Our Presenters

Mao Ali

Hi, music has been a huge part of my life since childhood. One of my earliest memories was when my father used to play his favourite songs on repeat on Sunday mornings. For me, music has a universal language that helps lifts your heart, warms the soul and makes you feel better.

With no previous experience or qualifications in radio, it took a fair bit of persistence on my part to be given the opportunity to be involved as a volunteer with KHR. One of the first things to strike me was how much skill, effort and coordination it takes to put a show on air. It’s a testament to everyone at KHR for keeping the station running since 1957, but it’s certainly a team effort, from those who collect the requests, to the technical staff who make sure our equipment is working properly, to the team that manage our library. I am extremely proud to be part this dedicated and diverse team.

Our core listeners are the patients and staff at Kingston Hospital, however KHR has kept up with technology and can now be heard globally using smartphones and PCs via the “TuneIn Radio” app.

As well as having my fingers in most things related to the running of KHR, I also present my own show. So give me the opportunity to put a smile on your face every Saturday between 8am-11am. Feel free to send in your song requests if you want to hear your song.

Geoff Austin

Hello there. I’m Geoff Austin and I’ve been involved with Kingston Hospital Radio for almost twenty-nine years now, initially visiting the wards as a request collector, and then in 1995 I started presenting a ‘60s music show on Thursday evenings. I took a break from being behind the microphone in 2006 when I was elected as a local Kingston Councillor, and found that my time attending evening Council meetings prevented me from contributing to the station’s output on a regular basis. However, I remained on the Kingston Hospital Radio management committee, eventually becoming both Treasurer and Chairman. After twelve years as a Councillor, during which time I was twice Deputy Mayor and in 2016-17 the Mayor of Kingston, I retired from active political life, but was elected an Alderman of the Borough.

It wasn’t long before I was persuaded to start presenting on Kingston Hospital Radio again, and you can now hear me every Monday afternoon between 3.30 pm and 6.30pm, when I introduce a Folk and Country & Western music show to our listeners. I’ve always taken a great interest in folk music, and I am the lead vocalist of a local folk group who play occasional gigs at venues around the Surrey and Kent area. I’m also a sporting enthusiast, and enjoy watching our local soccer teams Kingstonian and Corinthian-Casuals, as well as my Rugby club, Old Whitgiftians, for whom I played a club record 773 matches between 1966 and 2003.

I am still Treasurer of Kingston Hospital Radio and currently the Chairman of The Friends of Kingston Hospital. Some years ago, my wife Sheila became visually impaired following a stroke, and since then I have also become involved with local groups supporting people with sight loss, and am a regular reader for the Kingston Talking Newspaper for the Blind, and a Vice President of the Surbiton Club for the Blind. I look forward to your company on Kingston Hospital Radio every Monday afternoon.

Alan Baccolini

Hello, I’m Alan Baccolini. In January 2022, I will be celebrating 45 years with Kingston Hospital Radio.

PUBLICITY DEPARTMENT

I am now responsible for the Publicity for the Station, which involves programme publicity with Presenter advertising mainly on Twitter.

BROADCASTING

I joined Kingston Hospital Radio in October 1976 and my very first programme went out in January 1977 and consisted of musical clips and easy listening.

It was at the station I met my future wife Sandi who was collecting requests for my Thursday night request programme.

I stepped down from my regular Sunday morning Show due to family reasons, to concentrate on fully advertising Kingston Hospital Radio, its programmes and its Presenters.

Full details are published on Twitter daily with Programme times, Presenters and forthcoming Features.

OUTSIDE BROADCAST

I always look forward to presenting at the West End Flower Show in Esher on August Bank Holiday Saturday, an event which I have done for well over 25 years.

Paul Carvill

I have been involved with Hospital Radio at Kingston since 1997. I enjoy going round the wards having a chat with the patients and then playing the music of their choice. So join me on Sunday afternoons to hear the music chosen by you our listeners.

Simon Frate

I‘m the late presenter on the Tuesday Night Request Show here on Kingston Hospital Radio.

I guess you could describe it as the ‘graveyard’ shift, but my show is a sum of many parts – as you’d expect, the core is all about playing the requests and dedications of the patients and internet listeners of Kingston Hospital Radio, but there is still time to squeeze in a few of my own eclectic (that’s the polite description!) musical choices, not to mention the odd feature or two. These features have changed over time – sports reports, entertainment news, film reviews and TV Round Ups have all been part of the weekly Tuesday night broadcast fest. My current show includes a Featured Year Quiz and the mighty Tuesday Night Chill Zone!

Despite still being on Tuesday nights at Kingston Hospital Radio after all these years (I was originally a request collector), I have spread my wings a bit as a presenter – in the dim and distant past, I did a Sunday afternoon chart show, featuring our very own Kingston Hospital Radio Top Twenty Artist listing. Coming from way back in time up to the present, I do another show on a Saturday afternoon called the Saturday Music Mix, which has a few more of my eclectic musical choices and, you’ve guessed it, some of those requests and dedications!

What the future holds for me here at Kingston Hospital Radio is anyone’s guess, but going by past experiences it will probably happen on Tuesday Night. Feel free to tune in whenever you can!

Rushabh Haria

Hello, My name’s Rushabh Haria, and I present the No Rush Hour, currently on Monday evenings. I joined as a volunteer shortly before the Covid-19 pandemic, and I have been presenting my own show on Kingston Hospital Radio for the past few months. 

Whilst I love music, I’m especially fond of the company that live broadcast radio can provide you with, even in a world of digital, on-demand music. I like to bring out the best of the medium on my show with a mixture of the loud and quiet, the upbeat and the mellow, and some brief talking segments throughout.

It’s wonderful to have so many experienced and knowledgeable volunteers here on the KHR team. While I put lots of work into my own shows, I enjoy listening to theirs, and I always learn something new from them.

Anybody who has heard my show will know that musically just about anything goes. I love playing requests for listeners, however popular or obscure they may be. Please send me yours!

MJ Hira

Hi there! My name is Mj Hira and I currently present the Friday Night Show. I’m proud to say I have been a volunteer here at Kingston Hospital Radio since 2015, but have been an official member for nearly 3 years now and am having a brilliant time! I have always wanted to be a member of Kingston Hospital Radio and I have had lots of fun working here and enjoy lifting your spirits and giving you some company during your stay in hospital.

Since I can remember, I have always had a passion for radio. I have always been fascinated that in our phenomenally growing digital world we live in, technology has greatly affected many different aspects through which we communicate and engage with each other. Radio has remained to be one of the oldest and yet most popular and successful mediums that has continued to be honest, personal and keep listeners interested and entertained. Kingston Hospital Radio plays a variety of music and caters for different musical tastes. On my show I play a wide variety of upbeat and feel good songs. You may hear from the likes of David Bowie to Dizzie Rascal. I also love films and have a segment on my show called “The Mystery Film” where I play you a few songs from a film, and you have to try and guess what film the songs are from. Don’t worry I always give you a few clues to help you figure out what the mystery film is! I also love finding covers of famous songs and sharing them with the listeners. Whilst for the last 30 minutes of my show, I teleport you back to yesteryear where I choose a year at random and play you music from the chosen year, as well as inform you of some interesting facts and trivia that took place during the chosen year.

If you would like to get in contact you can go to our website KHRadio.org. For you social media users out there, Tweet us – @KHRadioOnline or simply add us as a friend on our Facebook page and send your message – Kingston Hospital Radio and don’t forget to follow us on Instagram @Kingston Hospital Radio. You can also tune into Kingston Hospital Radio via the TuneIn Radio App. So, if you fancy tuning into the Friday Night Show you can catch me from 7pm-9pm. I hope that your stay in hospital is short and that you feel better very soon.

Chris Hussey

Chris Hussey doing some required reading …

Hello listeners, My name is Chris Hussey and I have been with Kingston Hospital Radio for over 10 years now and loved every minute of it, I love bringing my shows to your ears. I present the ‘Six Pack Show’ from 5.30pm til 8pm on Wednesday night, where I play feel good tunes and new singles. I also have a some fun features, including ‘Six Of The Best’, where I celebrate someone’s birthday from the music scene and ‘Which Hit’, where you have a chance to win a prize to select three songs of your choice. 

For my Sunday afternoon show from 2pm til 4.30pm, I play your song requests. My fun feature is ‘Name That Tune’, where I play a song from my Keyboard and you’ve got to let me know the name of the song. Also, check out ‘Jurassic Rock Classic’ and ‘Double Take’.

I do hope you have a speedy recovery and keep listening to Kingston Hospital Radio. Take care now.

Jamie Kilpatrick

“I love music, any kind of music”, as The O’Jays sang so fabulously 47 years ago. That sums up my musical taste! It was the sixties: how could you not be affected? The excitement of a new Beatles single, which NEVER disappointed and later the atomic bomb of St. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Helen Holding gave me my first singles – “Telestar”, The Tornadoes and “Like I do”, Maureen Evans. The magic of the labels…..I was hooked. Listening to 208, Radio Luxembourg under my pillow, Radio Caroline: music was everywhere. #the extraordinary world of Tamla Motown, creating hit after hit after hit, “Juke Box Jury”, “Ready, Steady, Go” – what a time it was and the absolutely essential viewing of Top Of The Pops. Music transformed into LPs and gigs. Pink Floyd defined an era and I became more interested in US music, particularly from the West Coast.

This led me into country music and going to Wembley Arena for their 3 day C & W event which was simply packed with top US stars. Amazing! One visit to a record shop in Sloane Square changed my musical life, as they were playing Donny Hathaway “Live” and that started a journey, not just following him, but the musicians he was playing with and opened up a lot of soul to add to the disco, the reggae, the jazz, the funk that was hitting my turntable. The turntable has been the instrument I have played all my life.

Did I mention working at Our Prince Records in High Street Kensington, Kingston and East Croydon…..HMV, Carnival in Trinidad in 1980 with Calypsonian “Tents”, steel bands?…

I just can’t get enough and perhaps all this gives you a flavour, as to why I call my show “Jamie’s Melting Pot”, where each week there are different ingredients from the unbelievably big, wide, wonderful world of music. Come and try the feast!

Nick Pollard

Hello, my name is Nick Pollard. A few years back I introduced my daughter, Rhea, to KHR. In doing so, I was drawn in and found myself starting to help out to maintain the station behind the scenes. This drastically snowballed and now I am responsible for maintaining the station’s computer kit, never mind finding ways to improve/extend the range and availability of its output – on a shoestring! So along the way…. I now run a ‘Sounds of The Seventies’ show every Thursday evening.

I have been a local for many years. Both my daughters were born here and my father spent much time in his last years here for incidents around his growing dementia and failing health. He was always treated here with great compassion and professionalism – and I see the same again in my mother’s increasing needs for treatment. As well as being involved in hospital fundraising events, I am proud to have given my time to volunteer efforts (where we are allowed!) around the pandemic.

So I do feel that I am giving back what I can to an excellent cause – Kingston Hospital Radio. Yes, I am a 70’s ‘dinosaur’, but I’m sure you’ll enjoy my music. Listen in!

I wish you all the very best and hope that once your stay in hospital is over, that you choose to listen into our station from your own home via one of the proliferating ways in which we can be heard.

Rhea Pollard

Hi, my name is Rhea Pollard. I’ve been here at Kingston Hospital Radio for over 5 years with my show ‘The Show With No Name’, which means you can’t get rid of me easily!

My love for Radio started back at School. I’ve been lucky that both Alan Baccolini and Mao Ali took me under their wings and showed me the ropes. It was a rocky start as I was, and still am, shy, but I was hooked and haven’t looked back since! I try to have a varied show including specials like musical numbers, songs that have won an Oscar and songs that have sold over 1 million copies. You can catch me on ‘The Show With No Name’ on Saturdays from 11am – 1pm, where I aim to play as much different music as I can, so your stay in hospital is more bearable.

Doug Potter

I am honoured to be the classical and jazz presenter on Kingston Hospital Radio. I started presenting jazz in November 2020 and my ‘Jazz Jam’ now runs from 3.00pm to 5.15pm on Tuesday afternoons. Each week the ‘Jazz Jam’ takes a notable jazz artist and features their music for the duration of the show. It is not a biography of great jazz artists, but it does provide a large example of each artist’s work. I have learnt, since bringing jazz back to Kingston Hospital Radio, that there is an almost inexhaustible supply of incredibly talented jazz musicians past and present to be featured. With the wonderful help of our publicity department (run by Alan Baccolini), I have been able to plan the ‘Jazz Jam’ several years in advance. Some professional jazz broadcasters and some fabulous living jazz artists have been kind enough to support my endeavours in the show.

So believe me we are with the patients and staff all the time when we are wanted!

Oh and I’m on the service during the week too at differing times, with one of my special hour long editions of’ Doug’s Classics’. Tune in when the station is not live and we will be there!

Of course it is great to be live on air and before co-presenting part of the ‘Tuesday Request Show’, I have the regular Live Edition of my classical music show, which I have been doing for 20 years now. The show has expanded from half an hour to one hour, to its now three hours, which enables me to try and broadcast classical music to everyone from the fan, to the patient with passing interest and, hopefully, to those who consider it is not really their genre.

Whereas popular music will always be the major part of Kingston Hospital Radio’s output, I hope that if people happen to be in the hospital on Tuesday evenings, they will tune in and learn with me. Nobody knows it all, least of all me. I know far more than I did when I attended the children’s concerts, but I learn nearly every show I present. It’s a vast world which can be fascinating and fun. It also proves that, as one gets older, one can learn about new genres of music, hence the arrival of the ‘Jazz Jam’.

So what do we do on ‘Doug’s Classics’ between 5.15pm and 8pm every Tuesday? The music comes first. Always. People can call early for a classical or jazz request on 0208 546 7711 ext 2425, before the main request show which starts at 8pm. I play a complete opera over the course of each three weeks – something entire as the composer intended. I also throw in some amazing facts whenever I can. For example: Tchaikovsky was in charge of the opening night at the Carnegie Hall, Mendelssohn was a favourite of Queen Victoria, and Beethoven once threw a plate of hot stew at a waiter.

So join in! I love being on Kingston Hospital Radio, whether on the sustaining service or live and I am pleased at the number of classical requests that come through on a Tuesday. A Kingston Hospital Radio requests chart from 2019 had Puccini, Mozart and Strauss at numbers two, three and four, which was a lovely surprise. Your classical requests mean that co-presenter Steve Wigham and I have confirmation that we are not alone!

The tunes are the main thing, so, as we frequently say, if you are a fan of Karlheinz Stockhausen’s ‘different’ compositions then you are one of the very few who are out of luck!