THEY are the people who help bring smiles to the faces of patients at Southampton General Hospital.

Now volunteers at Southampton Hospital Radio are looking for fresh new faces to join their team.

They have been broadcasting to the patients of Southampton General and the Princess Anne hospitals continuously since October 1952, providing entertainment 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Earlier this year the Southampton Hospital Broadcasting Association (SHBA) team, whose members were awarded the Queens Award for Voluntary Service in 2012, moved into new studios at Normand House in Tremona Road.

Southampton Hospital Radio Fact File

  • The programme was launched in 1952.
  • They have been broadcasting from the Southampton Hospital since 12th December 1993.
  • They have 76 volunteers.
  • Volunteers range between the ages of 16 to 93.
  • Programmes start at Midnight and continue throughout the day until half past ten.
  • They provide a variety of programmes including music, spoken word and comedy;
  • Provide regular local/national and international news bulletins;
  • They broadcast to; Southampton General Hospital, Princess Anne Hospital and Royal South Hampshire Hospital.

Volunteers greet, support and deliver services to patients, quite often on a one to one basis, that will make a difference to their stay in hospital.

Volunteers must be at least 18 years old and most spend around on average two hours each week with the charity.

The station trains people to professional standards and is looking for volunteers of all ages and backgrounds.

Station director Alan Lambourn said: “Many of our people stay with us for decades, but inevitably, people move on. People come to us for all sorts of reasons, but stay for one main reason – we all enjoy providing a service to hospital patients, helping them face a difficult time in their lives.”

“Like all organisations, we need to keep welcoming new people with new approaches to enrich the experience our older members have built up. So do come along, if only to see what we are about.”

Volunteer John Wilson, 32, added: “I love meeting patients and playing patients’ requests. I travel in my job but the team is flexible enough to cope if I need to be away. When I joined, learning the technical stuff was my priority but now the patient contact is the most rewarding.”

Adam Vivian, 28, lead presenter of the children’s programme, joined as a university student because hospital radio helped him through childhood cancer. He is proud that his own experience as a long-term patient helped him to keep the children’s programme fresh and interesting for both younger and older children.

Abby Oakley, 32, was looking for a hobby that would let her use skills learned as an entertainer at Haven holiday centres.

Find out more at sohba.org.