Davinia Overton speaks to 93-year-old DJ Ron Wallbank and his fellow volunteers at Brighton’s hospital radio station

Back in the mid-1980s Madonna began her Virgin Tour, Live Aid concerts took the world by storm and three men in Sussex decided to set up a hospital radio station.

One of those three was Ron Wallbank, who with his friends managed to persuade the management at Worthing Hospital to provide a venue for a studio.

They were offered a three-bedroom house, which volunteers re-painted, re-plumbed and re-wired at their own expense, and Coastway Hospital Radio was born.

Ron first went on air with Coastway in 1987 and still presents his weekly show – Music Maestro Please, which at the age of 93 may well make him England’s oldest radio presenter.

He said: “I’ve always been involved with music throughout my life – I used to be a drummer and played in dance bands for many years. “I later found that when I retired from my usual work, hospital radio gave me the chance to keep an interest going in music.”

Ron makes an impressive three-hour round trip on the bus each week to present his program to Coastway listeners.

Another long-standing Coastway volunteer is Janet Lawrence, who has been presenting her classical music show Coastway Classics for 21 years.

“I like being behind a microphone, I like talking. “I’m not an actress but I think I have a voice that’s suitable for radio,” she said.

Passionate about the importance of ward visiting as part of her role, Janet has been all over the Royal Sussex County Hospital where Coastway is now based, talking to patients and taking requests.

She has even been known to persuade local florists to give her flowers to present to mothers on the maternity ward on New Year’s Day to celebrate the first babies of the year.

Janet has interviewed numerous artists on her show over the years, and some people she has met through Coastway have changed her life.

She said: “I have met John Peel, Jacqui Dankworth, Humphrey Lyttelton.

“You name the leader of any orchestra in this town and I’ve probably interviewed them and had them in this studio.”

Alongside the established volunteers there are those who have begun presenting more recently, such as John Lithgow and Tom Kent.

Their Saturday show includes a Name That Tune slot played by Tom on ukulele, who is a member of Brighton bands Sweet Jonny and SearchBear.

Tom said: “Being a man who truly loves the retro sound of the 60s, 70s and 80s I get the freedom to play the greatest music to the greatest audience.”

Coastway volunteers also support the local community beyond the hospital by enabling students with special educational needs from St John’s School and College to broadcast live from the studio every month.

One volunteer, Charlie Plunkett, inspired fellow author Carol E Wyer to write her latest book, Three Little Birds, about a hospital radio presenter who finds herself completing outrageous challenges to save the station.

“It was a total surprise that I had inspired Carol to write her book,” said Charlie. “I understand that she was in hospital herself for some time in the past and the hospital radio was what actually kept her going,” she said.

Coastway has faced a number of challenges over the years, not least in the location moves it has undergone, and is set to move again when the Royal Sussex has a £420m re-vamp in 2015.

Aside from being given a room for a studio by the hospital, Coastway, a registered charity, has to self-fund all broadcasting costs and equipment, which runs into thousands of pounds.

Keiron Dennie is Coastway’s new chairman and has been working hard to keep the station running efficiently despite encountering some technical obstacles.

“The company that was our streaming company went under literally overnight so all of our broadcasting over the internet went out overnight,” reveals Keiron. “There is now a new way of streaming but I’m trying to get people involved with helping us build a new website, which as you can imagine costs time and money.”

Keiron desperately needs more funding and volunteers who understand audio and website development and maintenance to join the team.

However, he is confident that Coastway can and does provide a really valuable service and said: “The Hospital Broadcasting Association has proved that people in hospital like to listen to hospital radio rather than the mainstream stations because they feel it is a local service. “People can interact with the show, they can talk to us from their bedside unit.”

Times have certainly changed since Coastway’s inception in the house in Worthing and the digital age is here to stay, but Coastway volunteers young and old are determined to keep the airwaves buzzing.

l Anyone interested in volunteering for Coastway should contact chairman.coastway@ gmail.com l Visit www.coastway.org.uk to listen live or donate.