Volunteering

Everyone, and by that we do mean everyone, is welcome to come and participate at Walsall Hospital Radio, whether as an on-air presenter or alternatively simply helping to run the station and raise funds. We have staff members ranging from the very young to the very young at heart and from many different backgrounds. Opportunities exist in the following areas –

• Presenting – Whilst the mixing desk may look a little daunting at first glance, thanks to our excellent training you’ll soon find that it’s actually very simple to operate. As a new presenter we’ll teach you how to use things like the faders, the playout system, the MiniDiscs etc to give you all the skills required to host your own show. Once you are trained and are happy working with the studio you will be allocated a slot and then are free to present a show of your choosing.

• Station admin – Easily as important as presenting, admin volunteers make sure that the station is kept in healthy running order by doing jobs such as updating the record library, answering correspondence and walking the wards to collect requests.

• Fundraisers – Walsall Hospital Radio would be unable to operate were it not for the tireless efforts of those who go out to raise the station money. Many volunteers do a mix of all three of these jobs.  

If any of the above appeal to you, or you feel that you might be able to support Walsall Hospital Radio in another way, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us through the ‘Contact Us’ page of this site. If you'd like to be considered as a potential volunteer then please download an Application Form and mail it back to us. We'll review it and get in touch as soon as we are able!  

New Volunteers

We know that new volunteers at the station might be a little nervous about taking their first steps towards taking on a show which is why we always make sure that we do everything we can to make them feel at home. Our staff are friendly and being radio DJs, very, very talkative. There is a sound (get it!?) training program in place at WHR that new volunteers hoping to present work their way through and subject to approval of a demo tape, new recruits could find themselves behind the mixing desk hosting their own show in around six weeks. 

The first stage of the training process is to familiarise you with the studio equipment. As you can see from the photo of the mixing desk, it can look a little daunting at first glance, but don't be put off as it's actually very simple to operate. Each fader controls the volume of a different input to the desk e.g. the two CD players, the MiniDisc decks, playout computer etc and all you have to remember is which fader operates which input. This in itself is not hard as the faders are neatly labelled.

Aside working the faders, you will be taught things like how to cue up tracks, how to search the station's digital library, the best way of making yourself heard clearly through the microphones and many other cool little radio tips that have been passed down from volunteer to volunteer over the station's thirty year history. To hone these skills you'll be allowed to practise off-air in the studio and work towards making a demo tape for review by the Program Manager. In addition to this training it is also likely that you'll be assigned to observe a volunteer's show being presented live so to give you the chance to take notes and ask any questions you might have. 

Once you've produced a demo tape and it's has been approved by our staff (rejections are rare and we'll be more than happy to offer tips for improvements), the next stage is taking up responsibility for your very own show. You might want to indulge your passion for oldies, or add a little bhangra to the station's output, or maybe even skip music altogether and present a spoke word show. Where ever your interests lie, so long as we think patients in the hospital will benefit from your show's format, our microphones are open!

If the prospect of presenting doesn't appeal to you or you'd rather watch how it's done before going any further, we have plenty of off-air activities to take part in. As you'll find stressed again and again around this site, fundraising really is crucial to keeping the station going and so we always welcome an extra pair of hands in this area. Have a look at the 'Fundraising' page of the website to find out more about what you could be doing to help the patients staying at the Manor.    

Fancy joining us as a volunteer? Great! Simply download our Application Form, fill it in and mail it back to us. We'll then review it and get in touch.

Download a Volunteer Application Form 
(Please Note - the above form is in .PDF format and will require a program such as Acrobat Reader or similar to view. An alternative .DOC format copy of the form, viewable in Microsoft Word, is available here)  

Please note – It is a requirement of the hospital that all new volunteers be CRB checked before being accepted as members of the WHR staff.