Katie Ayers
- Team Leader & Presenter
Katie Joined Radio Heatherwood in February 2005
Katie joined Radio Heatherwood in
February 2005, looking for a new challenge…which is certainly what she got!
On arrival at the station her musical
knowledge was limited, due to her less advanced years, but she had bags of
enthusiasm and was eager to learn. With encouragement from Big Al and the rest
of the Tuesday team, Katie has since embraced the wonders of vinyl and will
choose a 45 over an mp3 any day!
Katie was let loose on the airwaves in September 2005 and
later invited to lead the Thursday team in April 2006. This is her biggest
challenge to date but having a great team makes this a whole lot easier! The
photo shows her proudly receiving the key to the door (though in all honesty,
she looks more like a hobbit receiving the rings).
She loves all aspects of Radio Heatherwood and feels quite
at home pottering around the station. Visiting the wards is a highlight each
week. Katie endeavour's to take a request from every patient that feels up to
it, even if this means spending a while going through their musical interests
and their many interesting stories. Members of the team have commented that
Katie spends more time “tucking the patients in for the night” than getting
requests!
On visiting a special school some years ago, she was told
the parable of the starfish:
After a terrible hurricane, thousands of
starfish were washed up on a beach, unable to get back to the water. A man
walked along the beach, picking up the creatures and tossing them one by one
back into the ocean.
Another man saw his efforts and asked
"Why do you bother? You can't save them all, or even a tiny fraction of them.
You can't possibly think you are making a difference." The first man picked up
another starfish and tossed it into the ocean. He turned to the second man and
said "I made a difference to that one."
Katie likes to think of the patients as
starfish. At Radio Heatherwood we can’t possibly cure all their ills, but if
just one person listens and we manage to brighten their day, then what we do has
been worthwhile.
Failing that, Radio Heatherwood is a
great way to meet, and spend time with, some fantastic people – presenters and
patients alike!
