Archived News and Events
Sunday 11th May 2025– Northern Air Fundraising Quiz Night
Northern Air Hospital Radio held a Quiz Night with Live Music to raise much needed funds to keep the station on air. The Quiz Master was Colin Daffern who has appeared regularly on television shows such as Eggheads, Only Connect & Mastermind.
The event took place on Sunday 11th May 2025 at Manchester Maccabi Community & Sports Club, Bury Old Road, Prestwich, Manchester, M25 0EG between 7-30pm & 10-00pm.
Admission was £15.00 per person including refreshments with tables of 10.
There was a raffle on the evening.
Tuesday 15th April 2025 – The Silhouette Band Interview with Ken Anton
Combining polished performance with considerable talent, Silhouette and their music are paving the way as an influential Sixties Band for the discerning generation. Since joining forces in 2017, the members of Silhouette have captivated fans with their style and unique performances.
Bev & Rod from the band joined Ken Anton on Northern Air to share news of a special concert at Eccles Town Hall in Manchester to raise funds in aid of KIDNEYS FOR LIFE in association with Salford Royal Hospital.
Listen to an extract of the interview here:-
The band’s website is here:
Tuesday 6th August 2024 - Joe Sambrook & Salford Media Video Interview
I was in touch with Tony Flynn and Carl Davidson from Salford Media to see if they would like to do a feature on Northern Air Hospital Radio.
Tony & Carl felt it was something people in Salford, Manchester and the surrounding areas would be interested in the service which we have provided since 1960 for patients in hospital, care homes as well as online.
I was more than happy to represent Northern Air Hospital Radio in the interview having been a volunteer with Northern Air Hospital Radio since 1990.
During the interview, Tony also asked if I had any other interests apart from the radio. I told Tony that I have recently written a book about my life as a market trader. I am also trying to develop my skills as an artist, and hoping somewhere along the way people would enjoy both my paintings and drawings.
Enjoy the video.
Friday 5th January 2024 - Northern Air Hospital Radio Update
It's the 5th January 2024 and I feel it's time for an update on Northern Air Hospital Radio.
Can you believe it is almost 2 years since we had to vacate our studio, which had been our home since 1988. The actual date we finally locked our doors was Friday 29th April 2022. At that time we were promised a great variety of premises, to hopefully continue broadcasting to the patients. Sadly none of this came to fruition, we have had so much dialogue with the powers that be, many Teams meetings, emails, phone calls, etc. with no end results. Thankfully all was not lost thanks to Phil Salter, Ken Anton and Jack Davies who together with all their technical skills are giving us the ability to broadcast to all the patients and staff in the hospitals we cover but also on the internet – this has turned out to be a great success.
Ken Anton manages to broadcast a live programme each week from his house. Phil Salter manages to refresh the output with a number of pre-recorded programmes. Dave Langer with his ingenuity and not taking no for an answer, has been able to get Northern Air Hospital Radios output to a number of other hospitals, as well as both North Manchester General and Salford Royal Hospitals, these include Manchester Royal Infirmary, Wythenshawe Hospital, Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, Manchester Royal Eye Hospital, Saint Mary's Hospital and the University Dental Hospital of Manchester. Hopefully by the end of January we will also start broadcasting to Fairfield Hospital.
Our aim in 2024 is to hopefully establish ourselves in some new premises and set up our studios once again. The past 2 years has been VERY difficult for Northern Air Hospital Radio but with the help of our volunteers we are still managing to broadcast 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved with our radio station.
Wishing you all a Happy and Healthy New Year.
Joe Sambrook
Chairman
Thursday 18th May 2023 - Northern Air Fundraising Gig
“Join us for a night packed full of good tunes and good vibes! Musicians from in and around Manchester will be performing to help raise funds for Northern Air Hospital Radio (first launched in 1960) which lost its studio’s due to renovations.
Not only will you get to watch some jaw-dropping acts, there'll also be plenty of prizes up for grabs!
And if you're a musician yourself, feel free to jump on stage during the interval where artists will be encouraged to jam out together and / or perform any originals or covers.
Doors open at 7pm and the gig will be hosted @AATMA, First Floor, 14/16 Faraday Street, Manchester, M1 1BE. (Note: Entrance is down the alleyway called Stevenson Place and above The Peer Hat).
Don't miss out, it's gonna be a good one!”
Links
Saturday 6th May 2023 - King Charles III Coronation
Northern Air Hospital Radio offers our heartfelt congratulations to His Majesty King Charles III and to Her Majesty Queen Camilla on their coronation.
We offer them support, prayers and health in serving our great nation.
March 20th 2023. Edward Davies
We are sad to report the passing of Edward Davies on the 20th March 2023 at the age of 64. Edward was a very valued volunteer for Northern Air Hospital Radio.
September 8th 2022. Queen Elizabeth II
We are greatly saddened to hear of the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. A wonderful example to us all of the commitment to Public Service, her Family, the Country and the Commonwealth.
The longest serving monarch of the United Kingdom, who has been dedicated and ever-present throughout our lives and will be greatly missed by all at Northern Air Hospital Radio.
August 29th 2022. National Hospital Radio Awards 2022
In December 2021 Claire Cummins, a volunteer with Northern Air Hospital Radio, was nominated for Best Newcomer in the National Hospital Radio Awards, and she got into to the final 10, which is no mean feat.
Due to the Covid outbreak the awards ceremony was delayed until 29th August 2022. After such a long wait for the final results Claire was declared a Bronze winner, she was absolutely thrilled to bits. On behalf of everyone at Northern Air we would like to congratulate Claire on this wonderful achievement. Perhaps next year Claire can enter for the Best Female Presenter Of The Year.
July 3rd 2022. Howard Orgel
It’s with great sadness that we report the passing of Howard Orgel on the 3rd July 2022 aged 68. Howard used his skills in technical engineering to keep us on air.
June 14th 2022. National Healthcare Estates and Facilities Day
National Healthcare Estates and Facilities Day is an annual national event to call out the great work done often behind-the-scenes by the hospital's estates & facilities teams. It will take place on the third Wednesday of June each year, and started for the first time in 2022, on the 15th of June.
Northern Air Hospital Radio helped celebrate the day. Ken Anton interviewed Jon Campbell, Director of Estates and Facilities at North Manchester General Hospital, and Jon paid tribute to the many and varied teams who work hard to help keep the hospital running.
Listen to an extract of the programme here
April 29th 2022. Northern Air Old Building
Friday 29th April 2022 was a very sad day in the history of Northern Air Radio, when our Chairman Steve Woolfe finally locked the door of our studios that we have occupied since 1988. This is due to the extensive rebuild of North Manchester General Hospital and the reason for vacating our premises. This building has been our home for the past 34 years, and was opened by the Duke of Devonshire. The building has its own DNA; the sheer fabric typifies the ethos of hospital broadcasting.
Since acquiring the premises in 1988 the amount of requests we have played for the patients must run into millions. When you start to look back, all the memories come flooding back. On one occasion BBC Radio Manchester came along one Sunday morning with their radio car and we did a live link with them. It was just like Two Way Family Favourites. We invited a number of patients who were allowed to leave their wards and join us in the studio.
Over the years we have had many volunteers who joined us to hone their skills in broadcasting, and a great number of them went on to forge a career in TV and radio. On our 45th anniversary we held a garden party outside our studios. To celebrate the occasion we invited people who were born in 1960 the year we started broadcasting. The response was just amazing.
As the dust settles from our demolished studio you can see the Phoenix rising. We are now in the planning stages for our new studio where hopefully we can broadcast for another 60 plus years. Negotiations are taking place at the moment to broadcast to more hospitals in the Greater Manchester area. Here’s to the future of Northern Air Hospital Radio.
Joe Sambrook - Chairman
July 4th 2021. Northern Air Hospital Radio Sponsored Bike Ride by TalkTalk Employees
It started with a chance comment that Ken Anton made about his work with Northern Air Hospital Radio to Ian, one of his colleagues at TalkTalk, and invited him to join Ken and Freddie on their live Snippets programme. Ian was impressed with the service that the volunteers at Northern Air provide, especially as so many patients don’t have visits from friends or family while in hospital, and so he hatched a plan to help raise funds to support the charity’s work.
Ian is a keen amateur cyclist, and persuaded five of his colleagues to take part in a 50-mile sponsored cycle run. On the 4th of July, 2021, Ian, Lee, Andy, Darragh and Marlon set out from Salford Quays to cover the 50-mile ride to Blackpool. At the same time, Chris set out from Edinburgh to St Abbs in Berwickshire as he was unable to join the others on the day in Manchester.
The event was generously sponsored by TalkTalk colleagues and friends, and Northern Air Hospital Radio members and friends, and over £1500 was raised to help towards Northern Air’s running costs. Northern Air Hospital Radio is an independent charity, and is staffed solely by volunteers, who are grateful to Ian and his colleagues for giving their time and energy, organising and promoting this event.
You can sponsor our efforts on our Fundraising Page.
June 2nd 2021. Walk the Walk
TalkTalk is the UK’s leading value-for-money internet and telecoms provider. It believes that simple, affordable, reliable and fair connectivity should be available to everyone. The company is headquartered in Salford, and produces a regular podcast series, “Walking The Walk” of inspiring inside stories from some of the people who work there, and why it’s a great place to work.
During National Volunteer Week in early June 2021, Dominic Laurie interviewed Ken Anton, a Technology Lead at TalkTalk and volunteer at Northern Air Hospital Radio, about his life-long volunteering for hospital radio, starting when he was still at school in Dundee, right through to his current role at Northern Air.
The entire series can be heard on Spotify, Apple & Amazon.
September 2020. Northern Air Coronavirus 2020
As Northern Air Hospital Radio celebrates its 60th anniversary, we and the world were struck down with a pandemic. All the plans to celebrate the occasion have been shelved for the time being; because of this we had to make a number of changes along the way. The first thing we were unable to do were visit the patients at North Manchester General and Salford Royal Hospitals. Collecting requests is a major part of the service we provide.
The volunteers at Northern Air Hospital Radio are made of strong stuff and are very resilient. Under the stewardship of Station Manager Phil Salter, we managed to carry on broadcasting 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Unfortunately, we were unable to go into the studio to broadcast live programmes, many of our volunteers recorded programmes from home with the aid of technology. In true Northern Air Hospital Radio style, we were able to continue to carry on our unbroken service since 1960.
A huge thank you to everyone involved, and a special thank you to Phil Salter for steering us through choppy waters.
Hopefully, we can all return back to what we do best and be in full swing before too long.
June 2020. Northern Air 60th Anniversary
Hello, my name is Joe Sambrook. I have performed various roles for Northern Air Hospital Radio, including chairman, station manager and general dogs body. It gives me great pleasure writing about Northern Air Hospital Radio on its 60th anniversary. It all came to fruition in 1960 through a brainwave from Stanley Langer and Norman Mendelsohn, followed by Marshall Gellman and Sidney Wander (M.B.E). Sadly, Marshall passed away in October 2019 aged 90, he would have been very proud to have been part of the celebrations.
I joined Northern Air Hospital Radio in 1990, as a request collector, the most rewarding job at the station. Over the years I have many fond memories of the patients I have encountered. There were two in particular, Alma Bradley, who was constantly in and out of hospital, so much so that she became one of my favourite patients. She had a great taste in music from the many requests she chose.
On one occasion, whilst in hospital, she talked me into being involved in a sponsored bike ride in aid of the British Lung Foundation. This took place at the Manchester Velodrome, I thoroughly enjoyed being part of the experience.
Amelia Bowden, is another lady I have fond memories of. At the time she was 90 and enjoyed reciting poems to the patients. She was such a lot of fun and a lovely person.
In 60 years there have been many changes at Northern Air Hospital Radio, from broadcasting one evening a week on a Thursday, to 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, to North Manchester General and Salford Royal hospitals. We are very privileged to have two purpose-built studios, with up to date equipment. This is down to the dedicated volunteers who run the station. As a self-funding charity it takes hard work and dedication from everyone involved to raise the much-needed funds to provide the wonderful service.
I have been so proud to have been part of Northern Air Hospital Radio and help in some small way to bring a great variety of programmes to your bedside, plus live broadcasts from the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester with the Halle Orchestra. Here’s to the next chapter in this very worthwhile service and long may it continue!
I would like to wish you all a speedy recovery and a swift return back to good health.
October 6th 2019. Marshall Gellman
We are sad to report the passing of Marshall Gellman on October 6th 2019. Marshall along with Stanley Langer, Sidney Wander and Norman Mendelsohn were the founder members of Northern Air Hospital Radio in 1960.
See ObituaryJuly 2018. End PJ Paralysis/Last 1000 days
In July 2018, Stephen Woolfe, Chairman interviewed Alison Schofield, Quality Improvement Project manager and Alex Klein, Patient Focus Group Representative on Northern Air and chatted about End PJ Paralysis/Last 1000 days – or sometimes known as Pyjama paralysis. This is the first Northern Care Alliance Quality Improvement collaborative.
Very simply, this is an initiative across the Alliance which includes Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust and Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust with a goal of getting patients up, dressed and moving. The Last 1000 days element is designed to highlight the importance of a patient’s time in healthcare and the impact on their well-being whilst time is wasted in hospital.
It is a fact that 10 days of bed rest = 10 years of muscle ageing, 1 week can lose up to 10% of your muscle function. Half of permanent disability starts in hospital where patients remain bed bound for no reason other than a lack of incentive to do otherwise. This is why the collaborative was launched and will have a significant impact on improving not only the patients’ hospital experience but also prepare patients for a better quality of life on discharge – especially if we are considering patients in their “last” 1000 days or so.
Alison and Alex discussed the 6 main changes identified from the wards testing ideas to support the initiative:
- Social Mealtimes – Patients out of bed eating meals or eating meals together in a dining area.
- Engaging Activities – either bedside or day room activities such as bingo, balloon football etc.
- What Matters Most to me today – using bubble templates above the bed on which the patient will record their wish/challenge for the day eg: make sure my phone is charged, watch football etc.
- Team Awareness – ensuring staff are all aware of the changes and embed reliably in their areas.
- Public Awareness - raising awareness amongst patients and visitors alike.
- Introduce the principles into everyday life – use of the reablement clock.
Northern Air are very grateful for Alison and Alex’s time and wish them well as the project is rolled out nationwide.
If you or your family or friends have occasion to be an inpatient – ask the staff about what EndPJParalysis/last1000 days would mean for them.
To find out more about the project, please visit the Salford Royal website.
June 2018. Sidney Wander M.B.E.
We are sad to report the recent passing of Sidney Wander M.B.E. aged 92. Sidney along with Stanley Langer and Marshall Gellman were the brains behind the creation of Northern Air Hospital Radio in 1960.
May 9th 2018. Dave Bee
It’s with great sadness to hear of Dave Bee’s passing on the 9th May 2018 aged 55. Dave joined Northern Air Hospital Radio in 1982 for a couple of years, leaving to further his career in entertainment.
February 2017. Prostate Cancer Support Group - Salford
Stephen Woolfe, Chairman of Northern Air Hospital Radio recently interviewed three members of the Salford Prostate Cancer Support Group. The Group are part of Prostate Cancer Support – North West and affiliated to Prostate Cancer UK.
Although there is no formal screening programme in the NHS, men of any age can request the PSA blood test which can (but not necessarily) give an indication that further investigations are needed. However over 43,000 men are diagnosed every year and although survival rates are in excess of 75% - men are more likely to die “with” it as opposed to “of” it – the Group play a vital role in supporting those going through the process.
The Group meet monthly on the third Wednesday of the month at Elm Bank - Masonic Hall, Half Edge Lane, Eccles, and partners are encouraged to attend, as the condition, like any other cancer, affects all the family – be it physically or mentally.
The group is approximately 30 strong and the format of the meetings is very informal. Members and partners are encouraged to share their experiences, how their individual treatments are progressing. They also receive lectures from Clinicians and information on new developments in treatment – such as 3D – MRI scanning.
I chatted for an hour with Brian Robinson, Chairman of the Group, and Pat and Peter Millership, who are members. We discussed how Peter was diagnosed (a GP visit to discuss a sore shoulder followed by a “Well Man” check) and how the diagnosis was presented and the effect on Pat and their children.
Pat explained how the meetings were conducted whilst Brian gave an overview of how the Group was formed and financed.
We also played some great music in between chatting ranging from a Maori chant, “Pokarekara Ana” by Hayley Westenra, Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5” to Queens “Radio GaGa”.
If you want to contact the Group, here are some details:-
They can be contacted via Macmillan’s at Salford Royal Foundation Trust (Hope Hospital) - 0161 206 1455 or 0161 918 7804
Prostate cancer U.K. - 0800 074 8383
Prostate cancer support North West. - 0161 474 8222 (Answering Machine).
August 2015. 55th Anniversary
Northern Air Hospital Radio is celebrating 55 years of providing Hospital Radio to North Manchester General Hospital, formally Crumpsall Hospital, we now also provide a 24 hour bedside radio service to Salford Royal Hospital, established in 1960, the same year as Granada TV “Coronation Street” was started. Both Northern Air and Coronation Street are going strong; at Northern Air we thank all our volunteers both present and past for the hard work they have put in, here's to the next 55 years.
Thursday 15th January 2015. Northern Air on Eggheads
On the 15th January 2015 Northern Air Hospital Radio were invited onto the very popular B.B.C quiz show Eggheads up in Glasgow. It was a very early start, up at 5am to catch the 7am train from Piccadilly station for the 4-hour journey to Glasgow Central .We had all been swatting over various quiz books for weeks to hopefully give a good account of us against the might of the Eggheads. Six of the finest brains from the radio were chosen for the task ahead! We had the combined intelligence of team captain Colin Daffern, Hilary Bowick, John Bailey, Kevin Hartley, Steve Martin and Joe Sambrook. The name of our team was “The Treaters” in line with our tag line, “We put the treat into Treatment”.
On arrival at B.B.C Scotland, we were greeted by Rachel and Andrew who looked after us for the duration of our stay. We were taken to the Green Room’ how very show biz! Each of us had to take four changes of shirts tops etc. Wardrobe came along to choose which of our tops did not clash with the camera or the Eggheads. Then we all went down to the makeup room. It was hilarious. We have photographic evidence! Then into the Lion’s den where we were introduced to Jeremy Vine and the Eggheads who made us so welcome. When we watch it on T.V we all know the answers and scream at the telly, but when the spotlight is on you it’s very different. We made a very good account of ourselves; unfortunately we are not allowed to tell anyone the result. The whole team had the most fantastic day; we can’t stop talking about our amazing experience.
Tuesday 29th July 2014. Prestwich Carnival Cheque Presentation
Can we thank Frank Shatliff, Chairman from the Prestwich Carnival committee for their very generous donation to Northern Air Hospital Radio of £100. The money is a great help with our fundraising to keep our service going to provide music and information to all our patients. Allan Shalks is in the top left hand corner of the picture holding up one of our sweat shirts.
Monday 7th July 2014. Prestwich Carnival & Aldi Supermarkets Presentation
Northern Air Hospital Radio broadcasts to the patients at North Manchester General and Salford Royal 24 hours a day, seven days a week, would like to say a huge thank you to Frank Shatliff who is Chairman of the Prestwich Carnival and Dilip Patel who is the Regional Manager of Aldi Supermarkets. The Aldi store in Prestwich in conjunction with Prestwich Carnival held a raffle in store and raised £140 for charity. Frank chose Northern Air Hospital Radio as a worthy charity to donate the £140.00. We are so grateful to receive this wonderful gift as it helps enormously with our fundraising and keeps us on air.
Photo. Left to right - Northern Air's Allan Shalks, Phil Salter, Fred Ayre, Joe Sambrook, John Bailey, Jeff Daniels With Prestwich Carnival's Charman Frank Shatliff
Thursday 19th December 2013. Northern Air Christmas Radio on Wards
Thursday 19th December was one of the most enjoyable nights of the year, Father Christmas, his elves and a clown plus a five piece choir managed to visit every single ward in North Manchester General giving all the patients a tangerine. Can you imagine how many requests we collected. We had to extend the programme to fit them all in! The choir started on the Intensive Care Unit (I.C.U.) ward and they were made very welcome; on Boxing Day morning a patient who was originally on I.C.U. and then moved to G6, remembered Hilary from the choir and said she really enjoyed the singing.
We then went along to the Children’s ward where the reception we got was amazing with parents taking lots of photographs of Santa and the crew. Santa had a request from a brand new grandmotherand mother to hold a 15 hour-old baby whilst they took some pictures, Santa was very nervous in case he dropped the new baby. We all had a wonderful evening; the choir came back to the studio to sing more Christmas songs. I would to thank everyone who was involved on Thursday; hopefully the choir will come and join us some time in 2014.
Photo. Father Christmas (Joe Sambrook - Station Manager)
Photo. Local choir
Thursday 27th September 2012. Open Evening at Northern Air
Northern Air Hospital Radio held an open evening at our studio which gave the opportunity for anyone interested to look at a very modern radio station in action. We were joined by the Deputy Mayor of Bury, Counsellor Matthews and his wife Mrs Matthews, who during the evening presented a long service certificate to Phil Salter for 35 years as a volunteer with Northern Air. There was a great deal of interest from the many people who turned up at the studio; John Bailey our Membership Secretary was kept very busy handing out application forms. This proved to be a very successful evening.
Photo. Phil Salter & Deputy Mayor of Bury, Counsellor Matthews
5th July 2012. National Football Museum Press Day
Thursday 5th July was a press day at the National Football Museum in the heart of Manchester. The museum is housed in the fantastic Urbis building. Northern Air Hospital Radio was lucky enough to be invited so Joe Sambrook & John Bailey enjoyed what turned out to be a very interesting two hours. John Barnes, the former Liverpool and England footballer was on hand talking to the media. We spoke to Sir Richard Leese leader of Manchester City Council, who has been instrumental in bringing the Museum to Manchester and has attracted huge financial support for the venture. Sir Richard feels the Museum is a huge asset to the city and even if you are not a football fan there is something of interest for everyone........and it's free!
Kevin Moore, Director of the Museum told us about the transition from Preston to Manchester and discussed his vision for the future of the Museum. With the huge collection it now holds, there are exhibits from the 1800s to the present day. The exhibition will change from time to time and they are always on the look out for memorabilia and items of interest. We watched Rachel Brown and Jill Scott from the Ladies England Football Team, who are also part of Team G. B. They entertained us with lots of fancy footwork. Another interesting exhibit is Stuart Roy Clark's photography to capture on film many grounds that no longer exist and his pictures make nostalgic viewing. We took the opportunity to speak to a couple of local children who were visiting the Museum with their school.
Reme, who was sporting a Barcelona shirt and Marlene had plenty to say about their visit. We met up with them later and asked them what they liked the most. Remi liked the Manchester United exhibit, but Marlene said her best bit was talking to the radio! The Museum has many “hands-on” exhibits and Joe & John ended their tour by trying to kick the ball at targets on the wall - enough said about that ! Wayne Rooney's safe this season !
15th April 2012. Northern Air Fundraising Day at Sainsburys
Under the leadership of Group Captain Alan Shalks (that’s not his real title) he organised a bag pack with military precision to help raise much needed funds for Northern Air Hospital Radio. This took place at the Sainsbury’s store at Heaton Park, Prestwich and we are very grateful for Sainsbury’s for allowing us to use their store. Thanks to all our volunteers who turned up on the day, Helen, Colin, Alan, John, Joe, Andrew, Steve, Dave and Krish - I hope we haven’t missed anyone. We raised £360 which helps with our fundraising for this year. Our team enjoyed the day and they met some very nice people who were very generous.
January 2012. National Hospital Radio 2012 Awards
It's fantastic news that Northern Air Hospital Radio has been short-listed in the 2012 National Hospital Radio Awards in two categories. Hilary Bowick has been nominated in the Specialist Music programme category with a Disney Special and Dave Bee has been nominated in the Presenter Of The Year category. This year the awards ceremony will be held on 31st March in Northampton and we wish them both every success.
22nd December 2011. Northern Air Father Christmas Trip
It's been a tradition at Northern Air for many years to visit every single ward at North Manchester General in one evening the week of Christmas and we hand out tangerines to every patient. This year was no different apart from all the team appearing in fancy dress. We had Father Christmas, Mrs Christmas, clowns and a number of elves, Elf and Safety, National Elf, Ill elf and not forgetting a 6ft monkey. We recently used the monkey in funding raising for Children in Need and John Bailey who takes charge of the monkey, has christened him Charlie.
This year we started on the children's ward and we were made very welcome. One of the parents asked Hilary Bowick who is Mrs Christmas, to hold their very young baby while they took pictures of the whole gang. Hilary became very broody (best not tell Hilary's husband Phil). During the evening we collected many requests from the patients which were phoned throughk to the studio, so they could be played on the night . All our volunteers had a great time with lots of fun and laughter and hopefully we gave a lot of pleasure to all the patients and staff on the wards. It certainly keeps you fit, pushing a trolley with boxes of tangerines up and down many flights of stairs, and just to round Christmas off on Boxing Day morning Father Christmas, John Bailey, Charlie the 6ft monkey took boxes of sweets onto the Children's wards.
Photo. Allan Shalks, John Bailey, Howard Copitch, Hilary Bowick, Steve Woolfe & Joe Sambrook
January 2011. National Hospital Radio 2011 Awards
Northern Air Hospital Radio who are celebrating 50 years of broadcasting have been short listed in the Hospital Broadcasting Association (HBA) Annual Conference and National Hospital Radio Awards 2011 this March.
These are the categories in which we have been nominated:
Station Of The Year
Best Female Presenter - Hilary Bowick
Best Male Presenter - Dave Bee
Best Speech Package - Joe Sambrook
24th September 2010. Coronation Street World Press Day
1960 in Manchester was a monumental year. In downtown Crumpsall, Northern Air Hospital Radio, a brain child of Stanley Langer and Norman Mendelsohn came into being. A few miles down the road in Salford a young actor turned scriptwriter, Tony Warren had created what has become the longest running soap opera, Coronation Street. Both Northern Air and Corrie are celebrating 50 years in broadcasting. To this end Granada Television held a World Press Day on 24th September 2010 and Northern Air was invited along. I was honoured to be part of this wonderful occasion.
After various presentations in the theatre at Granada studio we were escorted onto the cobbles of the Coronation Street set where tables were set out in street party style. There was a great menu of various pies and peas, sandwiches, fruit and a wide choice of beverages. We had the chance to mingle and talk to members of the cast and I managed to interview quite a number of them. I also fulfilled an ambition by interviewing Roy and Hayley Cropper. They were delightful as were the other members of the cast, who stopped for a chat. Bill Roach, the longest cast member in the street congratulated Northern Air on our milestone of 50 years broadcasting. I had the most wonderful day with lots memories to cherish. I hope I get the opportunity to do it all again for the 100th birthday . By then I shall be about 115 - here’s hoping !
Photo. Jennie McAlpine (Fiz) & Joe Sambrook
Photo. Keith Duffy (Ciaran) & Joe Sambrook
8th July 2010. Opening Studio 2 at Northern Air
Northern Air has had 2 studios for several years, but Studio 2 was until recently a pre-record/production room. Former Station Manager Joe Sambrook worked extremely hard for some very long months to raise the funding to completely refurbish the room. Today, thanks to Joe's efforts Northern Air now has a fully working 'duplicate' of our Studio 1 where programmes can be broadcast live.
Not only that ut because of the investment we now have a "Studio 3" - a computer playing out our sustain shows. The result? Two fully working broadcast studios that will now be the envy of many a professional radio station. On the day of the opening we were joined by Dave Langer (son of founder Stanley Langer), Phyllis Mendelsohn (widow to Norman Mendelsohn - Stanley's fellow co-founder), Mayor Of Salford George Wilson, Hospital Broadcasting Association President June Snowden also made the long journey from her home in Peterborough to join us and celebrate not just this achievement but to mark our 50th Anniversary.
Once the ribbon was cut by Phyllis to officially open Studio 2, June Snowden then took the opportunity to present Northern Air with an award for broadcasting for 50 years. Dave Langer and Phyllis accepted the award for the station, representing Our founders. One wonders what Stanley and Norman would have to say as to how their dream of playing music to patients from a temporary set up in the Matron's room has developed into the nationally recognised radio station that it is today.
27th June 2010. Northern Air at the Crumpsall Carnival
We had a stall at the park and the sun was out in full force, we had to get out the factor 20 sun-cream! Our happy band of volunteers set up the stall and had a very busy day’s trading, raising much needed funds for the station.
The Carnival’s main stage, with the banner on full display, saw the top 3 acts from this year’s Northern Air Talent Contest perform. Dave Bee acting as the regular compere, introduced each of the acts and presented the winner, 14 year old, Porteya Grant-Maloney, with a certificate. The prize – Head-lining the carnival, a 10 hour recording session at former Mock Turtle, Martin Coogan’s own studios and as a co-presenter with Dave Bee on his Christmas Morning breakfast show !
26th June 2010. Northern Air Fundraising Day at Asda
For some weeks we have been prepairing ourselves for some serious training for our bag packing day at the Asda store at Harpurhey. We raised a lot of money for the station thanks to the generosity of the customers at Asda. We would like to say a big thank you to all the volunteers who helped - you know who you are !
6th June 2010. Northern Air's 50th Birthday
Sunday 6th June 2010 was a milestone in Hospital Broadcasting for Northern Air as it celebrated 50 years unbroken service to North Manchester General and Salford Royal Hospitals. To mark the occasion we held a luncheon at the Fairways Lodge in Prestwich for past and present volunteers. When planning these events one always worries if it will be a success. However there was no need to worry as over 100 people attended together with the Lord Mayor and Mayoress of Manchester and their grandaughter Ellen.
Ann Widdecome the former M.P who drove up from her home in Dartmoor to join us. She sold quite a number of her novels and then donated all the profits from the sales (which was £100) to Northern Air.
Steve Woolfe and two of his work colleagues Berni and Jacqui organised the making of the most fantastic birthday cake. Fred Eyre BBC sports reporter and Patron of Northern Air along with Fred Fielder former BBC presenter and Jonathan Young lead singer with the Bachelors joined in the celebrations. During the course of the afternoon we made a number of presentations, Marshall Gellman and Sidney Wander MBE received certificates for 50 years service to Northern Air, Kevin Hartley for 10 years and Joe Sambrook for 20 years. The Lord Mayor also presented a 50 year certificate from the Hospital Broadcasting Association to the station. It was a great party, enjoyed by everyone who attended and a fitting tribute to 50 years of Hospital Broadcasting in Manchester and Salford.
28th March 2010. Success at the National Hospital Radio 2010 Awards
Northern Air Hospital Radio serves both North Manchester General Hospital, Crumpsall and Salford Royal (Hope) Hospital, Salford. The station collected 2 major awards recently at the Normandy Hotel, Renfrew, Scotland, as part of the Hospital Broadcasting Association (HBA) Annual Conference and National Hospital Radio Awards 2010. Northern Air Hospital Radio broadcasts 24 hour a day, 7 days a week to the patients and staff of both hospitals and was nominated in the following categories: ‘Best Speech Package’ and ‘Male Presenter of the Year’. Dave Bee (Breakfast Show Presenter and Programme Controller) made the trip to Renfrew (near Glasgow) to attend conference and to see how the station had fared in the awards. The HBA boasts 248 member stations across the UK and therefore a nomination alone (making the top 10) in the National Awards is a major achievement in itself.
Northern Air’s results are as follows:
Best Speech Package:
Joe Sambrook - ‘Commended’
Male Presenter of the Year: Dave Bee – Silver (2nd Place)
(Picture: Andy Langford)
22nd January 2010. Northern Air Golden Oldies Video
Manchester Evening News - Channel M. Northern Air, celebrates fifty years on the airwaves later this year and Nikki Dean went along to meet two of their Golden Oldies, Marshall Gellman and Sidney Wander MBE.
20th November 2009. Children in Need
Our contribution to the Children In Need appeal went very well. We covered all the wards in North Manchester General Hospital collecting £150 pounds. We would like to thank to everyone for their donations. Well done to our team who finished completely K------d - who needs the gym when you volunteer at Northern Air !
November 2009. Northern Air Studio 2 Refurbishment
We are currently in the process of re-fiiting studio 2. The equipment is the same as studio 1 and we will alternate programmes between both studio's. Studio 2 will also be used for training, interviews as well as pre-recording programmes.
15th May 2009. Northern Air Hospital Radio gives big break to Future Stars
Northern Air, the hospital radio station for both North Manchester General Hospital & Salford Royal Hospital, has just launched its first ever Junior Showcase and is looking for the under 16’s star or stars of the future. Auditions will be held on Saturday 23rd May 2009 at the Abraham Moss Studio from 2 ‘til 4pm to select the top 10 acts for the final. The final on Saturday 13th June 2009 will also be at the Abraham Moss Studio, from 2 ‘til 4pm in front of a panel of judges, who include ‘Hotel Trouble’ actor Gary Damer.
The winning act will appear at the Crumpsall Carnival 2009 on Sunday 28th June 2009. The top act will also receive family tickets and VIP back-stage passes for the UK Premiere of Disney’s High School Musical 2, soon to be performed at the Abraham Moss Theatre. Event organiser and station Programme Controller, Dave Bee said: “I was on the panel of judges for ‘Crumpsall’s Got Talent’ earlier this year, so I know there are a lot of very talented young people in this area – this is another chance for us to see you again. Make sure you get down to the auditions on Saturday 23rd May – see you there”.
15th May 2009. Brewery backs Hospital Radio Karaoke Search
Joseph Holts Brewery has very kindly agreed to sponsor the Northern Air Hospital Radio Karaoke contest 2009. Northern Air, the hospital radio station for both North Manchester General Hospital and Salford Royal Hospital, has just launched its first ever Karaoke contest and is on the look out for the best in pub singing. The first of 3 weekly heats will start on Friday 22nd May 2009 at the Cleveland Hotel, Crumpsall from 9:30pm. Each week 2 singers will be selected to go through to the final on Friday 12th June 2009 at the Cleveland Hotel in front of a panel of judges. The overall winner of this contest will go through to the GRAND FINAL of the Joseph Holts Karaoke Competition 2009 where the top prize of £400 and 2 cases of beer could be yours!
AND you will perform at the Crumpsall Carnival 2009 on Sunday 28th June! Event organiser and station Programme Controller, Dave Bee said: “We’re very grateful to Mark Norbury and Steve Leech from Holts Brewery for backing us in this, and hope that our winner makes it to the top at the Grand Final later in the summer”.
28th March 2009. Northern Air's Dave Bee Celebrates Award Success
Northern Air hospital radio’s programme controller Dave Bee is celebrating after scooping the accolade of receiving a highly commended award by coming 4th in the category of the best male presenter at the national Hospital Broadcasting Association awards this weekend.
This is what Dave had to say:-
"It was great to get into the top 10 ahead of the awards, knowing so many others had not made the cut, but then to make the top 5 was amazing. The competition gets harder each year as the standard goes up and up, so to make the top 5 out of almost 300 hospital radio stations across the UK, makes me extremely proud not just for myself, but for Northern Air."
13th March 2009. Suprise 80th Bithday Party for Northern Air Chairman Marshall Gellman
At the studio of Northern Air Radio, our Chairman Marshall Gellman was about to become an octogenarian and to celebrate his 80th birthday we had a surprise party with past and present volunteers together with Marshall’s family. To keep up the surprise, we asked Marshall to chair a meeting at 8pm, and he arrived on the dot ! When he came in, he was greeted with a round of applause and the sound of Neil Sedaka. After the initial shock, Marshall gave a wonderful speech about the time he joined the station almost 50 years ago. Marshall went on to say how the station has evolved over the years and that the future looks bright. Finally, Marshall cut his birthday cake with the Northern Air choir singing happy birthday. Everyone involved with Northern Air would like to wish Marshall the most marvellous 80th birthday.
12th March 2009. Abraham Moss Theatre - "Reet Petite" Musical
Dave Bee played host once again to a live music session on his Wednesday night show. Cast members from 'Reet Petite', currently in production at the Abraham Moss Theatre, joined him to promote the show and to leave tickets as a prize for patients. What started out as an interview very soon broke into a live version of Lennon & McCartney's 'Let It Be'. Singing for Dave, and for that matter the listeners, were...Prab, Ross, Holly, Beth, Alex and Sarah.
18th December 2008. Northern Air Father Christmas Trip
A fantastic night was enjoyed by everyone who took part in our annual Father Christmas trip around the wards distributing tangerines to all the patients. This year we had organised the Abraham Moss singers to come and sing to the patients, sadly the day before they all came down with the flu. At very short notice, Sandra Modric who is a wonderful singer joined us for the evening. Sandra cheered up the patients and staff who even joined her. Another friend Crocodile Joe who works in Australia looking after the environment is back in England visiting schools and giving lectures. He joined us on the evening with his didgeridoo playing some wonderful tunes straight from the outback! After visiting every ward in the hospital, we returned to the studio quite a bit kna-----d - who needs the gym when you volunteer for Hospital Radio !
14th November 2008. Children In Need Day
Friday 14th November 2008 was Children In Need day and the trusty volunteers from Northern Air Hospital Radio did a 3 hour marathon visiting all the wards in North Manchester General Hospital.
We were joined on the evening by a fabulous quartet of singers from the Abraham Moss College called “Classique” and they were amazing. Classique sang a range of songs from the Beatles, Bobby Darin, Elvis Presley plus many more and the patients just loved it. We raised £180 on the evening which was donated to the Children In Need charity. There were some very tired but very happy volunteers by the end of the evening, but a great night was had by all !
30th July 2008. Live performance in Northern Air studio's
Northern Air has has enjoyed a close relationship over the years with the Abraham Moss Theatre Group, with the company donating their profits from one years panto to the station. They had just completed a sell-out production of Disney's High School Musical and joined Dave Bee on a Wednesday evening to bring some of their magic live on air. The quartet , Prab, Lauren, Alex and Doug (a.k.a. singing group Classique) performed 'Mack the Knife' live complete with 4 part close harmony. Following the stunning performance they made Dave a promise to return on Children in Need night to sing accapella versions of patient requests as they tour the wards with the Northern Air team.
11th July 2008. Sir Alex Ferguson unveils commemorative plaque at Herristone Park
There was a glimpse of the divine when Alex Ferguson came to Crumpsall to mark the 40th anniversary of the opening of Herristone Park by fellow United hero Sir Matt Busby. Sir Alex revealed the plaque to a flurry of applause before officially kicking off the afternoon's school football tournament on the park's soccer courts. Northern Air's Programme Controller and Breakfast show presenter Dave Bee played host to two knights in one afternoon, Manchester City Council leader Sir Richard Leese and football legend Sir Alex Ferguson.
14th June 2008. The Northern Air 2008 Talent Competition
The Northern Air annual Talent contest has been running since June 2003 born from an idea Dave Bee and Tom Sogbetun (Crumpsall Carnival Chair) had as to how the station could raise funds in a different way to other than tin shaking and to promote the local carnival. Pictured with Dave Bee are winners, rock band Badger, one of whom is a Physiotherapist at Fairfield General Hospital, Bury.
3rd April 2008. Open evening at Northern Air Studios
It was celebrations all round for the volunteers at the open evening for Northern Air, the hospital radio station for North Manchester General Hospital. The Mayor of Bury, Councillor Farook Chaudhry, presented two long service awards. The first of the awards was to David Langer for 45 years' service. Northern Air had evolved from a hospital film and broadcasting service which was established in the 1960's at Delaunays Hospital by his late father, Stanley Langer. David had accompanied and helped his father from being a young boy. The other award went to Dave Bee, the radio station's programme controller, for 10 years' service. Dave, together with three other radio volunteers, Alex Ganotis, Hilary Bowick and joint chairman Marshall Gellman, were also recognised after being commended at the recent National Hospital Radio Awards ceremony held in Leeds. Dave and Alex made the top 10 nationally in the category of Male Presenter of the Year, while Hilary made the top 10 in the Best Newcomer section and Marshall was in the top 10 for Specialist Music. They received certificates from Michelle Totton, Channel M presenter, who was a Northern Air volunteer several years ago. Councillor Chaudhry said he was delighted to attend the open evening and to have been asked to present the long service awards. The evening event was held at the radio station at North Manchester General Hospital with an audience of prospective hospital radio volunteers who had responded to recent advertisements.
John Saxby, chief executive of Pennine Acute Trust, which runs the hospital, said he was pleased to see so many people interested in finding out more about being a hospital radio volunteer. He added: "Hospital radio really does make a difference. It lifts the spirits and acts as an important alternative and supplementary therapy to clinical care." He thanked Joe Sambrook, the station manager, and all the volunteers at Northern Air for all their hard work. If you are interested in becoming a hospital radio volunteer contact Northern Air on 0161-740 7474
Saturday 29th March 2008. Hospital Radio Awards 2008
This year was another successful year for us at Northern Air, as we picked up 2 Highly Commended and 1 Commended award at the National Hospital Radio Awards! The ceremony took place at the Queens Hotel in Leeds, and we were there to join in the fun with our team at the awards.
Photo. Left to right are Hillary Bowick, Rob Gough, Alex Ganotis and Dave Bee.