Friends of Grantham Hospital
Radio Witham
The Friends of Grantham Hospital, founded in 1970, work with the Grantham Hospital in many ways. They aim to work with current and former patients of the hospital, in addition to providing services and raising funds for the hospital directly.
The Friends‘ most exciting project is Radio Witham. The friends use Radio Witham to “provide music, news, entertainment, and chat” to the wards of the hospital. The setup is sophisticated, with appropriate equipment and numerous presenters. Some of the programmes include “Lunchtime Hits”, “Easy on the Ear”, and “Love in the Afternoon”. Presenter Paul Martin recently was voted one of the top 10 hospital radio presenters in the country! His greatest satisfaction comes from being involved with people: from collecting patients' requests to training new volunteers, from presenting to working behind the scenes.
The station produced a documentary programme about St. Wulfram's Church in Grantham, including interviews with those involved in the day-to-day operations of the church. This documentary, “Spire Story,” won a silver award from the Hospital Broadcasting Association for Best Speech Package. Radio Witham received the gold award in this category in 2000.
The United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust organised a reception to thank the Friends of Grantham Hospital for their hard work. Trust Chairman David Bowles outlined the future plans of Grantham Hospital and expressed his gratitude to the Friends for their continued support. In addition to Radio Witham, the Friends run a car driver scheme and a charity shop and intend to increase voluntary services to the Grantham site in the near future.
Quotes
“We look forward to a new era of support, co-operation and partnership with the hospital trust and hope to increase our fundraising and develop our portfolio of volunteering to better support patients, their families and the staff at Grantham Hospital”. — Chairman of the League of Friends Trustees
“The hospital was going to turned into just an out-patient department for Lincoln Hospital and we saved it and I'm very pleased we did. You never know what will happen tomorrow, but the last two years have been as encouraging as we've ever had”. — Quentin Davies MP
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