HOSPITAL Radio Basingstoke (HRB) is celebrating an incredible 40 years on the air this month.

Over the last four decades the station, run entirely by volunteers, has entertained countless patients at Basingstoke hospital, in Aldermaston Road.

HRB will hold a celebration day on Saturday, April 28 with presenters, past and present, in the studio at the hospital.

To celebrate the milestone, the team at the station will also hold a number of 40-based activities and fundraisers throughout the year, including HRB volunteers donating 40 pints of blood, and the station working in partnership with Age Concern to help 40 older people access services.

Neil Ogden, 41, programme controller for the station, said it was almost unrecognisable from when he started volunteering in 1990 at the age of just 19.

Mr Ogden, from Tadley, said: “We didn’t have a single computer when I started and we didn’t get one until 1996. Now everything is done by computer which makes things easier.

“The cabin we broadcast from has changed over the years and I have seen a lot of presenters come and go.

“But the reason hospital radio exists has stayed the same of course. It’s all about making the patients happy.”

Over the years Mr Ogden has welcomed celebrity guests to the station including Keith Chegwin, Peter Duncan, Toyah Wil-cox, Noel Edmonds and Basil Brush.

Christine Rowley, who has been at the station for nearly a year and who recently picked up an award for her presenting, said HRB was a fantastic place to volunteer.

She added: “You get some really good training and because everyone also has full-time jobs, we all work together, with the ward visitors taking the requests and the DJs playing them.”

To find out how to volunteer for HRB visit hrbasingstoke.co.uk.