History of HRB

It was way back in 1975 that Hospital Radio Bedford was formed. It all started with various fundraising events including discos (remember those?), sponsored events and donations from local companies until enough money had been raised to buy all the necessary equipment and to cover running costs. Eventually, on 28th June 1975, Hospital Radio Bedford was born in the Bedford South Wing Hospital building in a 4m x 3m room – although it measured 12 feet by 10 feet in those days!
The station was opened by Gilbert Hitchcock from the local health authority and Angela Piper from The Archers.
Listeners in both North and South Wings of Bedford Hospital could hear the programmes between 8.00pm and 9.30pm each evening taking over the channel that normally broadcast Radio 4, which in
itself caused some upset!
Comprising of around 150 volunteers and given a three-month probationary period by the hospital authorities, the station set out to prove that it could fulfil its remit of providing patients with wider coverage of local events and a chance to request their own choice of music. Thankfully they managed this and were allowed to continue. The station went from strength to strength but running a radio station is an expensive business so the fundraising continued.
On one weekend in September 1976, Hospital Radio Bedford held a Flag Day in Bedford town centre which included a six hour live broadcast from the window of Debenhams.
And as if that wasn’t enough, the following day 48 people took part in a 20-mile sponsored walk along the banks of the river. However, the hot weather took its toll and only about nine walkers managed the full distance but the events were a great success and £300 was raised. The station moved into a 13m x 3m air-conditioned Portakabin in the grounds of South Wing that provided space for a main studio, a production studio, an interview studio, announcer’s booth, reception and a record library – quite an improvement. So on 11th January 1982 the station was re-born into the new studio complex where it was to remain for 13 years. In December 1993 and 1994,
a number of members got involved in a temporary charity radio station called ‘Chill FM’ which grew out of the Radio Cracker! project. This inspired them to do a similar fundraising event for Hospital Radio Bedford. So it was in May 1996 that ‘Splash FM’ began its one month of broadcasting to the Bedford area. It all started in Church Square, Bedford with an outside broadcast, continued with a stage at the River Festival on 25th May before coming to an end at the Oasis Pool with a further outside broadcast. By 1995 the hospital needed the ground that the station stood on to build the new maternity and children’s wing so Hospital Radio Bedford was on the move again. This time the hospital kindly provided a basement room, still in South Wing, which gave us the space for three studios, a reception area and record library area.