Back in 1978 two patients in Epsom District Hospital were having a discussion about music. It turned out that they were both DJs and between them they decided to launch Epsom District Hospital Radio. It took a couple of years to acquire funding, equipment and support but in 1981 the station broadcast its first programmes.

Over the ensuing years the station has grown in both size and reputation, continuing to entertain and amuse the patients as well as hosting events such as school fetes, the Dorking Big Weekend, the Epsom Common Day and the Epsom and Ewell Community Fayre.

2023 marks the 45th anniversary of the station and is a landmark year. Surrey’s finest and fastest growing hospital radio station will now be broadcasting on the internet. Thanks to generous donations from Epsom and Ewell Times, Kane Construction, 3ti and the on-going support of Epsom Rotary Club, from Wednesday 31st May you will be able to listen to Epsom Hospital Radio wherever you are in the UK. The online launch at 8pm begins with a guest appearance by Epsom Rotary, one of the sponsors of EHR Online.

“As well as the superb efforts of our current Station Manager, Chief Engineer, Management Team and members who have made internet broadcasting possible, this major development is also accredited to all those who have volunteered at Epsom Hospital Radio throughout the years and in doing so, helped to lay the foundations for us to take this major step forward today”.

If you want to tune in to Epsom Hospital Radio, a click to listen link is now available on the homepage, which is

www.epsomhospitalradio.org.uk

You will be able to enjoy Epsom Hospital Radio playing your favourite hits from across the decades, alongside an eclectic mix of themed programs from classical to comedy, country to rock, specialist music genres, interviews with local people and the occasional celebrity as well.

You can also request a song for a patient in the hospital or a listener anywhere via the request line which is 01372 735999 or via email studio@epsomhospitalradio.org.uk

Regular contributor Baron Armah-Kwatreng lets us in on some delightful Easter tunes! Original article featured on thehubcast.co.uk

Three Recordings for Easter

Image: Salvador Dalí, Christ of Saint John of the Cross, c. 1951

Oil on canvas 204 x 115.9cm. Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow

/ Credit: © CSG CIC Glasgow Museums Collection

Easter is arguably the most important occasion in the Christian calendar as Christians everywhere celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Hub marks this most important occasion with three recordings that in their different ways reflect the spirit of Easter.

Duo Scott and Vince return with another selection of five seasonal songs. Charles A Holme reads his reflective poem and the folk choir from St Joseph’s Catholic Church, Epsom provides its own offering in song.

Scott and Vince’s Easter Special

Picture: Scott Swift and Vince Yearly singing in harmony / Credit: The Hub

Epsom Catenian Circle‘s answer to Simon & Garfunkel – Scott & Vince – return after their successful Christmas Special with a selection of five songs at Easter time.

The songs reflect the duo’s differing tastes with Scott drawing on perennial favourite Stevie Wonder with Lately from the iconic 1980 album Hotter than July . Vince adds a floor-filler from his wedding band days, Van “the Man” Morrison’s Brown Eyed Girl from 1967 album Blowin’ Your Mind!. Among three other songs.

The songs were recorded in the Epsom Hospital Radio studio and were then edited to intersperse a Zoom interview with the duo on the inspiration behind each song choice. The interview concluded with a Q&A on what Easter means to each man.

You can listen to the interview and to the songs by clicking on the link below.

Christ of St John of the Cross: A Reflection

by Charles A Holme

Lifted high above an idyllic country view,

A lake, mountains, an empty fishing boat,

Against a menacing black sky. One man crucified.

Viewed from close overhead. A notice on the cross.

He is a carpenter who loved wood. Knew its grain

And strength. Chose it, shaped it, smoothed it

For village life. Seen here, ironically, hanging

From the rough beam of Roman justice

Below a notice.

No crowds passing by busy with their daily lives,

No jeering religious leaders, cowering disciples,

Distraught mother, gambling soldiers or penitent thief.

Alone. Raised against the engulfing black of this world

Below a notice.

Lit to show his Healing Hands, fractured, bleeding, torn,

By hand crafted, hand piercing, second-hand nails.

Shoulder muscles weakening, each shallow precious breath

Sighing blessings, forgiveness, love for Mary, a psalm

Below a notice.

That notice. Is it his name and crime?

A curse or a blessing? About victory or defeat?

Or, like on a parcel, delivery instructions

Sending him to some distant realm to be forgotten?

Or as an unwelcome, uninvited gift,

A ‘return to sender’ address?

It is all of these at the same time.

By his water and blood on that cross

Past and present linked for ever to my future.

Headley-based poet Charles A Holme offers a reflection on Salvador Dali’s arresting painting Christ of St John of the Cross. Piers Townley, a senior PR & Media Officer at The Brain Tumour Charity responded to this post, saying: “I’ve seen that St John of the Cross in real life in Glasgow. It’s an incredibly powerful piece of art up close. It’s huge and really intimidating. In a good way.”

Travel consultant and cricket fan Paul Movel, an interviewee in The Hub’s Test Match Special blog, agrees. “I am not into art, but when in Glasgow I went to see that ‘Christ of St John of the Cross’ picture. It’s quite impressive.” You can find out about the painting by listening to a Royal Academy of Art podcast of Dr Fiona Bradley, Director of The Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh presenting on “A closer look at Salvador Dali’s ‘Christ of St John of the Cross'”.

You can listen to Charles A Holme reading his poem by clicking on the link below. Charles is a lay preacher and worshipper at St Mary the Virgin Church of England church in Headley, Surrey.

St Joseph’s Catholic Church, Epsom – Folk Choir

Picture: The St Joseph’s Catholic Church, Epsom Folk Choir in full voice

/ Credit: The Hub

On Palm Sunday The Hub was privileged to be given a private concert by the folk choir at St Joseph’s Catholic Church, Epsom.

Choir leader Emma Swan invited The Hub to the group’s rehearsal session before the Palm Sunday service. The choir – from left: Kathy Maskens, Emma Swan, Emma Smith, father and son Vince and Scott White – sang five hymns. Jonathan, the drummer, is in the background.

Kathy Maskens is a regular feature of this site and is the inspiration behind The Hub’s Friday 2-4pm show on Epsom Hospital Radio. The A Team is a patients and staff requests show for the Alexandra Frailty unit where Kathy is the Community Matron. Kathy and Emma Swan share the distinction of performing in the lead role in the musical Godspell.

The first hymn sung by the group, Prepare Ye The Way of The Lord, is from Godspell. After the service, Emma Swan talked to The Hub about the choir’s choice of hymns. You can listen to the conversation with Emma and hear the hymns by clicking on the link below.

After listening to the interview, singer and guitar player Emma White added: The folk group has been going for nearly 40 years! I was born in 1978 and have been in the parish all this time. The group was going since I can remember in the 80s! I have been involved with it since the late 80s, early 90s with a few breaks here and there. How scary is that?!!

Read more from Baron for Epsom & Ewell Times here!

Epsom’s hidden radio gem, Epsom Hospital Radio, is looking forward to a new future online. EHR was founded in October 1978 by two mobile DJs who raised funds to equip a second hand 10 feet by 6 feet garden shed with some crude broadcasting equipment. The studio was placed in an exposed area on the roof of the then Epsom General Hospital. In the depths of winter, it was a hostile working environment with presenters regularly broadcasting in heavy coats, hats, scarves and gloves on colder days.

Life President Presenter Trevor Leonard is EHR’s longest-serving presenter. Starting in 1981, Trevor became the Programme Controller in 1983, overseeing EHR’s first awards for the standard and variety of its programming. An ardent Elvis fan, in August 2021 Trevor celebrated 40 years of continuous service by hosting a breakfast for current presenters at The Haywain pub, Epsom.

Today the station broadcasts 24 hours a day, every day of the year, staffed by a team of volunteer presenters, from two studios opposite the X-Ray Department. Says station manager, Ian Daggett: “We are here to keep you amused, entertained and informed during your stay. You can find us on the radio section of your Hospedia terminal – and all our services are completely free!

Our programmes carry regular information about the wide variety of services available to you during your stay in Epsom Hospital. We also provide the latest local, national and international news, plus sports coverage and a wide variety of music styles and genres. 

We play familiar songs and favourite artists across six decades from the 50s to the 2000s – and in addition, we have regular specialist programmes covering classical, jazz, drama, comedy, interviews with hospital staff and local community groups and personalities, and more.”

Epsom-based designer Stuart Lythgoe recently asked the station to read out a birthday message to his father Viv: “This is a massive ‘Happy Birthday!’ thank you for being a wonderful Dad and Grandpa – from Jo, Stu, Oscar and Poppy. We love you loads xxx”. Stuart asked for the 1967 single Miss Pinkerton by guitar player Viv’s band Cuppa T to be played as a birthday song.

Dr Abhay Bajpai, clinical lead for Arrhythmia Services and Kathy Maskens, community matron for the Alexandra Frailty Unit, regularly feature on the station. Dr Bajpai visited EHR’s studios pre-Covid and was featured in an EHR Test Match Special in an interview recorded at local pub The Jolly Cooper’s where Abhay waxed lyrical on his love of the red ball game. 

Kathy Maskens is the inspiration behind The A team, a Friday afternoon 2-4pm patients and staff requests show on EHR. Ed Sheeran’s The A Team and theme from 80s US TV show The A team double as musical themes for the show. Kathy has featured in an EHR 8GR8 Songs episode with an interview about her career as a nurse and some of her favourite music.

Marie Measures, head of Nursing for Medicine at Epsom and St Helier University Hospital NHS Trust, used the station to send a message of thanks for the resilience of her nursing team during Covid. “Thank you to all of Medicine’s matrons and to their teams for continuous hard work and dedication in very challenging times.” Marie appropriately asked for Billy Ocean’s When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going to be played on the station as a musical tribute to her team. 

Having weathered the impact of Covid on the station – halting in studio broadcasting for over a year, ward visits to gather requests still on hold, the loss of a number of presenters coupled with the financial impact on a shoestring budget – the station is now looking to a new online future. 

EHR is looking for a new crop of talented presenters to add to its roster of live in studio broadcasters. The station is also fundraising to assemble the equipment and licenses needed to reach a broader audience in Epsom and Ewell, and beyond, outside the walls of the hospital. 

Says Ian Daggett: “In our 40 years of broadcasting there has never been a greater need for a dynamic local hospital radio station. Going online will help us to bring light relief and a sense of community to the hard-pressed staff at Epsom Hospital and to the people of Epsom and Ewell when they, or their loved ones and family or friends, are in hospital.” 

You can donate to the station’s Going Online Fund, or generally support EHR’s activities via: www.epsomhospitalradio.org.uk/donate.