Schedule

What's On HRB

In Focus

Brian Mentor

Volunteering since September 2014

Brian is mad …….. Mad about radio! He says his first memories of the “wireless” as a child was hearing his name mentioned on the BBCs Children's Favourite’s request programme in the 1950s. His grandmother had written in to Uncle Mac to have a request played for him. He also enjoyed “Listen With Mother" and Children’s Hour on the BBC Home Service. Later he discovered the delights of pop music and “The Great 208” Radio Luxembourg with a signal that faded in and out, which just added to the excitement of listening to a station hundreds of miles away. When Brian tuned in one day to hear a brand new station broadcasting from a ship in the North Sea, he thought he had arrived in heaven. No more listening to the BBCs meagre pop offerings and the constant fading of Radio Luxembourg. This was rock solid pop music live from The North Sea on 199 metres in the medium wave band. Radio Caroline had arrived! Quickly to be followed by the likes of Big L Radio London, and Radio City. This was a big deal as the popularity of these stations brought about Radio 1 and new commercial stations such as Capital Radio and 2CR in Bournemouth. To some extent this also paved the way for hospital radio stations such as HRB. Besides the radio and music his other main interest is photography and real ale! Brian says that one of his favourite activities as an HRB volunteer is visiting wards, chatting to patients and collecting their requests. Brian is part of the Personnel team and also presents the Thursday afternoon show "Thrills From Three"

Join

Hospital Radio Bedside

Being part of a working radio station offers you a unique and rewarding experience, with no minimum commitment. We'll give you the training and support you need, and all we ask of you is that you give whatever time you can, whenever you can.

You also don't need to have any prior experience in broadcasting or charity work - just an eagerness to learn and an enthusiasm to get involved. It may be a cliché, but it's true of volunteering at HRB: the more you put into it, the more you get out of it!

You can get involved in many different areas of our association. As long as you're aged 18 or over, are willing and able to subscribe to Friends of HRB (which means donating £2 per month), and agree to undergo a DBS check (which we organise for you free of charge), we'd love to hear from you!

Support

Hospital Radio Bedside

We raise funds in many different ways and means: we welcome donations at our many local events, we regularly organise raffles, and we host fundraising events such as our annual Quiz Night, hosted by Alan Dedicoat.

At the core of all of this activity, we run a regular-donation fundraising scheme. It's called Friends of HRB, and we would love you to join.

Just £2 per month will make a huge difference to our charity; allowing us to continually improve the service we offer to patients in our local hospitals, as well as their friends and relatives in the local community.