Tuesday 06 January 2009

This is an online version of our Membership Information leaflet, part of Radio Warneford's Membership Pack. View the printed version in PDF format (390Kb). You need Adobe Acrobat Reader v5 or later to view the .pdf file - download it for free here.

WHAT IS RADIO WARNEFORD?
Radio Warneford is the award-winning hospital broadcasting service which provides radio entertainment for patients and staff at Warwick Hospital. We are a registered charity and everyone who works at the station does so in their spare time.

Radio Warneford broadcasts a wide variety of programmes covering many musical styles – popular, easy listening, country, jazz and classical – as well as news, information, events, comedy and magazine-style programmes. The most important programme broadcast by the station is the daily Request Show in which a team of presenters visit the wards to collect requests and chat to the patients.

In general, our music policy is broadly "Middle of the road"/easy listening. Popular music is included in our programmes but Radio Warneford is not a "pop" station.

Our programmes are currently broadcast from 7pm to 10pm on Weekdays, 9am to 11am on Saturdays and 10am to 9pm on Sundays.

WHAT DOES MEMBERSHIP INVOLVE?
Radio Warneford has no paid staff and so members are expected to undertake a wide variety of tasks. These could include broadcasting programmes, production work, housekeeping duties, ward visiting and administrative tasks. All members are expected to take part in Radio Warneford's fund raising activities.

Radio Warneford is run by a Management Committee who are elected at an Annual General Meeting each October. Full members can stand for any of the positions on the Committee. There are also a number of non-committee posts. Duty Producers look after teams of presenters and each one is allocated to a particular shift. There are a number of Trainers who are responsible for making sure that all new members receive full training. The Radio Warneford Editor carries out research for special events and programmes, collates information about local events for broadcast and keeps our archive file up-to-date.

Radio Warneford also has a team of dedicated Ward Visitors who take time to visit patients during the afternoons. They are able to spend time with each person and collect requests for broadcast later that day.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I JOIN?
Membership of Radio Warneford is provisional for the first twelve weeks. New members who want to be involved in broadcasting initially join a Request Show team where they learn about ward visiting and programme presentation. During this period, members must be at the studios by 7pm (times differ at weekends). After the initial training, those members who wish to undertake further technical training will be allocated to a Trainer.

After a short period of time and assuming that provisional members have successfully completed their training and submitted a demonstration tape to the Station Manager, full membership may be offered, subject to the approval of the Management Committee.

Eventually, members who are fully trained may be offered the opportunity to present their own specialist programme. However, this will be in addition to the member's regular programme presentation duties.

Don't worry though, you won't be forced to speak on air if you don't want to. There are plenty of ways that you can be involved in the running of Radio Warneford without setting foot in a studio! We also offer membership to people who can spare a few hours during the day, rather than in the evening.

All members are required to pay an annual membership subscription fee, due on January 1st each year. Currently the membership fee is £17.50. This is used to cover administration costs, such as postage and telephone calls, so that all the funds raised from the general public can be spent exclusively on operating and improving the radio service for patients.

WHAT QUALIFICATIONS DO I NEED?
The short answer to this question is 'none'! Personal qualities are far more important than formal qualifications. Previous experience is not necessary either as full training is provided. If you enjoy meeting and talking to people, can work effectively as part of a team, like music, have lots of enthusiasm and a sense of fun, then you are the sort of person we are looking for.

You must be at least 18 years of age to join us but there is no upper age limit. Hospital radio is not just for young people! You will usually be expected to attend the studios on a regular basis although, depending on the role you wish to have, we may be able to offer more flexible opportunities. However, you must be willing to help at Radio Warneford's various fund raising events.

Successful hospital radio requires hard work, commitment and discipline – but it is very rewarding for those who put the effort in.

WILL HOSPITAL BROADCASTING HELP MY CAREER?
Any voluntary work can be added to your CV to impress a future employer (and that applies to any job, not just one in the media), but nothing is guaranteed and for every person who has gone from hospital radio into a broadcasting job, there are hundreds who haven't.

Remember too that hospital stations exist to benefit the patients, not as a training academy for would-be journalists and presenters! However, it's all good experience – many professional broadcasters started in hospital stations and we'll be happy to share our skills as long as you support a range of station activities.

WHAT DO I GET FROM RADIO WARNEFORD
Becoming a member of Radio Warneford can make a real difference for you!

• Make a worthwhile and exciting voluntary contribution to your local community
• Make new friends
• Receive full training in the skills required for first class broadcasting
• Teamwork
• The sense of achievement that comes with successful broadcasting
• Take an active role in the running of the station
• Regular social events
• Good fun

HOW DO I JOIN?

Download our application form below, print it out, fill it in and then post it back to us.

• Download our application form - PDF format (328Kb)
  To save this file to your computer, right-click and choose Save Target As... (IE6 or later) or Save Link As... (NS7 or later). You need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the .pdf file - download it for free here. Then print it out and fill it in.

Send your completed application form to:

The Membership Secretary
Radio Warneford
Warwick Hospital
Lakin Road
Warwick
CV34 5BW

Because the station is run by volunteers, you may have to wait up to 21 days for a reply.

In the meantime, if you have any questions about Radio Warneford that are not explained here, please e-mail us or telephone (01926) 401402. An answerphone service operates outside studio hours.