Radio Heatherwood Boys!

What every hospital radio needs, come and meet the boys:-

  Cels 'the man with the plan' joined Heatherwood Radio in mid 2005. He lives close to the hospital and before that in Bracknell.

Having spent many an hour in Heatherwood hospital due to his sons (usually the younger one) collecting one injury or another, he felt he should look to give something back to the hospital. Trying to explain to his wife that being a Radio Presenter is giving something back to the hospital is proving difficult - 'you're just enjoying yourself!'

Cels thought his taste in music was varied, however, he has really enjoyed the wide variety that Radio Heatherwood outputs each night. Eclectic is how he now describes his show. He promises to look the word up in the dictionary soon.

Favourite pastimes include: looking for a quite place to read a book, looking for a quite spot to have a coffee, looking for a quite spot .... you get the idea it's noisy at home!

Oh and finally the bit about the 'man with the plan' Cels explained - we have so many brilliant presenters, all with a unique style be it based on comedy, great knowledge of the music etc. The only thing left was to go for a cheesy approach! Oh well Heatherwood Radio welcomes cheese.

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P J Davidson-Smith - Engineer/Secretary

    Pete joined Radio Heatherwood in 1980 as a member of the Saturday team. In 1982 he took over the engineering and later he took over the role of station secretary.

" I have lots of memories and experiences over the last twenty seven years, possibly the most uplifting memory must be when the station introduced the inductive loop am system. After years of patients not being able to listen we were able to reach patients in a totally free manner. Not relying on whether or not the bedhead was working. Years of frustration came to an end when I heard for the first time This is Radio Heatherwood on 999kHz AM 301metres on the medium wave "

Occasionally I'm let loose on the airwaves but not before a government health warning has been given

In the last five years the station has moved premises, changed broadcasting to twenty four hours a day and also moved to the new bedhead system and received in stereo. The continuing improvements to the station, is through the dedication of my colleagues who without them Heatherwood would be a poorer place for patients.

PJ has just completed twenty seven years service to the hospital radio service at Heatherwood, We take our hats off to his dedication and service.

Ian Butcher - Presenter

    Ian Joined Radio Heatherwood in October 2004.

   My Name is Ian, I am 40 ish (honest guv!!!) and have been on Radio Heatherwood for nearly a year now. My favourite music ranges from Rock ' n ' Roll to heavy rock, classical to musicals and most of the music from the 1970's. My overall favourite has got to be Queen. I like presenting the shows and would like to do more as I get more experienced and it gives me a boost when out on the wards and patients compliment and thank us for a great service."

Roger Hawkes Team Leader
( A.K.A Ravishing Roger or Stonker Man ).

Roge has been a presenter at Radio Heatherwood for 16 years and has seen many changes during this time.

    Roger is 46 and still a teenager! His quick wit and ready supply of jokes (all well tried and used before!) make his shows unpredictable, particularly for the poor stooge who gets roped in as co-presenter. His famous joke of the night or Stonker has become part of Radio Heatherwood tradition.

    Since joining Radio Heatherwood, Roger has been involved in numerous fund raising events including the Sweethearts Ball Disco which raised over £1200 back in 1993.

    Roger likes all styles of music, including Frank Sinatra, Elvis and Rod Stewart. Roger is a long suffering Chelsea FC supporter and has the grey hairs to prove it.

    Roger has his own mobile disco where he was christened Ravishing Roger at a seventies night some fifteen years ago and the name has stuck.

    Roger has a long suffering partner is Julie who has two children Ellen (15) and Joshua (12). Josh is already showing signs as a potential DJ himself. Roger was at school with Julie but they only met again after 25 years at a class re-union.

    Roger always signs off from his show with his familiar saying:-

“GW WP, God willing, weather permitting we'll be back next week to do it all over again, all over you. Until then take care, go well and most importantly of all K Y B O - Keep your Bowels Open ".

    The GWWP was 'borrowed' from a radio interview with the great Fred Perry who was asked if he would be attending Wimbledon that year and the KYBO was given to Roger by a lovely local character Cyril Lansley a former patient who passed away, several years ago but asked Roger to keep his saying going in his memory. Roger has certainly done that Cyril!

    Roger and PJ also form the dynamic duo and are responsible for training new presenters. Roger has spoken of the tremendous satisfaction that “The Management” gets when they hear the excellent standards of broadcasting that are produced as a result of Radio Heatherwood’s extensive training scheme. It is Roger and PJ’s belief that this investment of time and effort can only be of benefit to the future patients of Heatherwood Hospital.

Dave Smith - Station Manager

David Joined Radio Heatherwood in 1979 as a member of the Saturday team. In 1981 David took over the role of studio manager and later he took over the role of station manager.

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John Murphy - Presenter

    John Joined Radio Heatherwood in December 2000.

Coming as something of a shock was the realization that I've been broadcasting at Radio Heatherwood for five years. I still find myself feeling somewhat guilty, as to be truthful I think I (and possibly other presenters) am able to spend a few hours each week playing music without the distractions of normal life.
 
It's a welcome responsibility that patients often entrust us with selecting a piece of music on their behalf. They may have named the artist but leave it to us to choose the song. This is a great opportunity in my eyes as I'm able to explore the Heatherwood library and select a track by an artist that is not played that regularly.
 
Also, as we have no play list restrictions (well almost none, I'm still thinking about suggesting a ban on Queen songs on a Saturday) the presenters at Radio Heatherwood are in the enviable position of being able to delve into the vast library to discover music that they might not have listened to before both in terms of new artists and different genres. I always try to find music that I may not have heard before as it educates me and hopefully entertains the patients.
 
Spending time in hospital as a patient is no fun and I'm glad to think that the hospital radio is able to provide some respite whilst laid up.  
 
I'm looking forward to broadcasting in the future as there are still plenty of tracks in the library that I haven't got round to playing yet!

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