Steve Scruton is a familiar voice to many as the afternoon presenter on BBC Essex, in fact Steve has been involved with BBC Essex for many years and creator of the hugely popular Pirate BBC Essex project.

Before he made his mark as a professional broadcaster, Steve was Chairman for Hospital Radio Chelmsford for 8 years.  He still has a relationship with the radio station as its President.  Steve has also has a long association with the hospitals in Mid Essex as the President of St Johns League of Friends.

We asked Steve to share some of his memories from his time with Hospital Radio Chelmsford. 

After moving into the Chelmsford area I was looking for some voluntary work and HRC was offering training opportunities to anyone interested in radio. Well that was me. Since the days of pirate radio in the mid 60's I had the bug and always wanted to work behind the scenes in a radio studio.

HRC was very welcoming to everyone who attended on that first introduction night and I was told that if I gave my time they would invest it in training me in all aspects of radio production and presentation. It wasn't long before I was working on live programmes and soon offered a chance to present my own programme.

HRC relies on team effort and it soon became clear that the volunteer management team or committee were also in need of help. I eventually became chairman of the organisation for many years and working in all areas of operating and running the station gave me the confidence to apply to professional stations operating in Essex.

I joined BBC Essex in 1988 and after 12 years with HRC realised that all the hard work and opportunities that came my way were only possible because of the years put in as a volunteer.

If you are interested to know more about getting involved with Hospital Radio Chelmsford, click here, complete the form and we will be in contact you to answer any questions you may have.