Be involved
Key reasons to volunteer with NHR:
- Join a friendly, dedicated, team of long serving volunteers.
- A Charity with 50 years’ service to the NHS and a strong reputation.
- Highest quality broadcast standard studios with training provided by graduates, experienced in radio/media/sound.
- A safe place to volunteer, where every contribution is valued.
NHR is the original and longest established volunteer-led radio broadcasting service in Northumberland, and celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2024. The Station now serves the NHS across Northumberland and North Tyneside.
Our volunteers take pride in the station and the studio facilities, which have taken time and effort to achieve. The emphasis is on team work and “service before self”. Considerable effort goes on behind the scenes to keep NHR running and moving forward.
It is recognised that hospital radio contributes to a positive patient experience which is why we put quality at the heart of the station’s programming. Patients have described NHR’s service as “slick and professional”.
At NHR, we are all volunteers – there are no paid employees of the Charity. However, as it’s a team effort, we do expect all our volunteers to contribute to a handful of fundraising events every year to help maintain the high standard of facilities and broadcasting operations. We would also expect all volunteers to be prepared to visit hospital wards and departments, even if only occasionally. For those who are committed for the long-term, a membership fee is payable, which goes directly towards the Charity’s core running costs – insurance and music licences.
NHR recruits presenters, rather than DJs. The Charity also needs reporters/interviewers, ward visitors, technical operators, outside events assistants and fundraisers. There are many opportunities which do not involve speaking on air and which do not involve a regular, weekly, commitment.
If you feel you would enjoy working in a professional studio environment with access to the best voluntary sector radio facilities in the County – NHR could be for you. People who are willing to learn and become part of the regular team are always welcome.
We encourage presenters to produce quality pre-recorded programmes for broadcast at various times throughout the week. We are particularly looking for people with clear voices who can read stories, poems, events details, health information messages and other information to expand NHR’s speech content.
The emphasis is very much on quality and high production values, which is why single-presenter shows are always pre-recorded. This allows NHR to build up a “bank” of programmes, so that the service is unaffected by family and work commitments, illness and holidays.
Please remember that presenting is only one of a number of roles at NHR. Whether you are able to make a weekly commitment or perhaps just give a few hours occasionally, you will be made very welcome.
All recruitment is carried out through Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust’s NVS (Northumbria Volunteer Service). You will be required to attend an interview during working hours – and if successful – will then be required to attend an induction session, usually held at North Tyneside General Hospital.
Successful clearance through DBS (enhanced disclosure) is a mandatory requirement of Northumbria Healthcare, regardless of whether an individual has gone through the same clearance with another organisation. We appreciate there are “hoops to jump through” – don’t blame us! These are in place to protect vulnerable hospital patients, NHS staff, existing volunteers and the reputation of NHS and the Charity.
Many of the new procedures in place for recruitment to NHR and the NHS are as a direct result of the Lampard Report (2015):
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/jimmy-savile-nhs-investigations-lessons-learned
It is recommended that prospective volunteers contact NHR in the first instance to discuss current opportunities with the Charity.
As well as offering high quality facilities, with state of the art hybrid digital mixers and the latest radio playout software, NHR has a full 12-hour training course for all new volunteers concentrating on both studio technical operations and programme preparation, media law, etc. This is delivered by longstanding volunteers who are all graduates (Masters/Bachelors level) with specific experience in media, radio and sound.
Remember that NHR’s primary focus is health and wellbeing broadcasting, mainly to hospital patients and the wider NHS users and community, some of whom are seriously ill. If you wish to present, please consider the audience when thinking about whether your style of presentation, voice and interest in music, would be suitable. We firmly believe that “what you say is as important as what you play”, which is why full training, even in an unpaid volunteering role, is vital.
The minimum age for volunteering in the NHS is 17. NHR is pleased to offer a very limited number of short-term work experience placements for sixth form and college students who are already volunteering elsewhere with Northumbria Healthcare. If you fall into this category and are interested in volunteering with NHR, please contact the NVS Team at Northumbria.
NHR welcomes contributions of the following: local stories, poems, health interviews & podcasts and topical health information, including press releases and scripts from Health Organisations.
However, our volunteers are at full capacity and very much regret we are not able to accept any further full programmes (1 or 2 hours+), as this would involve NHR having to check these in real time every week for technical and artistic quality, editing where necessary, in addition to uploading them on to the Station server, then scheduling them, all of which is very time consuming.
Please do not send any material of a political or controversial nature to NHR, as this will not be used.
As a general rule, due to time constraints, we do not broadcast new music submissions.
NHR’s studios are based at Wansbeck General Hospital in Ashington. The Charity does not have studio facilities at any other hospital. If you are interested in joining hospital (or community) radio as a regular volunteer we suggest you contact the radio service with studios closest to where you live, which will make travelling to the studio – particularly in winter months – easier.
How to Listen
If you are a patient at Hexham, North Tyneside or Wansbeck, you will normally be registered on the Hospedia system for meal ordering, on admission to the ward…
Book an Event
NHR provides a “What’s On” service, which is broadcast to the patients and staff. It provides information about local non-profit making, non-political and non-religious events…
Donate
Together with your support, we can continue to grow our services so that everyone benefits. Please donate below – thank you!
