JUNE 2008

WALKING THE WALK

Well we did it! On 1 June a hardy bunch staggered round Deuchny Wood. After over a fortnight of brilliant sunshine, it chose that day to rain. But nothing daunted we ploughed on regardless.

The rain did dampen our plans to have a barbeque at Quarrymill afterwards, so we took the barbie to the studio. While we sat inside, Cordon Bleu chef (well at least the air was blue) Dave Oswald cooked up a fine selection of listeria burgers and sausages that somehow managed to be both raw and burnt!

We have raised a healthy sum and expect to exceed our £1,000 target. On the left you can see how much we have made via JustGiving. We're keeping the JustGiving site open, so if you haven't sponsored us, then you can still do so by clicking on the DONATE button. The site is 100% secure and Hospital Radio Perth are able to reclaim Gift Aid on donations from UK-based taxpayers. That way we get more than if you fill in a traditional sponsor form!

APRIL 2008

WALKING THE WALK

Here at Hospital Radio Perth we're famed for talking the talk - however on Sunday 1 June 2008 we'll also be walking the walk.

Our members will be getting out and about on a sponsored walk in Deuchny Wood on the outskirts of Perth. It's a scenic 4 mile trek and the dafter members have already proposed to do a wider tour of the hill adding a further 2 miles.

Keeping our station on air and our ward-visiting efforts going costs money, and the charity walk is our main fundraiser for 2008.

If you'd like to support us in the charity walk, we'd be grateful if you could take a moment to visit www.justgiving.com/hrp and make a donation.

You can use the link above or click on the DONATE ONLINE graphics in this article or at the top of the page. The site is 100% secure and Hospital Radio Perth are able to reclaim Gift Aid on donations from UK-based taxpayers. That way we get more than if you fill in a traditional sponsor form!

So please help keep the show on the road - make your donation online and support Hospital Radio Perth - the UK's most successful hospital broadcasters.

APRIL 2008

YET MORE AWARDS!

Once again, Hospital Radio Perth have found success at the National Hospital Broadcasting Awards which took place at a gala dinner at the Queens Hotel in Leeds on Saturday 29th March 2008.

This year, the station had only one entry in front of the judges, a documentary by presenter and ward visitor Dalene Radin, about master organ builder Sandy Edmonstone. Sandy who lives near Perth Royal Infirmary led the listener through the process of building the organ and voicing the pipes. As Sandy trimmed the pipe we could hear how the pipe could be tuned and the volume adjusted. Sandy reckoned it was the first time such a process had ever been recorded for radio. The judges felt that the entry was both interesting and informative.

Pictured with the trophy, Dalene reports that both she and Sandy were thrilled to bits to hear that the entry had won first prize.

Hospital Radio Perth remain the most successful station ever at the National Hospital Radio Awards which are open to around 250 hospital stations across the UK.

MARCH 2008

ANOTHER GREAT PSPC QUIZ SUCCESS

The seventh annual PSPC / Hospital Radio Perth Quiz Night took place at the Salutation Hotel on Wednesday 19th March 2008. The winners were Condies who carried off the trophy for the second time - having been triumphant three years ago.

The event raised in excess of £800 for Hospital Radio Perth.

HRP Station Manager and Quizmaster John Watson reported that a record number of teams took part and competition was stronger than ever. That's Condies, The Procurator Fiscal's Office and Neil Whittet all won the trophy twice - who will be first to get a hat-trick of wins?

Our picture shows PSPC Manager Anne Begg handing over the trophy to the winning team and a cheque to Hospital Radio Perth.

MARCH 2008

LISTEN ON-LINE TO HOSPITAL RADIO PERTH

FEBRUARY 2008

QUIZ NIGHT SUCCESS AT MEIKLEOUR HOTEL

A quiz night at the Meikleour Hotel has raised over £270 for Hospital Radio Perth. The quiz was run by Station Manager, John Watson with a great deal of help from Treasurer Caroline Reid and Meikleour regular Elaine Petrie.

It's the second quiz HRP has run at the hotel - the first was in aid of Maggie's Centres. The organisation would like to thank the hotel, the regulars and all who helped to make it a fun, profitable evening.

Wednesday 19 March sees the return of the annual Perthshire Solicitors Property Centre Quiz in the Salutation Hotel in Perth. It looks like we may have a record number of teams attending and another brain teasing session is expected!

FEBRUARY 2008

NOMINATION FOR BEST SPEECH BROADCASTING AWARD

Hospital Radio Perth have been nominated in the "Best Speech Broadcasting" category of the 2008 Hospital Broadcasting Association Awards.

After last year's unprecedented success the station only submitted two entries for this year's awards.

The nominated entry is a piece by Monday ward-visitor and Thursday Classics presenter Dalene Radin on a local organ maker and his work.

The winner will be announced and the prizes distributed at the HBA Conference at Leeds on Saturday 29 March 2008. We're all hoping that Dalene's entry will bring home the trophy.

OCTOBER 2007

COMMENTATOR IDOL COMES TO HOSPITAL RADIO PERTH

We've been broadcasting commentaries from St Johnstone matches - home and away - to patients in Perth Royal Infirmary and Murray Royal Hospital since 1990. Now we're looking for new football commentators to expand our top sports team here at Hospital Radio Perth.

We'll soon be starting our auditions process - and our judging panel are way more friendly than Simon Cowell and co!

So who are we looking for?

In essence, Saints fans who love talking about Saints! Many of our patients are keen Saints supporters. As well as covering each kick of the ball, we aim to describe the whole atmosphere in the stadium to our listeners. The patients may not be at the match - but our commentators aim to bring the match to them.

We asked Roy Spiers, one of our commentators since those early 1990 days, to explain why he helps out: "I know how I feel when I miss a Saints game I've been looking forward to and I'm desperate to know what's going on at the match. HRP commentaries enable those folk who are stuck in hospital and can't get to the game the chance to hear all the action. Anything that gives you the opportunity to talk about Saints for 90 minutes while helping others has to be a good thing!"

So how do you impress our Commentator Idol Panel?

Simple - all you need to do is record five minutes of your own commentary on a Saints match, and post the tape or cd together with a note of your name, postal address, e-mail and telephone number, to Commentator Idol, Hospital Radio Perth, Perth Royal Infirmary, Taymount Terrace, Perth PH1 1NX by 7 November 2007.

We look forward to hearing from you!

AUGUST 2007

HOSPITAL RADIO PERTH JOINZ UP WITH JUSTVIZITING.COM

Hospital Radio Perth has teamed up with a new company designed to make life easier for those with friends and relatives in hospital.

Justviziting.com is a new, free website designed to support hospital patients and their families and save precious time for hospital staff. Jeff Cummings had the idea after he experienced the type of problems faced by thousands of people every day when a relative or friend is in hospital.

When Jeff's father needed major surgery it was quite a job keeping people up to date on his progress. He began by putting a bulletin on his pub's website which took a lot of the pressure off the nightly round of phone calls. From there the idea grew of a dedicated and secure site where the friends and families of patients could keep in touch and feel involved.

Jeff made a conscious decision at an early stage to make justviziting.com completely secure and confidential as well as easy to use and easily accessible. A visitor to the site simply opens an online visiting room and invites friends and family to view regular bulletins and post their own messages of support between one another. Distance is no problem, even for friends and relatives overseas, and the room is open 24 hours a day, every day.

Hospital Radio Perth is a huge fan of the concept and is keen to help with the promotion of the idea. As Station Chairman Steven Robb said, "This is such a terrific idea and I could immediately see the benefits for our listeners in hospitals. With restricted numbers of visitors at bedsides, it's a dilemma faced by many on how to reach loved ones with news on patients. Equally, hospital staff must set aside time to answer queries on the phone. This new website will simply and efficiently help address both of these problems and it's great news that it is absolutely free."

Jeff Cummings of Justviziting.com adds, "You'll not only save a whole lot of time but also a whole lot of money on those phone calls. You simply post your latest bulletin and invite people to visit the room whenever they can, at any time of the day or night - it's convenient, it's effective and it's so easy. You can even put photographs and images on the maternity section to capture those extra special moments for family and friends."

You can find out more by visiting www.justviziting.com or clicking on any of the Justviziting.com icons in this article.

JULY 2007

HRP VISITS THE RACES

Hospital Radio Perth enjoyed another successful visit to Perth Races on Sunday 15 July 2007. We joined thousands of punters, young and old, at the family funday in the grounds of Scone Palace.

On the previous day, patients had the chance to choose a horse in each race, then cheer it on as HRP broadcast full commentary from the circuit voted "The Best Small Racecourse in Scotland and the North East 2006" by the Racegoers Club.

While some listeners chose horses with attractive names, one or two really got into the spirit of the occasion; including one tipster whose bed was engulfed in copies of the Racing Post! But it was all good fun and numerous patients were to win prizes ranging from pens and keyrings to the highly prized Hospital Radio Perth mug.

Station Chairman, Steven Robb, who ran the race-course end of the broadcast commented, "Everyone had a great deal of fun and our thanks go, once again, to Sam Morshead and his team at Scone for making us so welcome."

MAY 2007

ZEN INTERNET TEAMS UP WITH HRP

Internet Service Provider Zen Internet are to sponsor Hospital Radio Perth's Thursday Request Show. In return they are to provide the PRI based UK Hospital Radio Station Of The Year with a full broadband service.

Station chairman, John Watson is delighted with the deal, "Not only will this allow us better e-mail and web facilities and keep us up to date with news and sports results, it ensures that we can relay events live from Perth Concert Hall via our new web streaming facility. This is a first for hospital radio anywhere and keeps us at the forefront in the UK."

Established in 1995, Zen Internet was one of the first Internet Service Providers in the UK. It has consistently proven to be a reliable and successful supplier of award-winning Internet services to business and home users, which includes the latest in high speed Broadband access. Awards have included PC Pro Best ISP Broadband in 2004, 2005 and 2006.

Zen is delighted to continue to support the hospital with a broadband connection that allows live streaming of the radio to patients, through to updating the sports team on all the latest results.

John concludes, "It's great that these two award winning services can come together to provide an even better range of entertainment for those in hospital."