Millside: healing souls for 25 years

And King’s Mill Hospital’s Millside Radio will have been helping patients through their ills for 25 years next month.

At its inception back in 1989 Millside Radio had no on-site studio. Instead, its four dedicated volunteers took requests from King’s Mill’s Dukeries Centre and put the show together at studios in Nottingham’s Queens Medical Centre.

But that all changed the following year when TV prankster Jeremy Beadle officially opened Millside’s own studio in a disused part of the King’s Mill’s old Occupational Health area.

Since that time the station has expanded with another studio room, coverage at the community hospital one mile away and has digitised its output to broadcast 24 hours a day.

Programme controller Trevor White, who joined the station in 1990, said for its volunteers, the station was much more than just a way of getting radio experience or a time filler.

“We provide a service for people who are bored and scared. We want to give them a laugh,” said Trevor.

“The original idea with hospital radio was to go out on the wards and ask people what they wanted to hear, so this is what we do.

“But it is not just the older generation - kids often want to request songs too.

“And we often get people who have returned to hospital for further treatment phone in from their beds for a chat and say ‘I’m back again.’”

The station is run purely by 28-30 volunteers of various ages, ranging from 17 to late 60s.

Said Trevor: “Everybody gets on and are good friends because we are all working towards providing the best quality product we can.

“People have come to the station with no radio experience whatsoever and gone on to get real jobs in the industry.

“Its great to see people progress like that.”

To mark its 25th anniversary Millside will be broadcasting live from the Street area of King’s Mill Hospital between 10-6pm on 17th and 10am-4pm on 18th October.

Members of the public are welcome to drop in and see the action as it happens and some old faces from the station’s past will be making an appearance.

If you would like to hear your memories of Millside shared during the broadcast then email them to [email protected].