[19/12/08] LOCAL MP DROPS IN ON SUNSHINE RADIO

WESTON MP John Penrose joined the team at Sunshine Hospital Radio in the lead-up to Christmas to take part in the ward request show.
Volunteers at the station, based at Weston General Hospital, took Mr Penrose around the wards, where he met patients and collected requests for the show.

Vice-chairman Sue Walker said: "It was wonderful to have Mr Penrose with us for the evening. He was more than happy to get fully involved and the patients were happy to chat with him."
Mr Penrose also joined the presenters on air, introducing records and chatting about the reasons why patients had chosen their particular songs.

The visit was arranged by public relations officer Marcus, who said: "We hope that Mr Penrose got a feel for the work that our dedicated team is regularly involved with.
"The Wardround Request Show is probably our most important show as it gives us the opportunity to chat with the patients, and in particular those who may not have had any visitors."

Mr Penrose said: "Everyone who works at Sunshine Radio is a volunteer, trying to make things a bit more cheerful for the patients in Weston Hospital.
"They are great people and it was loads of fun taking part in their Friday request show.
"I hope we managed to spread a bit of Christmas cheer around the wards in the process."

Pictured right: (Top): John Penrose with Wardrounders Rhiannon & Mark.

[18/11/08] RADIO’S ROYAL RECOGNITION!

Having masterminded the award winning ‘Taking Over The World’ awareness campaign, Sunshine Hospital Radio’s Marcus this week (18th Nov) attended a reception with Her Majesty the Queen and other dignitaries at her famous London residence, Buckingham Palace.
The royal reception was organized to reward individuals who have made an exceptional contribution in the health care sector in the United Kingdom.

Marcus, who has been the Public Relations Officer at Sunshine Radio since 2006, said “It was a privilege and honour to represent Sunshine Hospital Radio at such an auspicious event. I was delighted to have the opportunity to speak with Her Majesty the Queen and discuss with her the benefits of hospital radio and also Sunshine Radio’s award winning awareness campaign.”
‘Taking Over The World’ raised the profile of Sunshine Radio by challenging members of the public to take a Sunshine Radio T-shirt to well known or unusual locations around the world, and send back photos of themselves posing in the T-Shirts. It wasn’t long before pictures were received from destinations as far a field as Afghanistan, China, Australia and The Falklands, as well as from British Olympian Beth Rodford, and ‘Sex Pistol’ Glen Matlock.

After a year long campaign, and having received and published numerous photos from all over the world, ‘Taking Over The World’ was chosen as the inaugural winner of the Outstanding Achievement Award at the national Hospital Broadcasting Awards, held earlier this year at the Queen’s Hotel in Leeds.
Marcus added, “I’m very proud of what the Sunshine Radio team here at Weston General Hospital has achieved in this our 30th year of broadcasting, and to receive royal recognition really has been the crowning glory.”
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[10/11/08] VOICE OF THE BALLS HELPS RAISE £2,900 FOR BBC CHILDREN IN NEED

Alan 'Deadly' Dedicoat, ‘Voice of the Balls’ (BBC National Lottery), Strictly Come Dancing & Wake up to Wogan (BBC Radio 2) visited Worle Community School on Friday 7th November and helped raise over £2,900 for BBC Children in Need.

The event, organised by Sunshine Hospital Radio in association with Worle School, attracted 35 teams battling it out to be crowned quiz champions and carry off the ‘Golden Microphone.’
Before the first question had been asked Worle School had already raised £1,100 through a non-uniform day; this was added to the quiz takings of £1,800 and presented to Alan Dedicoat.

Trevor Bailey, Headmaster of Worle School said "We were delighted to work with Sunshine Radio to raise funds for Children in Need and we were even more delighted when we learned the final amount that had been raised. We look forward to working with our colleagues at Sunshine Radio on further projects in the future."

Alan Dedicoat was extremely pleased with the amount raised saying, "I've taken this quiz the length and breadth of the country; this is the best figure we've achieved. Worle Community School's non-uniform day (which raised over £1,100) made all the difference!
Well done, Sunshine Radio!"

The quiz also marked the culmination of celebrations to celebrate Sunshine Radio’s 30th year of broadcasting to hospital patients in Weston-super-Mare.

Pictured right: (Top): Worle School & Sunshine Radio with Alan Dedicoat. (Middle): Mayor Andrew Horler, Alan Dedicoat, Mayoress Camilla de Bernhardt Dunkin and Sue Walker presenting the cheque for Children in Need.
(Below): The winning team 'The Binge Thinkers' being presented with their prizes by Alan Dedicoat.

[12/09/08] QUADRUPLE SUNSHINE SUCCESS!

Sunshine Hospital Radio are delighted to announce that four of their young volunteers have been honoured with the Diana Award.
The Diana Award challenges stereotypes of young people by showing that the Award Holders have the power to be positive role models for an entire generation. They have received this recognition at a time when their life choices are still to be made, encouraging them to develop their full potential.

Christopher Smith, Ron Walker, Scott Quinn and James Gordon all dedicate their spare time to helping the patients of Weston General Hospital by contributing to the voluntary radio service that this year celebrates 30 years of broadcasting.

Award winner Scott Quinn, from Wick St Lawrence, said, "I was totally surprised as I didn't know I'd been nominated. I really enjoy helping out at Sunshine Radio because I've met lots of interesting people on the wards and got some requests for some really different music, songs I wouldn't normally get an opportunity to listen to, it's great!"

Sunshine Radio's Public Relations officer, Marcus said; "We're all very proud of the hard work put in by these young members and we were absolutely delighted when we heard that they were all going to receive the prestigious Diana Award.
There seems to be a lot of news recently focusing on young people who cause trouble, but hopefully the dedication of James, Scott, Chris and Ron will be acknowledged just as widely."

Pictured right: Christopher Smith, Ron Walker, Scott Quinn and James Gordon holding their awards.

[29/03/08] AN OUTSTANDING AWARD!

Weston Super Mare's Sunshine Hospital Radio station has won the
2008 Outstanding Contribution Award at the H.B.A. National Awards.
The glitzy ceremony, organised by the Hospital
Broadcasting Association, is seen as the hospital radio equivalent to the BAFTA's and invites entries from it's 5000 members.

Sunshine Hospital Radio were entered for the brand new award with their profile raising 'Taking Over The World' campaign which resulted in photographs coming in from
all around the globe. Celebrity support was also received from the likes of chart topping producer Mark Ronson, F1 World Champion Nigel Mansell and former Sex Pistol Glen Matlock.

The ceremony took place at the prestigious Queen's Hotel in Leeds and welcomed special guests including ‘This Morning’ Doctor Chris Steele and Shadow Secretary of State for Health, Andrew Lansley, CBE, MP. They were joined by a host of presenters and producers from both the BBC and commercial radio.

Sunshine Radio fought off close competition from Newcastle based, Radio Tyneside.
Marcus, P.R. Officer for Sunshine Radio said, "We were absolutely thrilled be announced as the winners of this prestigious new award. To have been considered alongside such a well respected station as
Radio Tyneside is amazing enough, but to go one step further and win shows that the dedicated team at Sunshine Radio are working in the right direction."

Pictured right: The H.B.A. Award Cermony held in Leeds. Terry Wogan, Patron of the HBA, on screen giving a video message to the guests.

[28/03/08] PRIZE PHOTO WINNER.

It was a night of celebration at Sunshine Hospital Radio when Tina Pritchard was presented with the grand prize for her photographic contribution in the stations 'Taking Over The World' campaign.
Tina, a teacher at local St Marks school, was photographed wearing her Sunshine Radio T-shirt by her husband Brian whilst on their honeymoon in Ecuador.

Sunshine Radio's Vice-Chair Sue Walker took Tina and her family on a tour of the studios before the prize presentation.
Tina's prize, a Virgin V.P. Voucher offered a range of exciting experiences but Tina said she'd prefer something more relaxing and plans to use the voucher for a luxurious spa day with her daughter Christy.

Sunshine Radio launched the Taking Over The World last year and asked members of the public to buy one of its T-shirts and then have their picture taken wearing it somewhere interesting across the globe. "The response to our 'Taking Over The World' campaign was fantastic!" said Marcus, Sunshine Radio's P.R. officer. "We're so grateful to everyone who takes part and it wasn't an easy job choosing the best photo from over 25 finalists, but after much discussion and with the contribution of the team at The Weston Mercury we felt that the photo on the equator had something special."
Marcus added "We'd really like to thank everyone who helped us with 'Taking Over The World', the Weston Mercury for their support with the whole campaign, Virgin Experiences and EU Signs for providing the prize and Clobber & T-shirtPrintingandMore.co.uk who sell the
t-shirts."

Although there is no longer a grand prize, photographs are still welcome to help Sunshine Radio spread the word across the globe!

Pictured above, from left to right: Sunshine Hospital Radio presenter James Gordon, prize winner Tina Pritchard, Vice Chair Sue Walker and presenter Ron Walker