Mental Health Awareness week is an annual event which encourages conversation about Mental Health so no one is left feeling that they cannot talk to others or seek help. This year’s theme is anxiety.
Some of our Harrow Today teams share their own stories and experiences in dealing with anxiety.
Opinion: Brewed Battle – Decaf vs Caffeine – By Andrew Bottcher
I’m sure you’ll agree that there is nothing better than a brew with breakfast. Especially on a Saturday morning, when the sun is out. It’s like a moment of calm to enjoy before starting the day.
Recently, I made the switch from regular caffeine to decaf for drinks like tea and coffee to help with my health, on advice from my GP. Initially, I thought that I’d be able to tell the difference and I wouldn’t get the same satisfaction as it’s caffeine counterpart. However, how wrong I was! From that first sip, I didn’t really notice the difference, the tea still tastes like tea.
According to research, decaf and regular caffeine drinks still give you the same benefits, such as reduced risk of diabetes so it’s a wonder why more coffee shops are not offering a decaf option for most drinks.
I’ve switched for over a year now and I do feel that I’ve noticed some great differences which have helped my day-to-day life. For instance, I don’t feel as tired after drinking caffeine as caffeine blocks the body’s natural tiredness hormone, giving you the ‘buzz’ of being awake, but then releasing tiredness back into your body once the caffeine wears off. Whereas decaf doesn’t block this, leading to regulated tiredness levels.
I’m not converting you to decaf, but simply sharing my own experiences of switching. What do you prefer in the battle of the brews? Let us know, join the conversation @radioharrow on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
We are looking for you to join us on weekly shows, to help curate exciting content and help us continue to grow the station. Join a team show and learn how to choose themes, pick a radio-friendly playlist and learn to engineer. We have various roles within our team shows, currently, we have a weekly R&B, Hip Hop how with Sneha every Sunday from 6pm, Rock n Radio Therapy with Pierre Sundays from 8pm and Monday Mix with Dance, Pop and Grime music with Peter plus our Harrow Today shows every night from 9pm.
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As 2021 ended and we headed into 2022, I thought about how much better life could be for all of us if we decided to break this unhealthy cycle. The last two years have been tough, with much isolation, pain and heartbreak. There have also been big gains, achievements, milestones and moments of joy. After the loneliness that the pandemic created, 2021 gave us the chance to hug our loved ones, to go out into the world again, and return to some version of normality. The world won’t ever be the same again, but the opportunity to connect with friends, family, colleagues and peers again brought great happiness. It was also tough adjusting to this new version of normality. We had become accustomed to spending time alone, sitting with our thoughts and our own company, and learning to be present and content with that. Maybe after years of spending lots of time with other people, maybe we’re more introverted than we like to believe. Perhaps we welcomed the opportunity to make these realisations about ourselves.
It goes without saying that the last two years were up and down. Whilst we should be proud of our personal and professional milestones and growth, achieved during a period in time like no other, there was a great loss and emotional distress, which had consequences on our mental health. So, let us enter this not so New Year, and the rest of our life, without putting extraordinary amounts of pressure on ourselves. Instead, let us just be. Yes, we will work hard, but let’s also reward ourselves, seek comfort when we need to and express our emotions without feeling shame.
We all put so much pressure on ourselves. We should strive to be better, learning and developing throughout our lives, but our actions need to reflect our individual circumstances. Our goals and intentions should be driven by what makes us happy and gives us purpose, rather than being influenced by comparison with our peers, filtered posts on social media or wider societal expectations.
On reflection, what would you like to leave behind in the past? Maybe it’s ending the cycle of negativity, inner critique and overthinking. Or perhaps it’s using your devices less, so you can be more present. Starting this internal dialogue helps shape what you’d like your life to be filled with. It’s not a trivial pursuit; it has a big impact on the goals and intentions you set for yourself. When you set these intentions, you may trip up along the way. This requires a lifetime of work, as human beings we are not perfect, we constantly make mistakes. In those moments, let go of self-judgement and critique, and embrace what you can learn from your failures, which are a big part of life. On the way, you can prioritise what really matters to you.
Let’s reward ourselves for working hard, recognise and celebrate our achievements and stop putting ourselves down. Here is to the rest of this year and the rest of your life. Whether you’re on a journey to a new you, or a better version of you, remember to enjoy it along the way and to give yourself a break. If you are struggling, don’t be afraid of connecting with others and reaching out for help.
Ed Sheeran has released some great songs in the past, the lovey-dovey pop songs, acoustic feel good songs, but this one hits different.
His latest collaboration with Fireboy DML shows off his vocal talent and versatility to sing in different languages. The production is way off the charts and is going to be a worldwide hit. The song has already hit the charts by a storm and is in the top 5, but let’s see how long it will stay in the top 5.
Ed has collaborated with Nigerian singer Fireboy DML and helped launch another star into the mainstream charts, since collaborating Fireboy’s streaming numbers have increased greatly. His most popular tracks are ‘Vibration’ and ‘Jealous’ reaching over 8 million streams. His tracks average at 4-8 million streams but particular tracks have greatly increased since his collab with Ed. Peru is currently at 65 million and is sitting steady at Number 2 on the Official Charts. When the song was first released popular film Encanto beat the track to Number 1 with ‘We Don’t Talk About Bruno’.
Do you think the track will finally get to number 1 now that the Encanto track has moved down in the charts?
Both artists sing about love and how passionate they are about the other person, but what do the lyrics actually mean?Peru para is actually in the language Yoruba, most widely spoken in West Africa and Nigeria.
In the chorus Ed and Fireboy sing:
“Peru para
Peru peru para
I’m loooo
Even Peru don dey para”
In short Fireboy DML is paying respect to artist Peruzzi’s song ‘Ohaa’. The memorable lyrics “Peru Para” mean ‘I’m loosing control’ and the song is about falling in love with someone so deeply.
Not only has Ed once again proved he is the most versatile artist, but a genius songwriter. 2022 is going to be a big year for him and we are looking forward to some more timeless hits.
Written by Sneha Mervana
If you’ve been looking for new music every week I will be posting new music across our socials to give you a flavour of the hottest tracks out now. This week we have some beautiful tracks to give you all the feels and get you feeling tingly and thinking about your loved ones.
Lauv has recently released his long-awaited album ’26’ and the title track is already a hit across streaming platforms and all over his socials. Have a listen to the honest yet compelling story about his career so far.
Jay Sean released his heartfelt song ‘Richest Man’, celebrating his incredible life which fame has blessed him with. Singing about his wonderful family and how he struggles to be away from his loved ones whilst touring or making music. Being a fan of his for a long time you can really understand what the lyrics mean:
I know I still got dreams to chase
Spending my time away
Robbing me of my days with you
So take care for me
Wait there for me
It’s so hard to be this far
I just wanna skip this part
Next up Jennifer Lopez and Maluma released the title track for their new movie ‘Marry Me’. This beautiful ballad has a radio edit plus the soft ballad version. Listening to both you can really hear the emotion and get lost in meeting that partner for life with who you can be yourself. A beautifully written track with honest lyrics. Perfect for all romance lovers.
Sigala brings the upbeat track of the week where you only want to be dancing with that one special person. More of a pop track but it will definitely get you moving. This is the first single from Sigala this year, hopefully, a full album is coming soon.
Lastly, The Script is finally back, this week they released another classic track called ‘I Want It All’. Singing about being that one person who you want to spend the rest of your life with.
Enjoy the tracks of the week, special Valentine’s edition and be sure to add them to your playlist.
Listen here:
Written by Sneha Mervana
During the past two years, learning to be kind to one’s self has been the hardest and most important lesson of all.
It would be an understatement of the century to say that the past two years have been challenging. What has made them even more difficult is the constant pressure we put on ourselves, the guilt we’ve internalised and the tendency towards comparison with others. This started at the beginning, with the onset of the first lockdown in March 2020. Suddenly, with many of us working from home or furloughed, and without having lengthy commutes every day, we had a lot of time on our hands. What to fill that time with? Our social media feeds were filled with people’s newfound ways to occupy their time – baking sourdough or banana bread, gardening, doing yoga or learning a new language. Social media has infamously brewed a culture of comparison, but that became even more toxic during the course of the pandemic when we had even more time to spend doom scrolling on our feeds. And it inevitably led to many of us feeling guilt, if we weren’t spending our time on such creative pursuits. Or maybe it led to us putting pressure on ourselves to be constantly doing and achieving, leading to burnout and other negative impacts on our mental health.
I certainly wasn’t filling the days of the first lockdown with these new hobbies. Not only was I feeling guilty about my supposed lack of achievement, and comparing my lack of productivity with others around me, but I started feeling lonely and isolated and my mental health started to deteriorate. And I found myself feeling guilty. Why me? What have I got to be down about? I kept telling myself I was lucky. I hadn’t lost my job, so I had financial security, and in fact, I was saving money from not commuting and socialising. I was able to work from home, so my health wasn’t being put at risk by going to work each day. I was living with my family, unlike many who were separated from their loved ones. I hadn’t had a drastic change of circumstances, unlike the many others I was hearing about each day when anxiously checking the news.
Of course this wasn’t a healthy way to approach the situation. If one of your loved ones is going through a difficult time, you wouldn’t minimise the way they’re feeling, or encourage them to look for a silver lining. So why do we do this to ourselves? We need to show ourselves the same kindness and compassion that we show to our family, friends, colleagues and peers when they are struggling. For me, I needed to remember that whatever my circumstances, my feelings were valid. The pandemic represented a complete upheaval of our lives and what was normal for us. Yes, there may have been silver linings from spending more time at home, or even just the ability to work from home when this was previously not possible. But that didn’t diminish the inevitable negative impact this crisis was having on us, whether that was dealing with practical consequences, the impact on our physical and mental health, the loss of normal aspects of our lives, anxiety about the future, loneliness and isolation and so forth.
During the upheaval that has been the last two years, self-care has never been more important. That means different things to different people. Self-care has a reputation for involving fancy pampering sessions in the spa, but it really doesn’t have to be so financially and practically out of reach. It can simply involve going for a walk to clear your head, reading a book, turning your phone off, dancing to music in your kitchen or whatever else brings you joy. Prioritising yourself can often seem selfish, but you can’t pour from an empty cup. You can only be your best self to others if you are taking care of and prioritising yourself.
An important part of self-care is kindness and acceptance. I wish I’d known that from the beginning of the pandemic. Accepting the way I was feeling, and that my feelings were valid. Acknowledging the extremely challenging times we were living in, and that it was going to have inevitable consequences for my mental health. Not comparing myself to others, and instead focusing on myself and what I needed. Not putting pressure on myself to constantly be doing and overachieving, but instead to simply be. These were all extremely valuable lessons, and I’m grateful that I’ve had the time to reflect and learn them. As we transition to the ‘new normal’, accepting that life is unlikely to ever be the same as it was before the pandemic, these lessons remain so important. People will have unsettling feelings and anxiety about what is to come in the future as we continue to navigate this uncertain time. We will continue to face challenges throughout our lives, but what remains important is how we approach those difficulties and how we care for ourselves. That includes being kind, forgiving and accepting, which is something I hope you’ll prioritise above all else.
Written by Anjeli Shah
Having recently read Adam Kay’s book ‘This is Going to Hurt’ I attended his stand up comedy show live at the Garrick Theatre.
Upon reading the book, I was struck by how funny and witty Kay comes across. It made me appreciate the difficulty of working in such an intensive environment (Kay previously worked in obstetrics and gynaecology), regularly dealing with emergencies and life-threatening situations, and how humour is a necessary survival tool for healthcare professionals. His stand up did not disappoint, with numerous laugh out loud moments, and creative medical inspired remakes of popular anthems and audience participation. The great thing about the show was that you don’t have to have read the book beforehand. Although if you did, you’d definitely recognise some of the diaries which he read aloud to the audience, you’d still be laughing throughout the show. If you hadn’t, you definitely had a lot to gain from his funny and thought-provoking insight into the life of a junior doctor.
Thought-provoking it is, as Kay, through his diaries, takes you on a journey throughout his career as a junior doctor, from joining the wards as a House Officer, to accomplish the achievement of gaining the title of Registrar. Whilst the majority of the live show was humorous and focused on the comical moments in his career, there were a number of heartbreaking diary entries that reveal the fragility, not only of life when it comes to treating patients, but also of a system in which the professionals are overworked and under-rewarded. Yes we hear constantly of staff shortages in the NHS, and perhaps it’s taken a global pandemic to realise the true urgency of the situation, but Kay’s portrayal reveals just how much it impacts the lives of doctors.
From rarely leaving work on time, to missing birthdays, anniversaries, having your holidays cancelled at short notice or having to come back early from your trip abroad, or just having to keep calm and carry on after a traumatic experience, never have I seen a more honest encapsulation of a career which simply does not allow for a work life balance. For the doctors there is no choice – the patient must always come first.
The most heartbreaking part of Kay’s story is towards the end of his career in medicine. Being the most senior clinician overseeing a traumatic birthing experience, something which after the event he can’t bury and carry on, as he and other doctors do day in day out, and with a lack of support whilst facing such a tough time, he is forced to leave medicine. It isn’t a decision that comes lightly. His passion for his patients, the NHS and the profession is reflected throughout his book and his presence on stage. What is the medical profession’s loss is the comedy circuit’s gain. What was truly joyful at the end of Kay’s show is how he used his time on stage to give a genuine heartfelt thank you to all the staff who keep the NHS running, to highlight how amazing this institution is (which despite its fractures and flaws there no institution comparable in the world) and to pay his respects to the frontline professionals who we have sadly lost during the pandemic.
I would strongly encourage you to read This is Going to Hurt and if you want to see Adam Kay live, his tour remains ongoing across the UK until December 2021. If you’re interested in medicine and healthcare, the book gives an insight into some of the technical and clinical aspects of life on hospital wards and in the specialism of obstetrics and gynaecology. Kay is careful not to assume his audience understand all the nuances and jargon in medicine, so it’s not an overly complex read. It is a delight to read, with the wit and humour Kay displays throughout the book, and which is ever more apparent during his live show. And perhaps most importantly, in the wake of the current crisis in the NHS, with backlogs of patient care, ever-growing waiting lists and staffing shortages, hopefully, Kay’s diary entries are something politicians will pay attention to when addressing these problems and prioritising the NHS in the future.
Written by Anjeli Shah
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For the first time, we are able to offer local businesses and charities a chance to purchase radio advertisements on Radio Harrow. As a radio station and a charity, we rely on the support of donations and grants to help us continue to provide our unique brand of award-winning Hospital Radio and community broadcasting.
We have TWO Advertising Options which we will provide the best coverage across our schedule at a competitive price.
Your adverts will play during the green part of the day. At Least 10 times each day
Find out more about Radio Harrow, our reach and our listeners with the 2021 Media Kit. Please read our Terms and Condition PDF to see if advertising is right for your business.
CONTACT US TO START
Radio Harrow has won GOLD at The HBA Awards 2021 for Station of the Year. We are incredibly proud of all our volunteers and contributors to the station, especially during the pandemic as we’ve all had a tough year.
The awards were held remotely on Saturday 20th March during the Hospital Broadcasting Association conference and broadcasted to over one hundred people. Normally the ceremony is held in different parts of the UK such as Bristol and nominated stations are encouraged to attend. However, as this year’s ceremony was streamed attendees had online access and we await for more highlights from the HBA YouTube channel.
The Management Board gave “a special thanks to all the volunteers and presenters who have been working hard over the last year, keeping Radio Harrow on the air through a difficult time. The past 12 months have seen live shows made at home, interviews conducted over Zoom and even programs being recorded in bedrooms & cars during the UK lockdown.”
Chairman David Reece said: “I am so pleased with what we have been able to accomplish as a station and as a charity. It is an amazing feeling to know that we have been able to do something so positive during such a controversial time.”
Radio Harrow Secretary, Ben Punter added: “I’m massively proud of what our team has achieved these past twelve months, managing to create some amazing, touching, and unique radio.”
Communications Manager, Sneha Mervana: “It’s great to see all the talent we have behind the scenes in and out of the studio. There are some incredibly talented individuals who continue to support and help the station grow.”
Radio Harrow continues to provide patients & those in the community with an amazing selection of shows, interviews and a great selection of music. Recently Podcasts have been launched for Sports and Ed Talks. Check it out on Spotify.
If you would like to get involved remotely email us at liaison@radioharrow.org or comms@radioharrow.org
Follow us @radioharrow on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter for vibrant stories and new music news.
Radio Harrow has been shortlisted for four awards at the Hospital Broadcasting Association Awards 2021. The award nominations were announced on Monday 1st March, and the awards set to take place remotely on Saturday 20th March.
Radio Harrow programme ‘The Shuffle’ has been nominated for ‘Best Station Promotion’, while daily segment ‘The Wall of Sound’ secured a nod in the ‘Specialist Music’ category.
‘The Shuffle’ airs weekdays at 10am and ‘The Wall of Sound’ at 4:30pm.
The station has also earned a nomination in the ‘Special Event’ category for Radio Harrow’s coverage of the Duck Pond Market, from last September in Gunnersbury Park.
Presenter Lydia June Meredith said: “We wanted to create something a bit different for our listeners and to showcase positivity and normality at a time of such uncertainty, even if we had to interview using selfie sticks to distance ourselves”.
Presenter Natascia Bernardi added “Being able to interview stalls owners and interact with the public after so much time in isolation made Live at The Duckpond Market so special for all of us involved”.
Radio Harrow are up against nine other stations to claim the highly coveted ‘Station Of The Year’ award.
Programme Manager Andrew Bottcher said: “I’m delighted that Radio Harrow has been nominated for four Hospital Broadcasting Awards! It’s a fantastic achievement for all volunteers at the station and I’m really proud that even during these difficult times, we can still produce top quality content for Harrow”.
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