On Air No 100 Fcover
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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2004 Issue 100 The Official Journal of the 100th Hospital Broadcasting Association ISSUE in this issue ... Dear Reader, Welcome to our very special 100th issue of On Air. As you Committee Report ................................................................ 3 can see from the front cover, the format has changed consid- A Page from the Presidents ................................................ 5 erably over the years – you can read from former Editors how Hundred Not Out by Dennis Rookard ............................ 6 they tried to make their mark on the magazine. I took over as So Who Has Edited On Air Over the Years?....................7 Editor at the beginning of 2001, when, unfortunately a maga- Why Are You Involved in Hospital Radio?..........................8 zine had not been published for nearly a year. Now three and a half years later and 19 issues on, I have hopefully established Feeling Good/A Message from Jimmy Savile ......................9 a regular routine for publishing on time; alright with a slight The View From The Bed .................................................... 11 hiccup last year. I think I may be excused that one. News from the Stations ...................................................... 12 I was delighted to receive congratulatory messages from Across the Sea – Jimmy Savile, Ken Bruce and the Duchess of Devonshire, in the Land of Green by Patrick Lynch ........................22 which you can read in the magazine. The Power of Radio by John Whitney ............................24 I make no apology for publishing some features from previ- June’s Travels .......................................................................... 25 ous On Airs. I am sure newer members will find them fasci- Early Days at Leeds ................................................................26 nating and older members (in years served, not age!) find they The Dimmer and More Distant Past .............................. 27 bring back memories. The First Seventy Years by Bryn Goodwin .................... 28 I had a wonderful response to my plea for stories from sta- Calling all ex-Hospital Radio Plymouth Volunteers ...... 29 tions and I hope now you have been bitten by the bug and will Regional Reps ........................................................................ 30 continue to fill up my letterbox, so that we can ensure a good Why Do You Recognise? .................................................... 31 read. Who To Contact .................................................................. 32 Now please sit back and enjoy this bumper issue and look carefully at the photographs extracted from old On Airs. See FRONT COVER PICTURE: anyone you recognise? The changing covers of On Air. Pictured how the magazine Have a good read and don’t forget the copy date. started life as Hospital Radio News, changed from A4 to A5, then went to spot colour and has now ended up in A4 format in four colour throughout Michelle On Air is the Official Journal of the HBA which is the trading name of the National Association of Hospital Broadcasting Organisations, a Company limited by guarantee. Registered in England No. 2750147. A Registered Charity No. 015501. Registered office: Michael Letch, Bleak House,146 High Street, Billericay, Essex CM12 9DF On Air is distributed free of charge to all member stations of the Association plus interested parties. All material is ©2004 of HBA and may not be reproduced in any form without the written authority of the Editor. Views expressed in the magazine are not necessarily those of HBA, or the Editor but are the personal opinion of the contributor. Whilst every effort is taken to ensure the accuracy of the publication, all advertisements and articles appear in good faith and HBA and the Editor accept no responsibility for any errors or inaccuracies. Address for On-Air: The Editor, On Air, 2 Falkland Close, Boreham, Chelmsford, Essex CM3 3DD Tel: 0870 321 6011 Fax: 0870 321 6019 Email: [email protected] COPY DATE NEXT ISSUE 9th October, 2004 On Air 100th Edition Committee Report Hello and Goodbye website in late September, so we will be Most you will have heard by now that able to see if others agree with our view at Ray Oxley tendered his resignation as that time. HBA Chief Executive in early August, his I hope to be able to give those of you recent resignation from Radio North Tees attending the conference and AGM in meaning that he no longer met the criteria Stoke-on-Trent an update on the position of being a bona fide member of a Full at that time. Member of the Association. The HBA Enterprises Ltd. Executive Committee were saddened by As previously explained, the Charity Ray's untimely departure and thank him Commission find the relationship between for his hard work as our leader over the HBA and HBA Enterprises Ltd to be last nine months or so. Hopefully it won’t irregular. I'm pleased to report that the be too long before Ray finds himself directors of HBA Enterprises Ltd have another station to become actively now indicated that they will attend a involved with. meeting with representatives of the We have also said goodbye to Craig Executive Committee. Unfortunately, my Robinson, the North Regional Rep for the attempts so far to suggest dates for the last few years. Craig is taking a well- meeting have been frustrated by either earned rest and John Williamson from Colin or Vera being on holiday. Kendal Hospital Radio has taken over the by Nigel Dallard, Secretary Regions reins. Thanks to Craig and a welcome As part of the on-going review of the John. structure of the Executive Committee and PPL tive’ form with you if you want to the services HBA provides to its members, I wrote this two months ago but there is speak/vote at the AGM. the Executive Committee have asked very little more that I can say other than Draft Charities Bills Chris Berezai and the Regional Reps to that the discussions with PPL over music The Parliamentary Joint Committee undertake a thorough review of HBA licensing are still on-going! scrutinising the draft bill for England and Regions and what they provide for mem- ‘Patient Power’ Providers Wales has finished taking evidence and its bers. This may result in a re-structuring of As you will hopefully be aware, June members are spending the summer draft- the Regions – one idea that has been sug- gested is having fewer, larger regions but owden and Geoff Fairbairn have struck ing its report to the Home Office, which Sn then holding meetings and other get- up a good working relationship with will be published in late September. Reviewing the other written submissions togethers more frequently in different Patientline over the last couple of years. parts of each region, so that station repre- They are now working on forming rela- and reading the transcripts of the oral evi- dence sessions, it was heartening to see sentatives have to travel less to get to tionships with the other ‘Patient Power’ meetings. Also under discussion is the role bedside entertainment system suppliers that many of HBA's comments were echoed elsewhere. Hopefully, the govern- that Regions play in supporting stations in and have already had success with this era of electronic communications. Wandsworth. If you have any queries ment will take note and amend the pro- posed legislation before submitting the Any comments or suggestions would be regarding delivering your signal over these gratefully received either by your Regional new systems, please contact June (general final bill for discussion in parliament. At the time of writing John Watson and Rep or by Chris Berezai. enquiries) or Geoff (technical issues). If Because of this review and the impact it you can provide them with contacts at any I are just finalising our comments on the equivalent draft bill for Scotland. Although may have on the work of regions are the of the other system providers, once again position of Regional Reps on the EC, we please get in touch. the scrutiny of the draft bill doesn't seem to be taking place quite so publicly as have deferred proposing Regional Bylaws AGM south of the border, all comments made to regularise the position of Regions with At the time of writing I'm busy prepar- will be available on the Scottish Executive in the HBA. ing the mailshot inviting nominations for election to the Executive Committee at the AGM at the end of October. By the time you get this, nominations will probably have closed and I shall be busy preparing the next mailshot with the agenda for the AGM, the Annual Report and the list of nominations. Please find the time to read the Annual Report and, if possible, come along to the AGM – the HBA is your association and it's important that you are involved in tak- ing decisions that define its future. Our governing documents preclude postal or proxy voting at the moment, which means that only those stations which physically attend the AGM can have their say and cast their vote. Unfortunately, only a small minority of stations do so. If you are able to send a representative, please do so. Those of you that are intending to come along, please remember that, in a change to the previous procedure, you will need to bring a signed ‘authorised representa- ON AIR Page 3 September/October 2004 On Air 100th Edition A Page from the Presidents This is what Alan Grimadell, as I have dedicated this page to Congratulations ‘On Air’ President, wrote in September 1994 ... the words of the three National One hundred editions of On Air is a ‘The future of Hospital Broadcasting Presidents of the Hospital milestone indeed and I would like to will always remain with the patient – the thank all those editors who have worked question to be asked is are we as members Broadcasting Association of the HBA providing the proper service so hard – tirelessly – to produce On Air, often in difficult circumstances.