Ronnie The Radio
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History

Overview

Radio Northwick Park is a registered charity (charity number 274806) run by volunteers to provide patient visiting and a broadcast entertainment service to the North West London Hospitals NHS Trust and affiliated with the Hospital Broadcasting Association (HBA). We have grown in strength and numbers since our opening and became one of the first hospital radio stations in the country to become 24 hours.

Starting in 1971, we have grown in strength and numbers since our opening nearly 40 years ago and became one of the first hospital radio stations to become 24 hours and also one of the first to broadcast digitally online. We now have over 100 volunteers who talk to patients, collect requests and help make the station such a success year in and year out.

We have hours of LIVE broadcasting every day, including a request show, which takes place every weekday night between 9pm – 10pm. The request shows are arguably the most important shows on Radio Northwick Park. They are preceded by a team of up to fifteen dedicated members going around the wards of Northwick Park Hospital, talking to patients and collecting requests.

1970’s

Radio Northwick Park was founded by a group of volunteers from the Jewish Youth Voluntary Service (JYVS) who came together to set up a hospital radio service at Harrow Hospital on Roxeth Hill; this was after their initial work at Edgware General Hospital. At Harrow Hospital there was no room for a permanent studio and programmes were only broadcast on Sundays, meaning that the equipment was installed and dismantled every week.

Then in 1970, when the first stages of Northwick Park Hospital was opened, the group began negotiations to run a radio service within the new hospital and fought off competition from a recording club and a breakaway group from Radio Mount Vernon. JYVS built a permanent studio in the basement of the grounds and Radio Northwick Park went on air in April 1971 (although the ‘official’ opening of the station was in September of that year).

1980’s and 1990’s

We have been in existence and broadcasting ever since and in 1988, funding was raised for building a brand new studio, which still stands to this day as our main studio. As the years rolled on we became heavily involved in local events, and our activities started to extend beyond the hospital’s precincts. Since our beginning our ventures have included running the public address service at the Harrow Show, helping with the recording of the Harrow Talking Newspaper, provided entertainment at local shopping centres as well as organised concerts in the local vicinity.

RNP Today

In 2000 we received a grant enabling us to install a computer system, which now helps with the quality of our output, and with links provided by our presenters, we broadcast a 24 hour programme. Our quality and services have increased over the years with a generous donation from the League of Friends within Northwick Park Hospital, which provided us with enough money to digitalise our whole studio.

In 2006 we became the first Hospital Radio station to officially broadcast online over the Internet, therefore offering our services to a wider variety of people within the Harrow and Wembley area including retirement homes.

Between 2005 – 2010 our volunteer numbers increased by over 70% as statistics also come in showing that we are consistently the most listened to radio station in the hospital, whilst our online listeners continue to grow to over 8,000. In 2009 we refurbished our Record Library, transforming it into the Andy Hewitt Media Suite; a modern and professional place to work in. In 2010 we are looking into expanding our facilities further with a £25,000 refurbishment of our main studio.

Stats

  • Charity Established in 1971
  • 120 Volunteers (Aged 16 – 89). A growth of 73% in 4 years (as of 2010)
  • We visit 3,500 patients a year around Northwick Park Hospital
  • Our website receives approximately 400,000 hits per year
  • Our 53 hours of live shows
  • Average listener, tunes in for 49 hours per week (as of 2009)
  • Over 8,000 online listeners per year
  • Most listened to radio station in Northwick Park Hospital (as of 2009)