Radio North Angus, the voluntary independent local radio and hospital broadcasting service is celebrating 25 years of broadcasting.
Transmissions commenced on 9 January 1979, at Stracathro Hospital with broadcasts every evening from the in-house studio, via the closed-circuit system to patients' earphones.
The service proved to be very popular, and this created a demand for similar services in Arbroath, and Forfar.
With strong support from various organisations and individuals, RNA opened radio stations in Arbroath and Forfar Infirmaries in October 1980, and June 1985 respectively.
Patients in other Angus Hospitals, namely Whitehills Hospital, Forfar, Brechin and Montrose Infirmaries, and Little Cairnie Hospital, Arbroath, were served by utilising mobile control desks in dayrooms to provide fortnightly music and record request sessions.
In the Spring of 1996, RNA became the first Scottish hospital radio service to utilise low-power FM transmitters, which were installed at Stracathro and Arbroath Infirmary.
Although transmissions were designed purely for these establishments, a demand was created for a local radio station based in Arbroath, and RNA was awarded an independent local radio FM licence in July 1998, with the remit to provide a wide-ranging music service for 24 hours per day, and to promote health, welfare, educational establishments, voluntary organisations, and the local economy.
Whilst maintaining a voluntary status, the organisation is now a limited company operating the independent commercial local radio in Arbroath, with radio stations in Montrose and Forfar Infirmaries, and transmitters in Arbroath on 96.6 FM, and Montrose and Brechin Infirmaries, and Whitehills Hospital, Forfar, on 87.7 FM, complemented by digital broadcasts throughout Tayside.
A survey conducted last year indicated that almost half of the population of the Arbroath area listened to RNA in the course of the week.
The volunteers celebrated the event with a night out organised at the Meadowbank Inn, Arbroath on Friday evening (6 February).
The organisation operates an "open door" policy for recruitment, and prospective volunteers should contact:
Malcolm J B Finlayson