The Sound of Sunday on HRB

There are some things it just wouldn't be summer without, and the Froyle Fete is one of those.

This village fete has been running for 70 years in the village of Froyle near Alton.  It really is the typical English village fete with side shows, stalls, arena events and the flower show. 

I have been going since 2010, but HRB's Paul le Feuvre has been providing the PA for the event for over 25 years.  We'll be there again this weekend, recording a summer special that can be heard on Sunday 31 July at 12.30.  On the show, as well as featuring the event itself and talking to some of those that are there, there will be live music and we'll give away some HRB mugs in the Brain Teaser competition.

Join us on 31 July to hear all about it!

It's hard to believe that it's 4 years since all the celebrations of 2012.  The Queen's Diamond Jubilee followed by the Olympics and Paralympics with Euro 2012 and other events mixed in as well made it, in the words of the BBC One promo at the time, One Amzing Summer. 

I don't think that will ever be beaten.  It would take a lot for all those events to just come together again – and I don't think it will ever happen.  It could get close though every so often and this year sees the cycle of European Football Championships and Olympics and Paralympics come round again. 

It also all coincides with the Queen's 90th birthday celebrations which happen this weekend with the service of thanksgiving, Trooping the Colour and on Sunday street parties all over the UK.

We'll be a a local street party in Odiham this Sunday to join in the celebrations.  Memory Makers The European Championship Years returns and in a few weeks time we'll turn our attention to Rio for the build up to the Olympics.

We're live all the way to the end of the current series in July, our longest ever run which will culminate with our summer special from the 70th Froyle Fete.

We won't beat 2012, but I have a feeling that summer 2016 is just getting going into something great.

See you on Sunday. 

It's 3 months since the 1000th show came live from the home of London 2012.  We';ve put together a one-hour show with the best bits of that show, which started at the Copper Box Arena and finished at the top of The Orbit, passiing through the Velodrome and the Aquatics Centre along the way. 

So for another taste of the show, listen at 1pm on Monday 6 June.

I can't believe it is nearly a month since a hospital radio event was held at the Peninsula Hotel in Guernsey, but at the start of May, some of the South's hospital radio volunteers gathered for the final regional event to be organised by the Hospital Broadcasting Association. 

It was a fantastic weekend and this Sunday you can hear the Sound of Sunday that we recorded there.

We'll explore some of the surrounding area, talk to some of the other hospital radio volunteers that were there as well as Richard Harding from Island FM, the island's commercial radio station and the station with the highest audience share of any UK commercial radio station.

So listen in this Sunday afternoon at 3 to our special show from Guernsey.

Amazingly enough it's another bank holiday weekend this weekend.  We're still waiting for the warmer weather..  Maybe it's not too far away.  We can hope!

The most remarkable Premier League season ever could take another twist this weekend – Leicester play on Sunday and if they beat Manchester United, they will be champions.  We'll have live reports from the match, which kicks off at five past two.

On 15th May we will of course have the story of the last day of the Premier League season when all 10 final matches kick off at 3pm.  Leicester are at Chelsea that afternoon so it could be the case that last year's champions literally hand over the trophy to the new champions. 

This Sunday, HRB will, for the first time ever, play requests for people outside Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital.

Even though the station can be heard online, it still only broadcasts specifically to those in the hospital buildings – and any permanent change would involve a change in the station's constitution.

However, two local care homes recently approached the station to talk about the possibility of playing requests for their residents, so this Sunday, HRB will be broadcasting to Basingfield Court Residential Care Home in Old Basing and Ashley House Residential Care Home in Bordon in a special hour-long programme. 

Broadcasting to care and residential homes is something that is done by some other hospital radio stations very successfully, and their programmes are known to be appreciated by those who listen.  When HRB first started broadcasting online in 2012, it was suggested that it would enable the station to widen its audience, and this four month trial could be the start of that.

Sp this weekend, we're looking forward to extending The Sound of Sunday for an hour to play requests for our new audience and if successful, it will continue long into the future.

We're planning a number of special shows over the coming weeks as we head towards the end of our 25th season.

Sunday 5 June 3 – 4.45pm

It's hard to believe that we are a quarter of the way through the year already.  The clocks have been altered and the evenings are definitely lighter, and thoughts are turning to the summer and all the events that will bring.

We are already looking ahead to featuring many of them.  Our annual build up to Eurovision started last weekend with the return of Eurovision's Greatest Hits which is part of Memory Makers this year.  After Eurovision it will be the European Football Championships and then the Olympics. 

In Basingstoke we'll be featuring the Basingstoke Festival and a number of other local events including the usual Alton Classic Car Show in September.

Before we know it, we'll be altering the clocks and it will be nearly Christmas!