Hospital Radio Stafford Boosted by Donation from Walton Homes

20th March 2018

Staffordshire developer Walton Homes has continued its support to Hospital Radio Stafford by donating a further £500 to help the service continue to air.

The business’ relationship with the volunteer-run broadcaster began in 2015 when the station contacted Walton Homes as part of its 30 Wishes initiative to support 30 organisations, individuals and charities by granting a range of wishes.

HRS requested support in funding a new IT network, including four computers to run its software packages and a new server to operate the system in order to allow the team to continue to provide its free, 24-hour service to patients, and the business donated £500 to help.

Amy Summerton, Director, said: “While the 30 Wishes initiative has ended now, we still want to back local organisations and charities as part of our community support programme.

“We are very active in Stafford and we have a lot of respect for HRS, which is operated by 38 volunteers and broadcasts to Katharine House Hospice, Stafford’s County Hospital and Cannock Chase Hospital.

“The station provides a range of programmes and entertainment to suit many tastes, as well as providing a published schedule operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.”

The business has now matched its previous donation to help the broadcaster purchase more equipment as required, and visited the station to present the team with a cheque and take to the airwaves to play DJ and play some tunes for patients

 Amy added: “We really were impressed when we saw the effort that goes into putting programmes together, and it was great to get the chance to take over the station for a short time to see what’s involved. Given that HRS receives no financial support from either NHS or Local Authorities, we are delighted to continue to show our support for this very valuable service.”

Colin Smith, secretary for Hospital Radio Stafford, said: “We are committed to providing 24-hour radio to those listeners within our broadcast area, and the new IT system is vital to sustaining our free service to hospital and hospice patients, and perhaps enabling us to move further forward into new audience opportunities.

“We are delighted that Walton Homes acknowledged the value of what our team of volunteers do, and has contributed to helping us fund it.”