Trust AM

Trust AM is the operating name of the hospital radio station serving the Doncaster Royal Infirmary on Armthorpe Road in Doncaster, and the Bassetlaw District General Hospital on Blyth Road in Worksop. There were plans to extend the service to the Montague Hospital in Mexborough, which is part of the same NHS Foundation Trust, although these had to be shelved when it was discovered that the patient bedside network could not support the radio service.

Started from an idea in the summer of 1972, supported by the Worksop Lions, Radio Kilton had its 1st Broadcast on Saturday 2 December. In the beginning, equipment was limited and programmes consisting of music and requests only went out at the weekend. By Autumn of 1976 the station had its first purpose built facility, known today as Studio A. In the following years membership and programming expanded and soon after the radio had its first outside broadcast. Continued expansion was seen in the 1980s and 1990s. In 2000, broadcasting went on free-to-air on 1278 MW, broadcasting 24/7. After a little more organization came another name change to what we know now as Trust AM.

Over at Doncaster, Radio Danum started in November 1980 and within a year was broadcasting over 74 hours a week with over 48 presenters. The station had a varied output even back then. In its first year it was attending events like the Finningley Air Show. The station even had their own amateur dramatic productions. Over the years Radio Danum became more successful and even had a special anniversary broadcast in the week the station became 10 years old! However, since the mid to late 90s the station suffered from a lack of volunteers and funding. Since then the station has been incorporated with Trust AM to become part of the larger organization. An updated Doncaster studio was (re)opened in September 2005.

Staffed by Volunteers and operating 24 hours a day, the station aims to provide "More Variety" to its listeners with a blend of music based mainly on the 50's to the 80's, but with even older songs, and newer ones, added to the mix. Dedicated request shows take to the air every weekend, Trust AM also provides specialist shows for Brass Band, Big Band, Jazz, Classical and much more.

The charity is controlled by an Executive Committee who meet at least 4 times per year. The management team meet in between those times to discuss the day-to-day running of the station. Unlike most radio stations, Trust AM do not have a single station manager. Instead, a team of up to 9 members share the responsibilities and make joint decisions. This has proved to be a very successful formula.

Bassetlaw Hospital has two studios, Doncaster Royal Infirmary has one. All are equipped to a high specification with many modes available to the on-air presenter. From gramophone records, through cassette tape, to CD and even computerised playout systems. A jingle player system, using a touchscreen monitor, was installed in May 2009. The music library holds in excess of 170,000 tracks.

Listeners can hear the broadcasts via headsets connected to the internal hospital network, or on a normal radio by tuning to 1278 kHz on the medium wave band, medium Wave is not available at Doncaster.

The Trust AM Roadshow van visits several events throughout the summer months, such as the Worksop Show, the Lions International Disabled Games day and Woodsetts Gala. Quite often a special license will be obtained to allow parts of these events to be made into an outside broadcast. The van is fitted out as a full mobile radio studio with external PA facilities and a directional transmitter link.

The Oldest DJ In Town, Len Bratley, was 85 years old in 2011 and presented two Nostalgia themed shows per week, covering the earlier part of the 20th century. Len had been featured in several newspapers and even appeared on TV for his role with the station. He died on 25 August 2011, but his very popular nostalgia format continues on Tuesday and Friday on the station.