NHS hails 'amazing' presenter who has spent 45 years volunteering at Stoke Mandeville Hospital Radio

Buckinghamshire NHS Trust CEO Neil Macdonald presented Martin Kinch with a special certificate to mark his 45 years in hospital radio.

On Friday (30 August) Martin was given a long service certificate for volunteering in recognition of his role in building the community radio station.

Neil said: “Martin's dedication and time that he puts in is an amazing example of volunteering and the difference it can make to people's lives.”

Martin started out at Stoke Mandeville Hospital Radio soon after the station was formed in 1979. He is one of the volunteers who give up their free time to enable the not-for-profit station to remain on the air entertaining patients. He presents an ‘oldie show’ called ‘Solid Gold’ every Monday evening at 6pm.

Martin said in 2022: “When I first started, the only way people could hear us was through plastic tubes coming out of the wall in the wards, now, thanks to years of fundraising and hard work by our dedicated team we broadcast on 101.8 FM and also online, we also have our own app which can be downloaded onto phones and tablets.”

During his time on air Martin has interviewed some of the biggest names in the UK music scene including Tony Hadley, Tim Rice, and Tony Blackburn.

One of Martin’s favourite experiences at the radio station was when he interviewed Wizzard frontman Roy Wood in a pub.