Local Radio Day – May 27th

Tuesday, 24th May 2016
Ahead of the Bank Holiday Weekend, Radio Harrow will be participating in Local Radio Day, broadcasting a special set of programmes during the day on Friday 27th May.

Local Radio Day, founded by UK Radio Developments (UKRD) will see radio stations up and down the country participate by hosting a wide array of special programming.

On their official website, UKRD said: “Local Radio Day (27th May) celebrates the partnership that exists between radio stations and their listeners and sets out to demonstrate the difference that local really makes. Local Radio can help local businesses prosper and thrive, making a real impact on the economy of the areas where it still exists and it can provide skills and training to local people.”

Since it’s inception and launch in April 2015, Radio Harrow has been at the heart of activity in Harrow, with live outside broadcasts, specialist programming, in-studio guests, as well as being a constant presence in the community. Run and led by volunteers, the radio station also runs its own befriending service, with volunteers co-ordinating daily visits to the wards of Northwick Park Hospital, and discussing health and well-being issues on the radio.

Local businesses, organisations and societies are regularly featured on the Radio Harrow schedule. The station also keeps programming available to listeners for an additional 30 days after the initial broadcast on our Listen Again service. The ex-Mayor of Harrow, Krishna Suresh, recently awarded a certificate to the radio station, recognising its services to the people of Harrow.

On Friday, the station will start its celebration of Local Radio Day, with RH Breakfast, hosted by Gary Walker. Following this will be various throwback segments looking back at events that the station has participated in over the last year.

Be sure to tune in from 6AM on Friday 27th May. For more information about Local Radio Day visit: http://www.localradioday.co.uk

Watch Roger Cutsforth, Managing Director of The Radio Academy share his thoughts on local radio and Radio Harrow with London360:

‘My Way Five’ By David P Perlmutter

Saturday, 21st May 2016

Author David P Perlmutter joined the Radio Harrow Breakfast Show to talk about his new book ‘My Way Five About LIFE’, a book that tackles the topic of mental health in an innovative process. The book is the fifth instalment of David’s ‘My Way’ series.

David P Perlmutter is a successful, Amazon best-selling self-published author who began the ‘My Way’ series to help fellow indie authors with tips on how to self-publish and get their books to Number 1. Books 1-3 in the ‘My Way’ series focused purely on book marketing, but as David’s fan-base increased he decided to not only give some background into how authors got started on their own writing journeys but also give some samples of their work with links to their books. 

Deciding to fit the genres to the book numbers, for example, ‘May the Fourth Be With You’, features sci-fi authors and was published to coincide with Star Wars Day. ‘My Way Five’ was always going to be about Life with authors and bloggers who write about life issues which has turned out to be predominantly mental health related.

‘My Way Five’ features a foreword by mental health charity SANE with a percentage of the proceeds from the book also going towards the charity. It was released to coincide with Mental Health Awareness Week.

In his interview David talks about the brave contributors to his book who have opened their hearts to write, speak or blog about their own life experiences, which include stories of depression, anxiety, child abuse, addiction, domestic violence and much more. He also shared his views on social media.

Listen to the full interview on our Mixcloud below:

Mayor recognises Radio Harrow’s achievements

Friday, 20th May 2016

Radio Harrow received a certificate of recognition from the outgoing Mayor of Harrow. On his final day as Mayor,  Krishna Suresh invited Radio Harrow’s Programming Manager, Gary Walker to his office to present him with a certificate of recognition of the station’s services to the people of Harrow.

Upon receiving the certificate Gary Walker said he felt “honoured for Radio Harrow to be recognised for its commitment to providing a health and well-being service to the Borough”. He said “the certificate is also recognition for all the hard work and dedication of each of our volunteers who give so much of their time to the charity”.

Earlier in the week, the Mayor had joined Radio Harrow’s Breakfast Show to talk about his final week in power. He took the office of Mayor in May 2015 and turned over the reigns on Thursday 19th May 2016.

Krishna Suresh was elected as a Labour councillor in 2010 and has been serving the Rayners Lane ward of Harrow. Before he became Mayor he was Deputy Mayor and sat on the Licensing Committee.

He is also the ethnic minority officer for the Harrow West branch of the Labour Party. As an active member of the community he was a Community Champion and worked closely with the Safer Neighbourhood Team.

The outgoing Mayor praised the volunteer organisations in the borough and described his most enjoyable parts of being Mayor in the interview.

Listen to the full interview on our Mixcloud below:

Interview with singer Héllena

Friday, 20th May 2016

Greek born singer/songwriter Héllena joined the Radio Harrow Breakfast Show to talk about the release of her latest single “Now I See”.  

Héllena (formerly Helena Micy) decided to take a leap of faith and moved to the UK in 2011 to work with MTV award-winning producer Stereo Mike. Héllena made it into the MTV Unsigned Top 20 and gained 6 Gold awards on BEAT100 for “Don’t Change” and “Dream Big”.

In March 2013 she performed at SXSW festival and by early 2014 she reached No1 in ReverbNation’s Soul/R’N’B UK charts. She also appeared on Simon Lederman’s BBC London 94.9 FM show in 2014. Héllena is building a strong online fanbase and performing live with her band across the UK.

The now Harrow based singer/songwriter talked with Gary Walker about her music, her career and her life and played three of her songs including her latest single “Now I see” which was released in May 13th, 2016. 

Listen to the full interview on the Radio Harrow Mixcloud below:

‘POETS Day’ with Mark Brookes

Sunday, 1st May 2016
Mark and Archie Brookes from the 'Poets Day'

Author Mark Brookes joined Ben Felton on the ‘Freedom Friday’ show to talk about his upcoming play ‘POETS Day’.

Mark Brookes was accompanied by his son Archie, who stars in the play. Mark, a former electrician, originally wrote the play as a short story to give his teenage son, Archie, some fatherly advice regarding alcohol and drug abuse.

‘POETS Day’ is a cautionary tale that centres on what can go wrong when a youngster doesn’t have the right support, love and influences around them from an early age. Barnardo’s, the charity has partnered with the play so that 100% of the net profit from tickets will go to support the charity.

Alongside Archie Brookes, the play also stars Lee Barnett, an actor from the award winning children’s TV Show ‘The Slammer’. Lee will play the lead character, a middle-aged drunken bully whose life is still haunted by a tragic event.

To find out more about ‘POETS Day’, including the cast, story and how to get tickets for the performances at the Compass Theatre, Ickenham in August 2016 go to http://poetsday.org.uk/

Pinner Wheelbarrow Race 2016

Tuesday, 26th April 2016

We hosted a live broadcast from the annual Pinner Wheelbarrow Race on Sunday 24th April. Each year, The Rotary Club of Pinner host a traditional St. George’s Day celebration around Pinner High Street. The centrepiece of the celebrations is the annual Ye Olde Wheelbarrow Race.

The race is a unique event in which teams of two take it turns to push their partner in a wheelbarrow, drink beer and race from Little Common to the High Street and into Church Green. Two of Radio Harrow’s volunteers, Jon Hart and Ant Sunney took part in the wheelbarrow race and came 8th out of 15.

Not content without a win, Jon and Ant also immersed themselves in the other activities throughout the day – and they came up with a win in the jousting. There was plenty for spectators to enjoy with entertainment from singer Gemma Turner, the Merrydowners Morris Men, the Herga Mummers and Punch and Judy. Plus there was a bouncy castle, a number of other stalls and a special addition this year, a petting farm.

A hugely fun day for the whole family, the celebrations also involved several local businesses on the High Street, with the Queens Head pub holding a hugely successful beer festival and the Friends Restaurant providing a hog roast.

Take a look back at all of our pictures from the day:

Radio Harrow on the Community Channel

Wednesday, 20th April 2016

On Monday 18th April, Radio Harrow featured on the Community Channel. A segment about the charity was broadcast on the London360 programme – a show which tells stories from within the London community.

The package featured several interviews with members of Radio Harrow. Co-Founder Matt Blank, described how the station formed and how volunteers have been transitioning from hospital radio to community radio. Volunteers Manager, Miles Otway and Thursday Night Studio Manager, Amit Pall talked about their roles at Radio Harrow and why they enjoy volunteering at the charity.

The video also features Roger Cutsforth, Managing Director of The Radio Academy who talks about the importance of community radio stations and why they serve to function. The segment was produced by Savan Gandecha an alumni member of Radio Northwick Park (Radio Harrow’s former organisation), who also presented the episode of the London360 show.

With lots of anecdotes and comments from other volunteers at the station, the package highlighted the benefits of volunteering at Radio Harrow and showcased the charity.

Watch the full interview with Roger Cutsforth from The Radio Academy to find out what he says about Radio Harrow and other local radio stations:

Radio Harrow Celebrates 1st Anniversary

Sunday, 17th April 2016

On Saturday 16th April, Radio Harrow celebrated its first anniversary as a community radio station. As part of the celebrations the charity, which officially formed on the 19th April 2015, also paid homage to its late co-founder, Keith Chilvers by renaming the main studio, ‘The Keith Chilvers Studio’.

The charity formed a year ago, when Radio Northwick Park and Harrow Community Radio merged together to form a new community radio station. The charity, which has more than 100 volunteers, serves to promote health and wellbeing in the Harrow community and continues to run a daily befriending service in Northwick Park Hospital. The past year has seen many highlights for the charity, including a summer of events across the Borough, a campaign supporting local charities across the 12 days of Christmas and two nominations at the 2016 Hospital Broadcasting Awards.

Keith Chilvers, one of the co-founders of Radio Harrow, lost his battle to bowel cancer in November 2015. Not only did Keith play a huge part in the creation of Radio Harrow, he was also a Trustee at Radio Northwick Park and helped to shape the formation of the main studio during its development. That studio now forms part of the Radio Harrow premises.

Trustee Claire Knight, introduced the renaming ceremony and spoke of Keith Chilvers’ influence at the charity, “it is without question, that none of us would be standing here at Radio Harrow today had it not been for Keith. He was a great inspiration to all of us and we hope by naming the studio after him, his story will continue to inspire current and future volunteers at the station.”

Keith’s wife and daughters unveiled the new plaque renaming the studio. Upon seeing the plaque, Kim Chilvers said “Keith would have been proud as punch to receive this honour at the station. He truly loved Radio Harrow and he would have been so excited and honoured to receive this”.

The emotional ceremony was attended by current members of the station, as well as alumni members of Radio Northwick Park and Harrow Community Radio.

Take a look at our pictures from the day:

Record Store Day 2016

Thursday, 14th April 2016
Record Store Day Logo
Saturday 16th April is Record Store Day which celebrates the UKs independent record stores and second hand shops. 

The record store industry has struggled in the past 10 years with the rise of MP3s and online streaming services, but each year Record Store Day reminds people to support their nearest stores and local businesses. Stores across the country are celebrating Record Store Day with live bands, special deals and exclusive vinyl releases.

Ben Punter spoke to Mark Burgess, who is the manager of Flashback Records in North London, about Record Store Day, the resurgence of vinyl and community nature of record shops. Listen to the full interview on our Mixcloud below:

Other local stores taking part include The LP Cafe in Watford and Firefly Records in Uxbridge. To find out more head to RecordStoreDay.co.uk

World Tuberculosis Day

Friday, 25th March 2016
World Tuberculosis Day

On Thursday 24th March, Radio Harrow hosted a special 8-hour broadcast in aid of World Tuberculosis (TB) Day. The special show was a culmination of 6 weeks of raising awareness about Tuberculosis in Harrow as part of Voluntary Action Harrow’s recent ‘TB Awareness Grant’.

Tuberculosis is a bacterial infection, which mainly affects the lungs. The disease is most common amongst BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) groups. Rates of TB in Harrow are nearly double the London average. Working alongside the London North West Healthcare NHS Trust, Radio Harrow sought to help raise awareness of the disease, which is entirely preventable and curable.

Over the 6 weeks we ran special public service announcements throughout our programming, describing symptoms of TB and the types of services available in the area. The public service announcements were broadcast in several different languages including Gujarati and German.

On World TB Day, the 8-hour show featured a variety of guests including a number of former patients speaking about their experience with TB. We also featured interviews with staff at Northwick Park Hospital’s Infectious Diseases Department, including the lead nurse specializing in TB and the TB consultant, Dr McGregor. The broadcast also showcased a flavour of Northwick Park Hospital’s own activities for World TB Day, including the TB Unit’s staff bake sale.

Several volunteers presented and contributed to the special show, Programming Manager, Gary Walker steered the group alongside Daniel Cash and William Njobvu. They were joined by Charles Biggie, Vic Moont and John Sanger who helped to conduct interviews throughout the day.

Programming Manager, Gary Walker described the broadcast as a “great success”. Gary said “we received a good deal of interest from listeners online and on social media, so we hope to have helped to make people aware of the Tuberculosis services in Harrow”.

Find out more about the symptoms and local treatments for Tuberculosis here.

David Perry on Harrow’s Big Issues

Monday, 21st March 2016

David Perry, the Leader of the Harrow Council and the Labour Group for Harrow joined the Breakfast Show to answer questions about the Borough.

Gary Walker grilled the Leader of the council about a variety of topics from local to national issues. David Perry offered his take on local issues such as housing, council tax and the recent campaign to save the Harrow Arts Centre. He said that the recent housing crisis is one of the biggest issues that the Borough faces. He described the ways in which his team is working to improve the housing crisis situation in Harrow.

David also shared some thoughts on the Brexit, the expansion of a third runway at Heathrow Airport and also spoke about the Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn. He also described the process and candidates of the upcoming local elections and the mayoral election which takes place in the summer.

David was also asked to select some songs which had particular meanings and memories for him throughout the show.

Listen to the full hour-long interview on our Mixcloud below:

Totally TINA is Simply the Best

Saturday, 19th March 2016

Justine Riddoch who portrays Tina Turner in the Totally TINA Tribute Show spoke to Gary Walker ahead of their upcoming show in the Beck Theatre in Hayes on Thursday 24th March.

Totally TINA is an award-winning tribute to the Queen of Rock and Roll, Tina Turner; the show was given the “Official UK number one” honour by the Agents Association of Great Britain. The group headlined the 2015 Glastonbudget Festival in May last year (the biggest tribute festival of the year).

Since then the group have been touring the UK theatres in a full production version with a live band and dancers. The show focuses on Tina’s live concert career, replicating scenes from various tours over the last 50 years with custom twists and turns created by Justine and her cast.

Justine’s first big venture into tribute acts took place in 2002 when she appeared on ITV’s “Stars in their eyes” as Anastasia. It wasn’t until 2008 when she was told that she sounded like Tina Turner that Justine began to transform herself into a tribute act to the iconic singer.

For more information and tickets to their show at the Beck Theatre on the 24th March click here.

Listen to the full interview on our Mixcloud below:

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