Sheffield hospital radio seeking £10,000 to bring it back to life after prolonged shutdown

The radio station, which is located in the Royal Hallamshire Hospital, is in need of financial support to move and refurbish its new location to keep hospital radio alive, and is now asking for community support.

The station had to move from its current location as it was described as not the ‘safest of environments’.

Project Co-ordinator of the Relaunch and Relocation project, Steve Flowers, said: “We’ve raised about £2,000 last year from our roadshows and car boot sales and were looking for corporate sponsors and also looking for individual sponsors, so the funds building up.”

It is hoped the £10,000 will cover the cost to buy refurbished equipment as well as other appliance such as cables and other various radio licences.

Plans are for the station to go live again in the middle of this year.

Volunteers have been going to supermarkets and shopping centres around Sheffield where they have presented their radio show to bring in extra funds.

Sheffield radio enthusiast Kanishk Dutta, 19, from Hollis Croft said: “Hospital Radio seems important and I can see the appeal, especially for those who are in hospital frequently and gives them something to listen too.”

Mr Flowers said hospital radio’s absence had been noted by many patients, and added ‘especially in the pandemic, we were missed’.

Hospital Radio in Sheffield has been around for more than four decades, originally starting in the Northern General Hospital in 1976 and broadcasting as Northern Radio and moving multiple times till eventually landing in the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in 1999.

This came with another massive refurbishment costing £25,000 and another £29,000 for the update to the fire escape facilities. This then relaunched as Hospital Broadcasting Sheffield.

Mathilda Gordon Le-Clerc, 19, from Hollis Croft said: “I will definitely support the hospital radio with its goal, its a staple of the hospital community and needs to be preserved.”

The GoFundMe is linked here to donate to the cause.