12 July 2010
Old and new friends gathered at Radio St Helier recently to celebrate the radio station's 40th birthday.
Former volunteers and special guests, including 'Ab fab' actress June Whitfield CBE and Minister of State for Care Services and MP for Sutton and Cheam, Paul Burstow, mingled with current members and presenters at the birthday bash. Also in attendance was the Deputy Mayor of Sutton, Cllr Sheila Andrews and Trust Chairman, John Davey.
Radio St Helier, which is run entirely by volunteers, first broadcast on 6 June 1970 and 40 years later, is still going strong. To mark the milestone, the station made a nine day external broadcast on the FM frequency and the internet. During that time Radio St Helier, which is usually only heard by the patients within the hospital, was able to reach further into the local community and around the world.
Radio St Helier station manager Kevin Horkan said: "It was wonderful to have our special guests, members and former members join us to mark this momentous occasion. Many old friendships were renewed as former members caught up.
"We were also delighted to welcome the founder of Radio St Helier Mike Button to join the celebration."
The station broadcasts live on weekday evenings from 7pm to 10pm and throughout the day at weekends. The station offers a wide variety of specialist programmes designed to cater for everyone's taste, including The Sunday Service, and the monthly local magazine show, Sutton Scene.
Radio St. Helier is a registered charity and is not funded by the Government, NHS or BBC license fee. Volunteers help out by collecting music requests from patients on the wards, fundraising and presenting programmes. If you would like to make a donation, or simply find out more about the station, visit www.radiosthelier.co.uk. Alternatively, you can contact the studio (and request a song for a loved one in hospital) by e-mail at requests@radiosthelier.co.uk.
