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Hospital Radio Yare is a small registered charity and totally voluntary organisation keeping afloat through fund raising and donations.  It exists to provide comfort to patients in the Great Yarmouth and Waveney area.  Its aims are to both visit the patients at their bedside and equally to offer an information and entertainment service through the medium of broadcasting.

The studio is based in the Northgate Hospital, Northgate street, Great Yarmouth. The organisation is run by a volunteer group of officers who manage the general running of the organisation and whose key responsibility is to ensure that the station consistently meets the needs of our listeners. In addition to this, the station boasts around 60 members to carry out the necessary day to day tasks such as request collecting, fundraising and of course broadcasting.

The hospitals themselves welcome the service since the Patients’ Request Show broadcast by the members, brings forth the feel-good factor for patients when capturing those happy memories from a special melody.  With a music library of over 40,000 tracks it is not very often we are caught out.

Bed-side visiting also suggests therapy; just having somebody to talk to and saying the right things when there are no visitors around, helps allay worries and uncertainties during a patient’s stay and all members find this a very satisfying and worthwhile experience.  Many find this develops their communication skills.

New people to the organisation, undergo 12 weeks of training and induction to ensure they are sensitive to patients’ requirements.  It is a rule of the organisation that the patient always come first.  The applicant is accompanied onto the wards with an established member to give confidence and advice and to explain the procedure before entering the wards i.e., infection control [wash hands] and patient confidentiality [no snooping at the hospital notes!].  All applicants are also required to pass a criminal records check.

Once the applicants are adept in these skills, broadcasting techniques are taught - if so desired - but it is not a requirement of membership so anybody who is mic shy does not get pushed in front of the mixer desk with a pile of CDs and left to get on with it!

The service is always on the lookout for extra help to swell the organisation with skills such as administration, fund raising, communications and electronics.  So recruitment drives, in this respect are often undertaken.  To join us you can be 18-80, or even older, male or female, although it does help to have some across the board music knowledge and a caring nature.

Still interested? Whether its requesting collecting or ultimately broadcasting why not contact us and chat about how you can help us help those in need.