About Us
Hospital Radio Swale is operated by unpaid volunteers. We are located approximately 50 miles south east of London in the county of Kent. Our studios are at the Sheppey Community Hospital and we broadcast to hospitals which form part of the Kent Community Health NHS Trust and to the world via the internet.
Structure
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Hospital Radio Swale is a registered charity (No.1058169) and is administered by 5 Trustees, the Chairman, the Secretary, the Treasurer, the Studio Manager and the Members' Trustee. There are no paid employees and all time spent at HRS is voluntary. We currently have 15 members.
Our History
Hospital Radio Swale started in 1974. A group of radio enthusiasts built a studio in a room under the water tower of the old Sheppey Maternity Hospital on Wards Hill. With just two record decks, a tape machine and a mixer they broadcast to the staff, patients and visitors.
When the hospital changed its status and became a general and recovery hospital we moved into the main building and with the financial help of local pub landlord Joe Park built two state of the art studios. These studios remained "on air" until the new Sheppey Community Hospital in Plover Road was opened in 2002. In 1996 the Memorial Hospital in Sittingbourne was opened.
This took Hospital Radio Swale into the digital age using computers and radio automation software we provided music 24/7 as well as broadcasting to both hospitals simultaneously. The Sittingbourne studio has now closed but work continues to upgrade and improve the two studios we have at Sheppey Community Hospital.