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AHBS Hospital Radio

AHBS has been broadcasting to the patients and staff of Ashford's hospitals for nearly 40 years.

We broadcast a mixture of music, information and entertainment 24 hours a day via the Hospedia bedside entertainment system to the William Harvey Hospital. You can find us there on Radio Channel 1, 24 hours a day.

To find out more about what we do, how you can help us, how to make a request or how to join us please click on the relevant link.

AHBS relies on donations, grants and fundraising to remain on air. There are many ways to support us. Including free and easy ways that don't cost a penny, including using Everyclick search engine which donates money to AHBS everytime you use it. Please also take a moment to try our webshop by clicking the button below. If you buy anything on the internet, try using our webshop. It won't cost you any more, in fact you might get a great deal and you'll be earning money for us at the same time.

Around the wards, around the clock serving Ashford's hospitals since 1971

What is AHBS?

AHBS is The Ashford Hospital Broadcasting Service, providing a hospital radio service for patients & staff in the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford, Kent.

We broadcast high quality programming direct to around 500 beds from our studios at the hospital - our aim to provide light entertainment and bring a smile to patients in the hospital. The Service is run entirely by a dedicated team of volunteers who give their time freely in order to bring our programmes to the patients.

AHBS has been on air for almost 40 years. We began on 26th December 1971, the idea of founder Ron Hanning, and our early programmes were broadcast from the corner of the nurses changing room at the old Ashford Hospital in Western Avenue!

Over the years we have broadcast from a number of locations, including the old Willesborough Hospital and more recently, Ashford Hospital until its closure in 1998. We are now fortunate to have purpose-built studios at the William Harvey Hospital itself, although we have broadcast to this hospital for many years.

We have been in these new studios since March 1998, and it should be documented that AHBS is indebted to the then Chairman Andrew Brittle, the generous financial support of the League of Friends, and the help of David Hammond and Howard Jones from the hospital Trust for making our move reality. On 16 August, 1998, we held our Grand Opening.

AHBS broadcasts music, entertainment and information 24 hours a day on Hospedia radio channel 1 which is free to all patients. If you know someone in hospital now, why not call or email with a request.

AHBS is member of the Hospital Broadcasting Association (HBA) and one of over 300 stations serving NHS hospitals in the UK, providing a truly dedicated service to the audience they serve. Throughout the UK there are now in excess of 11,500 volunteers involved.

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 40 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 40 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

Last modified: 11 May 2012 at 22:00

Printed: 19 May 2013 at 06:20

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