© 2018 Grampian Hospital Radio | GrampianHospital
Radio (GHR) is a registered Scottish charity - Reg.
No:SC002508
History
1950
The
history
of
hospital
broadcasting
in
Aberdeen
began
in
the
1950s
when
the
Aberdeen
Hospital
Radio
Association
was
set
up
to
convey
football
commentary
from
Pittodrie
to
the
hospitals
of
Aberdeen.
This
was
the
brainchild
of
Ernie
Buchan,
a
local
businessman
who
as
well
as
hiring
PA
equipment,
also
owned
a
small
studio
in
Belmont
Street.
On
Sunday
mornings,
AHRA
would
also
present
the
request
show.
All
shows
were
broadcast
by
BT
landline
and
AHRA
continued
to
offer
coverage
of
all
AFC
first
and
reserve
teams
until 1999.
1980
From
the
original
studio
in
the
basement
of
the
Nurses
Home,
made
available
in
February
of
1980
by
the
hospital
authorities,
plans
were
drawn
up
for
the
formation
of
a
new
hospital
radio
service
and
Grampian
Hospital
Radio
(GHR)
was
conceived.
This
was
all
that
was
on
offer
until
a
group
came
together
with
the
intention
of
offering
a
more
fully-fledged
hospital
radio
service.
This
group
represented
several
local
groups,
consisting
of
students,
DJs
and
the
church.
Their
first
meeting
was
held
at
Inn
at
the
Park
in
1980
and
following
this,
an
approach
was
made
to
the
Local
Health
Authorities
who
were
highly
receptive
to
the
idea.
The
group
were
handed
a
former
and
disused
nurses
sitting
room
for
development
into
their
studios
and
the
station
remained
there
until
we
moved to Westburn Cottage.
1981
The
construction
of
the
studio
followed
and
fund
raising
began
with
a
will
and
determination
as
equipment
had
to
be
bought
and
installed.
Grampian
Hospital
Radio
was
officially
opened
by
television
personality
Donnie
B.
MacLeod
on
the
10th
of
January
and
a
few
days
later,
on
January
14th 1981, the first programmes were transmitted.
Early
members
included
Aberdeen
businessman
Finlay
Cran,
Bruce
Kennedy
(who
continued
to
be
actively
involved
with
the
station
long
after
his
association
with
North
Sound)
and
the
first
chairman
of
the
organisation,
Keith
Fraser.
The
first
record
played
on
the
newly
christened
Grampian
Hospital
Radio
was
The
Continental
by
Maureen
McGovern,
chosen
for
its
introduction
featuring
the
sound
of
corks
popping.
The
station
broadcast
from
7pm
until
10pm,
7
days
a
week,
although
volunteer
availability
saw
programming
gradually
increase
at
the
weekends.
Very
early
in
the
station’s
development,
one
member,
John
Innes,
was
particularly
keen
that
Saturday
broadcasting
should
incorporate
a
level
of
sports
coverage.
John
became
the
real
driving
force
behind
the
sports
show,
known
as,
"SportsMix".
Originally,
the
Sportsmix
would
be
hosted
by
team
of
as
many
as
4
or
5
presenters,
and
John
would
spend
a
considerable
amount
of
time
preparing
scripts,
tapes
and
much
more
"behind
the
scenes"
to
ensure
the
shows
success.
SportsMix
can
still
be
heard
on
GHR
to
this
day
and
is
replaced
by
the
"LeisureMix" during the summer.
However,
any
sports
programming
had
to
accommodate
the
Aberdeen
Hospital
Radio
Association
which
was
still
offering
coverage
of
all
first
and
reserve
team
matches
involving
Aberdeen
Football
Club.
For
this
reason,
SportsMix
broadcast
from
1pm
until
2:50
and
returned
after
the
match
from
4:50
until
5:30
to
offer
a
scores
round
up
and
post
match
discussion.
As
a
result
of
this,
and
due
largely
to
the
technology
available
at
the
time,
a
"Priority
Order"
developed
for
use
of
the
landlines.
Bottom
of
this
list
was
Radio
2,
with
GHR
in
third
place,
Aberdeen
Hospital
Radios
Relay
was
second
and
top
priority
was
given
to
the
hospital
Chaplain.
Switching
from
Radio
2
to
GHR
was
by
means
of
a
key
whereas
it
was
the
engineers
in
the
switch
room
who
controlled
the
change
over
to
AHRA.
It
should
be
said,
though,
that
this
change
would
only take place when the hospital
engineers
were
conveniently
next
passing
the
switch
room,
resulting
in
some
rather
sudden
changes of programme!
Sunday
was
largely
used,
at
this
time,
as
a
day
for
training
new
volunteers
and
recording
features
for
use
throughout
the
shows.
Again,
volunteer
availability has seen this rise dramatically.
1984 - 1989
Between
1984
and
1989,
the
organisation
was
chaired
by
Ian
McKessock,
and
it
was
he
who
set
the
foundations
for
the
workings
of
his
new
committee,
a
model
that
continues
to
this
day.
Ian
still
talks
very
positively
of
this
strong
and
dynamic
group and much
happened
during
his
time
at
the
helm.
As
a
voluntary
organisation
with
full
charitable
status,
GHR
relies
entirely
on
donations
to
operate.
The
station
therefore
adopted
a
much
higher
profile
during
this
time
as
Ian
and
his
committee
would
regularly
organise
flag
days
and
the
station
was
always
represented
in
the
annual
Bon-Accord
parade.
Perhaps
the
dedication
and
commitment
of
the
volunteers
at
this
time
is
best
summarised
by
the
example
of
Doreen
Jeffrey.
Doreen
worked
tirelessly
to
represent
GHR
in
the
hospital
wards
and
is
remembered
for
her
work
on
Christmas
Day
when
she
would
come
in
and
work
with
the
patients
for
whom
geography
would
have
meant
an
otherwise
lack
of
visitors.
Her
efforts
were
rewarded
when
she
was
nominated
for
a
prestigious BT Award.
1990’s
Bill
Barclay
was
in
the
chair
for
2
years
during
the
early
1990s
and
was
the
driving
force
behind
Radio
Rainbow.
Bill
would
approach
possible
sources
of
funding
in
his
own
inimitable
style
and
secured
a
donation
of
£25,000
from
the
ITV
Telethon
making
GHR
the
largest
individual
recipient
that
particular
year.
To
receive
the
cheque,
Bill,
alongside
previous
Chairmen
Doug
Leith
and
Ian
McKessock
were
invited to attend a formal reception.
1992
It
had
always
been
the
intention
of
the
committee
of
GHR
to
set
up
a
specialist
children’s
service
and
this
money
was
a
major
step
in
making
that
happen.
A
competition
was
held
in
conjunction
with
the
local
press
to
choose
the
name
of
this
new
station
with
the
first
prize,
again
secured
by
Bill,
of
a
trip
in
a
helicopter.
A
panel
consisting
of
representatives
from
GHR
and
the
Royal
Aberdeen
Children’s
Hospital
would
choose
the
winning
entry.
The
final
2
entries
were,
"Rainbow"
and
"Sunshine"
with
Rainbow
eventually
winning,
reflecting
as
it
did
the
sentiments
of
the
station
and
conveying
aspirations
of
hope.
Radio
Rainbow
first went on the air on 5th August 1992.
Bringing
Radio
Rainbow
to
the
air
was
undoubtedly
a
major
milestone
for
hospital
broadcasting
in
Aberdeen,
however,
attempts
to
mark
the
openings
of
Rainbow
did
not
share
in
this
success!
On
our
first
day
of
broadcasting,
Bill
Barclay
slept
in
and
missed
his
chance
to
be
the
first
voice
heard
on
the
station
(Andy
Adam
dutifully
stood
in!)
and
just
prior
to
going
on
air
to
present
the
"official
opening",
Stuart
Wood,
the
then
youngest
member
of
the
organisation,
took
rather
"cold
feet"
and
Ian
McKessock
hurriedly
stepped
in
with
no
script
prepared!
The
official
opening
of
Radio
Rainbow
was
celebrated
with
a
small
party
for
the
children
of
the
hospital.
After
this,
Bryan
Broomfield,
who
was
head
of
the
then
Aberdeen
Royal
Hospitals
Trust,
officially
declared
the
studios
open
at
2:30pm
and
Ian,
standing
in
for
Stuart,
played
"Somewhere
Over
The
Rainbow".
Graham
Stephen
hosted
the
first
show
of
the
day,
before
Ian
returned
with
his
scheduled broadcast.
1992-2003
The
original
Rainbow
studio
sat
just
opposite
the
old
mailroom
in
RACH
and
in
1995
they
moved
to
a
newer
studio.
Radio
Rainbow
broadcast
on
945AM
from our opening in 1992 until December 2003.
The
next
major
events
for
GHR
were
the
Restricted
Service
Licences
(RSLs)
meaning
GHR
could
be
heard
outside
of
the
hospitals
for
the
first
time
in
its
history.
Pat
Ramsdale
was
in
the
chair
at
this
time
and
there
were
3
RSL
broadcasts,
the
first
on
an
AM
frequency
and
the
latter
2
were
both
presented on FM.
The
first
was
a
great
success,
covering
the
visit
of
the
Tall
Ships
Race
to
Aberdeen
and
really,
more
than
any
other
event,
brought
the
membership
together
as
a
team.
Presented
from
the
Bay
of
Nigg
in
a
large
trailer
with
an
OB
Unit
and
a
stage,
members
hosted
shows,
whilst
outside
contractors
saw to the technical side of things.
Three
of
the
presenters,
namely
Kenny
Carle,
David
Fawkes
and
Neil
Fraser
slept
each
night
in
the
trailer
so
as
not
to
miss
their
early
morning
shows
at
6am.
The
shows
were
relayed
to
the
hospitals
via
an
aerial
on
the
top
of
Ashgrove
house
and
broadcast
for
4
days.
Coverage
of
the
Tall
Ships
Race
itself
involved
Allan
Ramsdale
watching
events
with
his
binoculars
and
James
Allan
presented
a
30-minute
commentary
of
the
fireworks display.
The
next
RSL,
our
first
on
FM,
was
presented
in
conjunction
with
the
50th
anniversary
of
Aberdeen
Royal
Infirmary.
Again
the
trailer
was
used
(although
no-one
slept
in
it
this
time!)
as
we
presented an OB from the Duthie Park.
The
third
RSL
and
second
on
FM
was
from
linked
to
the
World's
Strongest
Man
Championship
and
was
to
coincide
with
an
OB
from
Seaton
Park
in
Aberdeen.
This
was
not
a
success
by
any
means
as
many
things
went
drastically
wrong.
Firstly,
it
was
felt
that
Seaton
Park
is
not
as
popular
as
Aberdeen’s
other
parks,
and
the
timing
was
also
unfortunate
as
North
Sound
switched
their
OB
from
Duthie
Park,
scheduled
for
the
following
day,
to
coincide
with
ours.
As
a
result
of
these
unfortunate
and
unforeseen
circumstances,
GHR
went through some difficult financial times.
1999
When
personal
circumstances
dictated
that
Pat
move
on
in
1999,
John
Graham
took
over
as
acting
chairman,
a
position
later
ratified
by
the
membership.
Since
those
early
days,
the
station
has
grown
and
a
further
studio
has
been
added,
so
now
two
fully
equipped
studios,
from
the
Nurses
home
are
operational
and
available.
From
all
the
studios,
the
signal
still
makes
its
way,
by
British
Telecom
landline,
to
the
Power
Room
in
the
Infirmary
and
thereafter,
by
a
system
of
amplifiers
and
a
maze
of
closed
circuits
to
individual
headsets
at each bedside.
Grampian
Hospital
Radio
firmly
believes
that
we
are
here
to
provide
a
service
for
the
patients
of
the
hospitals
in
Aberdeen.
The
quality
of
that
service
is
reflected
in
the
number
of
members
who
have
gone
on
to
have
successful
careers
in
radio
and
television.
Members
who
have
passed
through
the
ranks
of
GHR
include
Mike
Cook
(North
Sound)
and
David
Bennett
(Grampian
TV)
who
was
Vice
Chairman
for
2
years.
Kennedy
Thomson
was
a
professional
broadcaster
with
Grampian
TV
who
firmly
believed
in
the
ethos
of
Hospital
Radio
and
presented the Thursday Request Show.
Derek
Rae
was
a
presenter
on
SportsMix
and
went
on
to
cover
sport
with
Radio
Scotland,
although
we
have
lost
contact
with
Derek
since
he
moved
to
the
US.
Another
sports
presenter
who
achieved
success
is
Richard
Gordon,
now
of
the
BBC.
Richard
was
also
a
committee
member
at
the
same
time
as
friend
Rick
Cowie
the
Press
and
Publicity
Officer
who
was
with
Northsound
2,
can
now
be
heard
on
Original 106.
Gary
Stein
also
went
onto
great
success
and
presented
the
GHR
classical
music
show.
Gary,
by
his
own
admission
knew
little
of
the
classics
when
he
joined,
but
would
read
the
sleeve
notes
as
he
played
and
then
talk
knowledgably
on
the
piece!
Doreen
Wood
went
onto
success
with
BBC
Aberdeen
and
Dave
McDiarmid
now
works
with
North
Sound.
Paul
Harper
is
with
Beat
FM
and
Chris
Thomson
is
now
Programme
Controller
at
North
Sound
having
been
Rainbow’s
youngest
ever
PC at the age of 16.