Hospital Radio Fox
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Hospital Radio Fox is the hospital radio station for the Royal Infirmary and the Glenfield Hospital in Leicester, England.
The station first went on air at 7am on Saturday 23rd April 1988 with Bob Machon being the first voice heard. Initially Radio Fox broadcast at weekends only to the Royal Infirmary, with the Glenfield being added in 1990 once funds had been raised to install an audio landline from the Royal Infirmary. By 1998 the station was broadcasting seven days a week. In 2002 broadcasting hours were extended to midnight (previously programmes finished at 10pm) and on April 23rd 2005 24 hour a day broadcasting was established.
Programmes include a nightly request show, specialist programmes covering country, classical, dance, jazz, easy listening and world music, extensive sports coverage, general entertainment and information about the two hospitals they serve. There is also a weekly show for the children's hospital and speech output such as local news, useful information for patients and late night stories.
Request shows account for twenty four hours of the stations output each week although requests are played on every live programme and listeners are invited to call in at any time. Specialist shows are broadcast in the early and late evening slots with general entertainment output featuring in the daytimes.
In 2004 Radio Fox began split broadcasting to the Royal Infirmary and the Glenfield. A separate request show is broadcast to each hospital each Wednesday evening and split broadcasting is also used for special events and when the Leicester City and Leicester Tigers sports teams are playing at the same time.
The longest running current programme is Saturday Sport, which launched in 1995. Other long running shows include Fox Country (2000) and the Radio Fox Request Chart (1998). Patients Requests has been broadcast under its current name since 1999.
On 10th May 2008 Radio Fox undertook a twenty eight day restricted service broadcast on 107.5FM to Leicester and surrounding areas. The aim of the broadcast was to celebrate the station's 20th birthday, allow listeners outside the Royal and the Glenfield to sample its programmes and promote the work done by staff and volunteers within the University Hospitals Of Leicester NHS Trust.
During the broadcast the station also featured special guests from outside the hospitals, including the Lord Mayor Of Leicester and author Sue Townsend.
Awards
Radio Fox has been recognised by the Hospital Broadcasting Association at its annual awards ceremony every year since 2000, and has won twenty three awards since 1998. In 2005 the station was shortlisted in five categories and achieved highly commended in two, Best Speech and Best Children's Output. In previous years they have received bronze awards in the Speech, Special Event and Presenter Of The Year categories, and have been shortlisted for Station Of The Year twice.
In 2007 Sandy Iliff received the Gold award in the Female Presenter Of The Year category and the station also received a Highly Commended for its sports output. A year later the Classic Rock Show was awarded Bronze in the Specialist Music category and the station received Highly Commendeds in the Best Newcomer, Female Presenter and Sports Output sections.
Radio Fox currently has four honorary members who have been recognised for their outstanding contribution to the station. They are Graham Coley, Steve England, Pete Bracey and Cliff Wheatcroft, who is also the longest serving presenter and the most recent member to be awarded honorary status.
Radio Fox is a registered charity and relies entirely on donations and fundraising to stay on the air. Currently around fifty members are involved with the station.
