Radio Nene Valley: Northampton Hospital radio station turns 50

Radio Nene Valley first broadcast in 1971

A radio station that aims to brighten patients' stays in hospital has turned 50 years old.

Radio Nene Valley (RNV), based at Northampton Hospital, celebrated the milestone on Sunday.

Set up in 1971, the station is run by volunteers and broadcasts to patients throughout the hospital.

Chairman Kevin Askew said: "Our agenda is aimed towards patients, to make their stay in hospital a little less frightening, a little less boring."

Kevin Askew and Steve Riches spoke to BBC Radio Northampton's John Griff about 50 years of Radio Nene Valley

Radio Nene Valley broadcast the 1977 Silver Jubilee Carnival Parade live from Cheyne Walk in Northampton

Mr Askew said RNV, which operates as a charity, was always looking for more people to come onboard.

Steve Riches, its launch presenter, said part of the station's ethos was about extending the "one-to-one relationship" between presenter and listener into the hospital setting.

"I was insistent people got round the wards, talked to the patients and saw what they needed," he said.