Slogan More music variety First air date 1952 Website HWD Hospital Radio | Frequency Channel one and online Format Contemporary | |
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Broadcast area Dewsbury and District Hospital | ||
HWD Hospital Radio is a hospital radio station which broadcasts to the patients and staff of Dewsbury and District Hospital in West Yorkshire, United Kingdom. The station is member of the Hospital Broadcasting Association and is registered as a charity with the Charity Commission for England and Wales, number 227515.
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History
HWD Hospital Radio is the broadcasting name of The Heavy Woollen District Hospital Broadcasts Association. The station's first broadcast was live commentary of a rugby match at Batley’s Mount Pleasant Stadium in 1952. It received so many compliments that commentaries began to be broadcast on a more regular basis.
Record requests began in the late 1950s when the station set up a studio in the attic of Batley General Hospital. From there it broadcast to the former Dewsbury General Hospital, Staincliffe Hospital and five care homes across the Heavy Woollen District.
In the 1980s, the National Health Service announced plans to build a new hospital to replace Batley General Hospital, Dewsbury General Hospital and Staincliffe Hospital. HWD Hospital Radio moved to a brand-new studio complex at the newly built Dewsbury and District Hospital in 1989, where it remains to this day. The studios were officially opened by Harry Gration of BBC Look North.
HWD Hospital Radio has extended and refurbished its studio complex over the years to include the latest digital technology. The station broadcasts 24 hours a day to the patients and staff of Dewsbury and District Hospital through a closed-loop audio system on channel one, as well as online through its website.
A wide variety of programmes are broadcast covering a range of genres as well as sports commentary, entertainment and news. Listener participation is welcomed and encouraged. The ever-popular Sunday morning request show, You Pick the Mix, is open for patients and their relatives to select the music played.
Executive Committee
HWD Hospital Radio is staffed entirely by volunteers. An Executive Committee, nominated and voted for by members each year, is responsible for ensuring the smooth running of the station.