Bucks Hospital radio receives National Lottery boost to keep more patients and healthcare staff connected during COVID-19

A hospital radio station serving Buckinghamshire’s biggest hospital has received £22,500 from The National Lottery Community Fund, to help boost its efforts of reducing loneliness and isolation felt by some patients and healthcare staff during the coronavirus pandemic.

Stoke Mandeville Hospital Radio, which is entirely run by a small team of volunteers, will use the grant to purchase more radios and upgrade its equipment and technology to help it meet an increase in demand during these difficult times. This new investment, from the largest funder of community activity in the UK, enables the volunteers to continue keeping patients and staff connected with the outside world.

Operating within the hospital for over 40 years, Stoke Mandeville Hospital Radio will use the funding to help address loneliness felt by many patients as they have fewer face-to-face social interactions with their families, friends and loved ones due to the COVID-19 restrictions.

Now, with more radios on the wards and at bedsides, the friendly voices of the station’s volunteers will be there to keep people company during these hard times, sharing positivity, hope and keeping spirits raised.

According to a report commissioned by the Hospital Broadcasting Association, hospital radio stations across the country have a positive impact on patient and staff wellbeing through reducing loneliness, anxiety and boredom, and increasing health and wellbeing awareness.

The station is a vital platform for sharing the messages of love and hope from the friends and families of patients and staff while they are staying or working in the hospital and unable to contact them. The station also provides an important stream of news, messages and local updates to keep people connected and aware of what’s happening both inside and outside the hospital.

The news of this new funding is announced during Loneliness Awareness Week (15 – 19 June), an annual event to raise awareness of loneliness, break the stigma attached to it and encourage people to speak about the issue openly.

As well as more radios for patients and staff, the National Lottery funding will support the station as it adapts to current social distancing restrictions, providing additional equipment to allow volunteers who are unable to attend the studios to contribute their programmes and content remotely at home. The funding will also be used to improve the station’s general back-end equipment, giving it the update needed to ensure it’s able to continue in to the future.

Simon Daniels, Chairman of Stoke Mandeville Hospital Radio, said: “As soon as the lockdown was announced, due to COVID-19, we had to change the way we operated but wanted to ensure we could still provide the radio service to the patients and staff at Stoke Mandeville Hospital. We identified how we could produce programmes from some of our members’ homes and get them onto the radio.

“With no visitors being allowed, the hospital patients really appreciate having a radio by their bedside to hear music they want and get messages from loved ones read out on the air. We applied to The National Lottery for a grant to be able to purchase additional equipment and radios and were thrilled that The National Lottery would be supporting our service. Thank you to National Lottery players!”

Helen Bushell, Head of Funding for South East of England at The National Lottery Community Fund, said: “The strength we’re seeing in communities across the South East of England is inspiring. Although we’re beginning to see lockdown restrictions ease, community organisations – big and small – are still grappling with the impact caused by the crisis.

“National Lottery funding is life-changing for projects like Stoke Mandeville Hospital Radio in keeping their communities connected and reaching those who need the most help. Our priority is to continue getting funding, which is more vital than ever before, out to community groups so they can rebuild and recover from this pandemic.”

Thanks to National Lottery players, almost £6 million of National Lottery funding has gone to more than 400 projects tackling loneliness and social isolation across England since the lockdown began, enabling them to provide people with much-needed support. With support from The National Lottery Community Fund, charities, community projects, and grassroots groups are leading the way - keeping people connected and supporting those at risk of becoming lonely.

Going forward, The National Lottery Community Fund will continue to prioritise getting funding to groups best placed to support their communities at this vital time and also towards those seeking to rebuild as the crisis abates.

The National Lottery Community Fund distributes money raised by National Lottery players for good causes. Last year it awarded over half a billion pounds (£511.1 million) of life-changing funding to communities across the UK and supported over 12,000 projects to turn their great ideas into reality. 90% of the grants it makes are for under £10,000 – going to grassroots groups and charities across the UK that are bringing to life amazing ideas that matter to their communities.

To find out more visit www.TNLCommunityFund.org.uk