Registered Charity No 1068428

Hospital Radio run by volunteers for the patients, staff and visitors of Halton General Hospital in Runcorn, Cheshire - Registered Charity No 1068428

About Us

                       Thanks for Donations - see more

Radio Halton provides a music and information service to the patients, staff and visitors of Halton General Hospital in Runcorn, Cheshire (UK), within Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust .  The service began broadcasting in 1986 and is a registered charity (No 1068428)          Why do we provide music?   Click here or see below

Radio Halton typically broadcasts live programmes 12 hours a day, between 10am and 10pm, supplying a wide range of music to cater for most tastes.  Patients can access music on bedside headsets during the night if they need to relax when sleep is difficult

As well broadcasting to the wards on channel 3, we can also be heard via speakers in three Out-patient clinics (A, B and C), X-Ray, ECG Waiting Area plus the Tea Bar area at the front of the hospital (Entrance 1)

If we raise enough funds, we hope to extend the service to other areas of the hospital in the future, including the Day Case Unit, the Delamere Centre and more.  This is by using the intranet to stream our output to hospital computers in departments

We have a small but dedicated and patient-focused team of volunteers who visit the wards of Halton General Hospital.  The frequency of ward visits varies, depending on other demands in the lives of the volunteers who give up their spare time to help.  We have no paid staff

We are run by an Executive Committee of Trustees which meets 6 times per year.  We currently have five Trustees:   John Kenwright, Derry Griffiths, Robert Carter, Derek Gates and Pam Eastwood.  We also hold General meetings 6 times a year for all volunteers to take a part in decision making

The photo below is Halton General Hospital's Entrance 2 - to find Radio Halton, go in via Entrance 2 and turn right immediately -

we're on the right of this entrance on the lower level:  directional signs will help you find us

If you arrive by car, you'll need coins for the pay and display.  The charges from Sept 2010 remain the same at January 2013 and are

Why do we provide music?

It has been widely accepted that music can be invaluable in managing pain relief and promoting health by speeding recovery and boosting immunity.  See all the details, together with medical references here http://www.emedexpert.com/tips/music.shtml

Donations

If you can help by making a donation, please ring 01928 753417 or email info@radiohalton.org

A Ladies' golf match was held at Sutton Hall Golf Club on Friday 26 April 2013, thanks to the goodwill of the Lady Captain and organised by our volunteer Mary Hill.  Fees from the match and proceeds from a raffle raised a total of £80.  Thank you to all who took part and glad the weather finally was kind, as it was originally set for Friday 28 March, when all the snow arrived in Runcorn!

During Hospital Broadcasting Week at the end of March 2013, we held an awareness stall at the front entrance of Halton Hospital.  £49.23 was popped into the collection box we had there, thank you

Thanks to the guys from "The Archers" darts team, who have donated another proportion of their team 'fines' to Radio Halton in March 2013, which amounted to another £40.00!  They're now at "The Buffs" club, after the Waterloo pub closed at the end of 2012

If you happen to be in the Dining Room on the upper level of Halton General Hospital, you'll see our blue collection box near the tills, waiting for any spare change every morning.  A big 'Thank you' to all the Dining Room customers and staff for your generosity in Autumn 2012, when your donations amounted to £14.23.  There's a letter of thanks on the Dining Room wall by the till

Thanks go to customers in Weston Village Stores for £19.52 dropped into the Radio Halton collection box.  You're really helping to make a difference! 

Also the customers in Beechwood Stores are helping with £6.54 of their spare change

Sherwins Butchers in Church Street Runcorn collected £4.21.   Thank you all - We've sent a letter of thanks to each shop

Grangeway Community Centre users also popped their change into a collection box during November and December 2012

We always make sure there's two of our volunteers doing the counting, to double-check the amounts.  We don't leave the responsibility to one person on their own, so that everything is openly dealt with

Thanks go to John Lewis, Managing Director of SOG Ltd, who has agreed in January 2012 to fund our purchase of two new 'roller-banner' style  exhibition screens, plus fund other promotional items, total value of £250.  This will help us raise awareness in the community of the service we provide and assist us in our fundraising

Keep it Local Fun Day

Thank you to Denise from H&T Pawnbrokers, who decided to put all the funds raised from the Fun Day on 25 November 2011 towards Radio Halton.  Prizes for the raffle were donated by small businesses within Halton Lea Shopping Centre

Margaret, Derry and Roger from Radio Halton were there too, letting people know what we do for patients in Halton Hospital by giving out newsletters and information.  The total amount raised was £235, helped us buy a hand-held recorder that we use to chat on-air to patients on the wards 

We received a boost to our fundraising thanks to a donation from Asda Runcorn in October 2010.  The store’s Community Colleague, Dee Samuel, handed £260 to Radio Halton volunteer Margaret Longworth.  Dee explained that she raised the money by selling chairs that Gemma Goodall, Manager of Home and Leisure, had kindly provided

Margaret, a trustee of Radio Halton, said, “We are so grateful to Asda, and particularly Dee and Gemma, for this donation towards the purchase of a mixer and computer for the office.  Because more new volunteers are training in the studio, there is less time available to add songs to the studio playout system and a small setup in the office will make this possible.  The equipment will cost £4,000, and so far we’ve raised £1,260, so we still need to find £2,740!”

Pictured is Dee Samuel (left) handing the cash raised to Margaret Longworth (right).  Click the picture for a larger image

As we have more volunteers joining our team, the studio is in use more than ever, and therefore the time available to use the studio computer is more limited.  A computer with a small mixer for music database administration in the office means this work can be done much more easily at any time.  The cost of the equipment is just under £4,000.  The Charitable Funds Committee of Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust donated £1,000 in July 2010 towards the kit we needed

Thank you, whoever you are

Thank you again to the anonymous person who donated another of 5-CD box set - "80s Love".  There's 100 songs on each box set, so thank you, whoever you are!

Logo design

Credit is due to graphic designer Jason Hill for our musical logo at the top of the pages.  It links in with the NHS logo which is blue, and being a bass clef, also harmonises (sorry!) with our sister station Radio General in Warrington who have a blue and white treble clef

Registered Charity No 1068428