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30th Anniversary!!!

1976-2006

PICTURES FROM MDR'S 30th REUNION PARTY ARE AVAILABLE ONLINE!

30th Anniversary 1976 – 2006
In 2006 Mid Downs Hospital Radio celebrates its 30th Anniversary of broadcasting to the patients of Mid Sussex. We have come a long way since the original band of volunteers set up a radio studio in the Post Room of Cuckfield Hospital 30 years ago. The station was then known as Cuckfield Hospital Radio and the rest, as they say, is history.

Here's what we have been up to this year!

What a week MDR has had!! On Wednesday 6th December, we were at the Lindfield Village Night, where our mascot, Sebastian put in an apperance, which the kids, teenagers and adults loved! He helped to raise £25!

Then Thursday7th December, Julia Mewes, Cathy Barnett, David Eggleston, Nicky Burren, Mavis McLaren and Ann Bird, got glammed up and attended the Bright 106.4 Christmas Awards at the Hickstead Hotel. Mavis and Ann were nominated for the "Gold Award", for their dedication to 28 years service to Hospital Broadcasting, and we were thrilled when it was announced they had WON! MDR were up for "Charity of the Year 2006", and dead on 10pm, it was revealed that MDR had done the double and WON the award!. Julia and Cathy happily accepted on MDR's behalf! It was a wonderful evening, look out for pictures in Thursday 14th December edition of the Middy newspaper.

Friday 9th December, MDR attended the Cuckfield village night, where our old OB unit put in it's final appearance before Gary was due to collect the new one on Saturday morning. Friday also saw the start of the Marathon Broadcast Weekend.

In to Saturday, and the Marathon Broadcast is in full swing!, Gary picks the new OB up at 1230, and works late into the night in the cold to get it ready for the launch on Sunday afternoon.

Sunday 10th December sees MDR decend onto South Road, Haywards Heath to participate in "Winter Wonderland". The new OB is up and running, the Mayor of Haywards Heath arrives to officially launch the new OB. The winning raffle tickets were also drawn by the Lady Mayoress.

The Marathon broadcast weekend came to a close at 6pm where there was a mini party in the studio, along with the bottle of champagne won at the Bright awards.

It's been an amazing week and year for MDR, we achieved what we set out to acheive, that was to buy a new OB unit. We've also won awards that we never thought we would win! 2007 hopes to be an even better year for MDR!

Pictures of the new OB unit are up! here!

Sainsburys Tin Shake - Saturday 23rd December 2006
The final tin shake of the year is always held at Sainsburys! We raised £878.38, a fantastic figure to end of a fantastic year! Thanks to those who helped to raise the money, Alan, Gary, David, Julia, Charlene, Richard, Paul and kids, Cathy, Paul B, Steve and daughter, Nicky and not forgetting Sebastian Bark whom the kids loved! Merry Christmas to everyone!

Over the last month, MDR has been fortunate to be awarded a substatial amount of money to help with the purchase of our new Outside Broadcast Unit. The Ganett Foundation awarded us a staggering £6,000! We have now received the cheque and it has been banked!! The Gatwick Airport Trust granted us a further £1500 and Haywards Heath Town Council have added £500 to the cause! The MDR Committee soon hopes to be able to give everyone an update on the new Outside Broadcast Unit! so watch this space!

Quiz Night – 15th November
Another of Cathy’s infamous Quiz Nights raised £147.00, thanks again to Dave Turner the Quiz master and to all who attended!

South Road, Saturday 9th September.
The Annual South Road shake pulled in £196.40. Considering it was Haywards Heath Town Day complete with parade, it seemed to be a very quiet Saturday. Big thanks to those who turned out; Gary, David, Sarah with Sky and Coco, Linda, Cathy, Paul B, Peter Bailey and Sheila, Richard, Charlene, Julia and John O’Sullivan.

The Orchards Tin Shake – Saturday 29th July 2006
It was a lovely day for a tin shake at The Orchards Shopping Centre in Haywards Heath! Thanks to the efforts of Nicky, David, Simon, Sarah with Skye and Coco, Christine, Cathy, Steve and daughter, John O’ Sullivan, John Joyce, Charlene and Julia, we managed to raise £307.04! Well done to all and thanks to the Centre Management team for letting us be there!

Garden Safari.
Six households in Burgess Hill opened their gardens to the public on Sunday 16th July to help raise some funds for MDR. The Potters Pub very kindly allowed us to use their patio for a BBQ and a great time was had, including a raffle! We raise a fantastic £698.97!! Big Thank You to all who helped us out and opened their gardens and to Cathy Barnett and Ann Winey for coming up with the idea!! Also to the MDR bods who were present and selling maps, Julia, Sarah, Nicky, Cathy, Paul B, Paul H and Gary for providing the music!

World Cup Football – Part 2!!
Well the final count is in! The Potters in Burgess Hill, The Witch in Lindfield and St Francis Social and Sports Club in Haywards Heath, helped us to raise a brilliant £575.11!! A big thank you to all the pubs for their involvement and to David, Nicky, Linda and John for carrying out the pain staking task of attending the games!

WORLD CUP FOOTBALL
Well, England didn’t score as many goals as we would’ve liked them to, but what they did score helped us to raise a little bit of money. So far the count is £165.05 with more still to come in! Thanks to David, Nicky, Linda and John who attended the pubs to cheer on England and raise some cash for MDR!

Lindfield Village Day
Thanks to all who turned out to help at Lindfield Village Day; Gary Simons, Sol Mead, David Eggleston, Julia Mewes and son, Nicky Burren, Alan French, Linda Wishart, Joyce Rainier, Richard Lee and Phil Porter(apologises if I have missed anyone, I don’t have the list to hand – let me know if you were there and I’ll add you!) The day was more of a publicity appearance than a fundraising event, but we still raised £33.05!

Burgess Hill Tin Shake
Saturday 20th May, saw the MDR crew descend on to Burgess Hill town centre to hold a shake! Despite the dodgy weather, shoppers dug deep to help us raise £212.68. Thanks to those who attended David Eggleston, Sarah Melhuish, Peter Bailey and friend, Charlene Byrne, Richard Lee, Cathy & Paul Barnett, Steve Watson, Sol Mead and Richard Copeland. Well done to them!

Quiz Night 2006
Wednesday 26th April, saw another of MDR's infamous Quiz Nights take place at St Francis Sports and Social Club in the grounds of the Princess Royal Hospital. We raised £412.00, it was a great night and a good turn out. Unfortunately the MDR team, consisting of Alan, David, Maralyn and Nicky failed miserably, for the second year running, in the quest to win the wooden spoon, despite putting “Blackpool” for all the answers we didn’t know, we came second to last losing by just two points! Our thanks to all who attended, and to Dave the Quiz Master who did an outstanding job!