressively but at then end of the quiz it was the team called “law and order” who put in an arresting performance and walked away with a great set of prizes

Not far behind in 2nd place was the “Popcorn Posse” who lived up to their name in more than one way as they scored well on the TV clip round and 3rd to the “Tweenies” who yes had a guy who just happened to be named Jake!

There was also a great prize raffle with an amazing amount of tickets sold and some great prizes on offer that was drawn - at the end practically everyone walked away with something

Everyone had a great time and all showed their appreciation by give us all a round of applause at the close of the evening

We raised an incredible amount of funds with no less than £171.55 raised, so a very special Thank You to everyone for coming along and buying s many raffle tickets

Also a very special HHR thank you must go to our very own Andy Roberts who spent ages putting the quiz together

Harlow Hospital Radio was featured in the Harlow Star (Thursday 13^h April 2006) with an article complete with a photo featuring the open day, this article is reproduced below: -

Budding disc jockeys made airwaves on Harlow Hospital Radio on Saturday when it opened its doors to new volunteers.

The open day at the station in Princess Alexandra Hospital allowed visitors to see what it takes to be a DJ when members of staff talked about how shows are compiled and broadcast.

Tied in with National Hospital Broadcasting Week, it is the third consecutive event the station has run to generate interest.

As well as extra broadcasters, the crew is also on the lookout for volunteers to work on the technical side of the operation and fundraise for social events.

Harlow councillor Ian Jackson, who has presented a show in the station for the past 15 years, was among the volunteers present.

“The open day went very well and provided an opportunity for people interested in radio to see what we do,” he said. “I’ve been involved for a long time now and I find it very enjoyable.” ‘

A reproduction of the photo that also appeared will be here soon! Watch this space

The studio was constantly full with members new, and old taking to the airwaves for one off shows.

The Myriad System was in full swing, with all members showing off the systems full potential by taking real time, on the spot, requests during all their shows.

The day was another success with a number of new recruits coming forward, and current members showing the hospital just what Harlow Hospital Radio is all about.

A special HHR Thank you goes to Andy Meadows who organised this event and wrote this article!

Harlow Hospital Radio was featured in the Harlow Star (Thursday 7^th April 2005) with an article advertising the forthcoming open day arranged by Andy Meadows, this article is reproduced below: -

Budding DJs keen to follow in the grooves of Chris Moyles and Jo Whiley can get the lowdown on how Harlow Hospital Radio works at its open day on Saturday

The studio at Princess Alexandra Hospital which has broadcasting for more than 30 years, is open to the public between 11am - 3 pm during which live shows will be transmitted.

Anyone interested in the presentation or technical side of radio is welcome. For more information call Andy Meadows on (01279) 635540 extension 2511 or just turn up on the day.”

April marks the start of several new shows all broadcasting live to Princess Alexandra Hospital !

Also we are proud to announce the long awaited return of John Bryson to the airwaves with Classical Corner on Fridays

And in the very near future we look forward to welcoming back Alison Hedger to her Retro rewind show again on Sundays between 18:00 – 20:00

Our very own ‘Number One Director’ Andy Roberts has been hard at work putting together the traditional Christmas Pantomime. If the success and fun of last years pantomime ‘Robin Hood’ is anything to go by, then this year’s promises to be even bigger and better!

A great time was had by all in the HHR studio last Sunday as everyone got together for the annual Christmas panto recording. Once again the hard working Andy Roberts provided a top rate script and everyone brought their own unique characterisations and voices to the event including:-

Some great photos of the panto recording are here taken by Steve Cooper and Kieran Wills

UPDATE: Steve Cooper has provided even more fantastic photos of this event, some of which are here

It was a night of fun and madness at the Harlow Hospital Social Club on Saturday 17th September 2005, as Harlow Hospital Radio held the biggest and best party of the year as we make it a night to remember at our Fantastic Charity Fancy Dress Ball and everyone was in costume!

Including Andy Roberts who came as RAF pilot officer (“Ginge”), Andy Meadows who came as 70’s DJ (from Liverpool), Shaun Cooke who came as a Monk, Steve Cooper who came as Dick Whittington and before you ask Mrs Cooper was the Cat, Dean Cordell who came as Police Office, Stewart Taylor who came as a cowboy (and even though the construction worker and the Red Indian where missing we still did YMCA!), Sam Allison who came as Madonna, with her family including Liam who came as a Pirate, Reece who came as Batman, Hollie & Rachel who came as a Spanish flamenco dancers, and there was also Robin Barnard who came as Zorro

There was also some great attendance from the Bar Staff (Martin and Tracey) who also dressed for the occasion both as Goths!

And of course we had two surprise guests as the Gas Man and GI Jane and also two guys who came as Army soldiers!

There was a fantastic spread of delicious food which everyone was more than happy to tuck into, courtesy of the wonderful Sam Alison and some first class non-stop entertainment was provided by Andy Meadows with a fantastic disco!

With all of this the party fever didn’t take long to get started and everyone had an absolute blast

The competition for the best Fancy Dress costumes was hard fought with everyone taking part, and the gas man winning best male costume and Rachel the young Spanish flamenco dancer winning the female, everyone got a chance to take centre stage and introduce themselves before the judging was announced!

Also in-between some truly outrageous dance numbers and some even more outrageous costume swapping there was also the raffle, with some incredible prizes being given away all of which where generously donated, everyone came away with at least something!

Some of the nursing staff also joined in the party as the evening progressed and we certainly made more than a few new friends!

It really was something special and our heartfelt thanks went to Andy Roberts for organising this Fantastic event, Andy meadows for the fantastic disco and Sam Allison for the tasty food, the social club for being such stars and everyone who donated the brilliant prizes and everyone who joined in with the good times!

Next time we have a party it promises to be even bigger and better so watch this space!

UPDATE: Steve Cooper has provided even more fantastic photos, some of which are here

A fantastic day out was had by practically everyone at Harlow Hospital radio on Saturday 27th August 2005 as we invaded the Harvey Centre and set up directly underneath the clock in front of H Samuels

Throughout the day some great music much of which was requested was played and some truly outrageous events took place including:-

Invasion of Morelli’s

Throughout the Day Andy Meadows , Sam Alison and Robin Barnard invaded Morrelli’s Cappuccino bar talking to people and getting them involved in the fun – the staff of Morelli’s where particularly enjoying themselves as they requested a load of music – With the Highlight being Andy Meadows interviewing one of the staff live on air whose boyfriend was apparently called “buttercup”

Roaming around the Harvey Centre

Everyone took a turn at roaming around the Harvey Centre with the travelling mics with no telling what we would do next including John Bryson, Andy Roberts

Invasion of H Samuels

Another shop who joined in the fun was H Samuel’s who where directly behind us and where also loving the music – Andy Meadows invaded H Samuels and interviewed Michelle live on air and we played her a request as well

Live signing

But the highlight of the day was when Len, who run the Harlow Hospital Social Club for nearly 30 years sung live with no musical accompaniment his version of Norman Wisdoms “Don’t laugh at me” – half the centre noticed that one!!!

Quiz

Also throughout the day we where holding a general knowledge quiz – 12 multiple choice questions with a chance of winning £50 in cash – With several people asking the questions including Andy Roberts, Sam Alison, Stewart Taylor and Robin Barnard. The winner of the quiz was J Cozens who scored an incredible 8 out of 10 and when presented with his prize chose to donate it to Harlow Hospital radio – an incredible act of generosity for which he received a round of applause

Everyone in the Harvey Centre welcomed the great music and where only too willing to join in on the fun

The day went fantastically well as we raised awareness of Harlow Hospital Radio, raised some funds and had an absolute blast!

A big, big thank you to everyone who was involved who made it such a memorable day including the Harvey Centre and everyone at Harlow Hospital Radio

Robin would also like to personally thank everyone involved he doesn’t think there will be another day like this one!

Of course there where some great photos taken of this event, and you can them all here

This weeks “49 on a Friday” presented by Billy Shaw and Simon Etheridge featured a special guest, David Rimmer chief sports reporter for the Herts & Essex group of newspapers.

David shared his unique insight into Harlow Hawks forthcoming football season and how he felt the team was doing

David also joined in with the banter during Billy’s trademarked “49 things” which this week was all about Phobias!

Poor Simon Etheridge was given the very hard task of pronouncing all those phobias, including such wonderfully simple words like Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia which ironically enough is the fear of long words!

David stayed on and join in with Robin Barnard with his “Friday Hot Slot” where he shared his views on his passion for cricket, rugby (and of course those famous journeys on the coach home), his more serious approach to politics and his love of classic comedy like “rising damp” and of course his favourite music by none other than Paula Abdul

David has a great time and come back anytime he wants! The only question is will the team at the Herts & Essex group headquarters ever let him live it down!

Members of Harlow Hospital Radio once again attended the Epping Infants School PTA social event and provided some top class entertainment!

Highlights featured Andy Roberts doing a number from Oklahoma and a Barry White song, Sam Allison doing her legendary Marilyn Monroe & Robin Barnard somehow singing with Sam on “Nobody does it better (the spy who loved me)” the crowd couldn’t get enough, well of Andy and Sam!!

Of course as well as the fabulous performances there where also the costumes of which, a few photos appear below:-

Harlow Hospital Radio once again attended the Epping Infants School Summer Fayre and a fantastic time was had by all!

With John & Jane Bryson, Andy Roberts, Sam Allison & Robin Barnard all together the day went along swimmingly with John, Andy and Sam acting as anchors / commentators for all the events including the raffle draw and of course some great music was also provided to keep the crowds going

Harlow Hospital Radio was featured in the May / June edition (Issue 104) of the Hospital Broadcasting Association (web site) magazine "On Air". Andy Roberts submitted an article and photos all about his fantastic pantomime (recorded last year) this article and the photos are reproduced below: -

"A PANTOMIME FOR RADIO?

I have always been a lover of pantomimes at Christmas time, from a very early age. So when I started to do hospital radio, after I had been trained, I had often wondered what it would be like to combine the two and perform a pantomime actually on the radio. The scenery and costumes would be so simple, as listeners could let their imagination run riot!

Well, two years ago, I became the station treasurer (for my sins) and so decided in 2003 to flex my treasurer muscles and propose the idea at a committee meeting! It went down well (to my surprise and relief) and I began to put pen to paper. It was only at this stage that I realised how much hard work actually went into writing one and several months later, my first pantomime "A Ladin" was recorded (my own story). Sure it was very rough around the edges and only had a small cast but those who took park had a fun time performing it and we put it onto CD for posterity. It was also a great learning curve for me but inspired by its success, I decided to have another go the following year.

So, for 2004, I decided to gone one better and involve even more members. I also decided to use an existing story and decided upon that great English classic, Robin Hood! This was also chosen as it had a large range of characters and plenty of smaller bit roles. So I put pen to paper in April and by September I had a massive 44 page script. I also decided to plan the pantomime more carefully (part of that learning curve) and started by doing a story board and building the characters around that. To really make a radio pantomime work, you need to use plenty of word play and quite a few corny jokes. I also decided to have a narrator at the beginning of each scene.

In true pantomime traditions, the principle hero (Robin) was played by a lady, the dame was a man (I decided to give Robin Hood a mum) and I gave the merry men a comic twist as well!! Hot headed Will Scarlett became the very mild mannered Will Pinky Pants, Little John became very Little John (vertically challenged) and Maid Marion became Maid Marilyn (as in Monroe… boo boo bi do!). Oh and as I wrote the pantomime, I took the main baddie role as the Sherriff of Nottingham (boo, hiss!).

I did stay pretty true to the traditional story of Robin Hood, except for the scene when Robin Hood and Friar Tuck storm Hairy Mary's diary to rescue Maid Marilyn. The cast swelled to 14 and I had allocated characters to presenters and sent out scripts, several weeks before the recording date. This time I used a sound engineer to monitor the levels and add in the sound effects.

I also took the role of director (complete with clapperboard) and we devoted and entire Sunday to read through and record the pantomime. It still amazes me how perfectly respectable presenters can let their imagination run away with them to put on some fantastic accents and invent some wonderful ad libs.

The following weeks we recorded the songs (which totalled seven and where all home made) and the whole pantomime was produced onto a double CD (complete with outtakes).

The station had also purchased a Myriad playout system so the pantomime was added on, with the intention of playing it once per day over the Christmas period for the patients and staff.

So that is the story so far, of how to turn the dream of a radio pantomime, into a reality. I know that I have got a great sense of achievement out of writing it and we all had a fun time in recording it!

And this year, who knows how big our radio pantomime will become. It's worth all the effort, so all you budding writers, why not give it a try!

A very special occasion took place on the 28^th April 2005 as Princess Alexandra Hospital celebrated its 40^th anniversary with a special event attended by Princess Alexandra in person

John Bryson and Alison Hedger represented Harlow Hospital at this event and had the honour on being introduced to the Princess by the chairman of the Hospital Trust, Robert Powell.

Ian Jackson was also present in his role of Chairman of Harlow District Council. Ian was also loose with his camera, and some of his photos follow below:-

Harlow Hospital Radio was featured in the Harlow Star (Thursday 14^h April 2005) with an article complete with a photo featuring the open day arranged by John Bryson, this article and the photo is reproduced below: -

"MEMBERS of Harlow 's hospital radio team who offer patients an alternative to mainstream broadcasting are hoping an open day on Saturday will have helped inject some new blood into the station.

Budding DJs were invited to find out more about the station, based at Princess Alexandra Hospital . It is also looking to recruit more volunteers for the technical side as well as help with fundraising for social events.

The open day, which was timed to coincide with Hospital Broadcasting Week, attracted the interest of several potential recruits keen to join the 25-stong team.

Special guest for the open day was singer-songwriter Nicki French, who back in2000 represented the

in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Station secretary John Bryson said afterwards: 'The first year we did it was a bit of a gamble and it was even better this year. We will definitely do it again next year'

Anyone interested in joining the radio station should call Mr Bryson or programme controller Alison Hedger on (01279) 635540"

The studio was packed with many members doing one -off special shows live on air while the doors of the studio where flung open to meet the steady stream of visitors and potential recruits

A surprise celebrity guest, Nicki French attended the event, meeting and greeting everyone and also took part in a live broadcast

Also during the event the new automated play out system was playing music for the first time

The day was very successful with a number of potential new recruits showing interest in Harlow Hospital radio

Harlow Hospital Radio was featured in the Harlow Star (Thursday 7^th April 2005) with an article advertising the forthcoming open day arranged by John Bryson, this article is reproduced below: -

HOSPITAL radio bosses looking for budding DJs to take to the airwaves are holding an open day for potential recruits.

The radio station based at Harlow's Princess Alexandra Hospital has been providing a service to patients for 30 years. As a result of extensive fundraising, a new computerised system has been purchased which allows the station to broadcast 24 hours a day.

Last year the station held and open day for new recruits and is keen to repeat the exercise. Saturday's event, which runs from 11am -3pm, will include live broadcasts of shows while several experienced members will be available to talk to anyone interested in joining.