Carillon Radio
"Carillon Radio is in the process of making the natural progression from Hospital radio and volunteering to community radio and volunteering. We are already beginning to take over from local radio stations in the hosting of community events. Nobody knows the local community as well as we do; we are the local community."-Jon Sketchley
When the station was set up in 1976 it was known as Loughborough Hospital Broadcasting and operated over an internal speaker system in Loughborough General Hospital. It was in 1999 that the station took the huge leap in development and applied to broadcast on medium wave, a move that was seen to be daring for a small town broadcaster and in 2000 they became the smallest hospital radio to be granted this status. It was at this stage that they became Carillon Radio.
Since then the station has been through several major changes. It has moved location several times and expanded in the number of hospitals that it broadcasts to. It has also now become the first hospital broadcaster in the country to become a Community Radio with the development of Hermitage FM. Though despite the many changes that it has been through, its aims still remain the same: to entertain and provide support and well-being to hospital patients and to the community.
The station is run entirely by volunteers. It offers its volunteer Presenters a twelve week training course to give them the knowledge and skills needed for presenting their own radio show. And for those who may not have a ‘face for radio’ there are volunteering opportunities in engineering, administration, fundraising and marketing which all offer volunteers a significant chance to build on the training they receive.
Created July 25, 2012
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