Message From The Chairman

Thank you for visiting the AHBS website.

I hope that thanks to our web designer you will find all the information you may need to know about hospital radio in Ashford , Kent . Whether you are going to be a patient in the William Harvey Hospital , you have recently listened to us or maybe you are interested in supporting us either as a volunteer or sponsor, we hope you'll find all you need to know on the website.

AHBS has a rich history and has been providing a hospital radio service for 35 years now. Over the years AHBS has a lot of people to thank for the energy and commitment to serve the hospitals in the best way we can. A lot has changed over the years and even a few years ago few people could have predicted that we would be broadcasting 24hours a day and on a stereo radio system.

The main aim of the service is to provide patients with the music they want to hear and it is not unusual for our request shows to be full of patient requests. Most patients can now call us free and direct from their bed so we more accessible than ever. We also provide patients with a mix of entertainment and essential information for their stay in hospital - our aim to make their stay as easy as possible.

There are around 20 members of AHBS who are all unpaid volunteers. Occupations are many & varied and everybody has a particular quality or experience that benefits the Service. Our longest serving member has been with the Service for over 30 years.

AHBS is a hospital radio station, not a community or commercial station. As a charity registered we rely entirely on donations, collections and fundraising efforts we need to continue each year. That means that every member is expected to help with all the jobs needed to run the station, ranging from ward visiting, cleaning, collecting and all the other jobs before we even think about broadcasting!

AHBS is recognised as an important part of the voluntary services within our NHS Trust, providing both entertainment and information to patients. East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust is now the 6th largest NHS Trust in the UK , and with the expansion of our hospital, it is a very exciting time for AHBS and we proud to be involved in that. We work closely with various hospital departments and liaise with our hospital radio colleagues within the East Kent Hospitals Trust at Kent & Canterbury Hospital .

If you have every wondered about hospital radio, I would urge you contact us to see first hand what it's all about.

Kind regards,

Daniel Jones
CHAIRMAN