Happy 25th Birthday to our current studios!
It was 25 years ago in September 2024 that our current studios re opened following a major refit. Members spent two years fundraising and, together with this, donations and a National Lottery grant, were able to begin work on modernising our studios. Radio DGH was off air for the duration of the refit which took around 4 months. Back then, we were only broadcasting for around 50 hours a week with our shows being on during the evenings and across the weekend. 25 years on we find ourselves broadcasting 24 hours a day, 7 days a week not only to the patients in the DGH but to those listening online – how times change!! The studios are still going strong too. On Sunday 1st September, The Sunday Morning Show with Mick Funnell looked back to that weekend 25 years ago with some snippets of how we sounded back then. We know that some of our former members still follow us so if you have any pictures of the refit then please post them below as we’d love to take a look back!
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Radio DGH Eastbourne was established originally by Adrian Tongue and his friend Philip Bull in 1976 to provide entertainment and information for Eastbourne Hospital patients, building on the original “records request” service in the old St Marys and Princess Alice units which had been running since 1951.
Soon lots of volunteers came forward and with new equipment and facilities in 1980 following major fund raising activity a new studio was opened by comedian Ken Goodwin.
Since then the station has expanded and embraced new technology and broadcasting techniques. In 1999 further improvements to the studios were made after more fund raising, including a grant from the National Lottery.
Radio DGH Eastbourne now has 20 volunteers and presenters making sure that patients in hospital and local health facilities can enjoy entertainment and helpful information from our service too.
In 2017, Radio DGH went live on the internet to become an online radio station and can be heard on the Website, www.radiodgheastbourne.com, the Tunein app and smart speakers as well as Hospedia, the hospital bedside radio.
OVER FORTY YEARS OF HISTORY
Adrian Tongue
One of Radio DGH’s co-founders
