Radio Entertainment for Older Listeners
By Andy Marriott, Station Manager Serenade Radio (www.serenade-radio.com )
Life for patients living in care can be much improved by access to pleasant entertainment.
Not just from watching the television but by listening to the radio. Many older people dismiss todays “wireless” as being all noisy pop nonsense or obscure highbrow classical music with shouted commercial adverts for products they don’t need, or want.
They may not be aware that there is one radio station, Serenade Radio, which is built around the great entertainment music of the past. Remember the sounds of the bands from days gone by, Henry Hall,
Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller and singers like Bing Crosby, Rosemarie Clooney, Alma Cogan and Frank Sinatra. All these and many more old style programmes like “Sing Something Simple”, “Music While You Work”, Cinema Organs and old dance bands make up the content of Serenade Radio. This is today’s “wireless” which does so much to revive happy memories of the old BBC Light Programme.
If your guests would like to give it a try they don’t need a radio because It is what is known as an on line radio station. It can be can picked up via Wi-Fi on their iPad, their smart phones or laptop computers. All they need to do it to type into the browser, “Serenade- Radio.com: and they will see our web page. Click on “`Press to Listen”
Johnny Beerling, ex BBC Radio Controller who presents Big Band Special on Serenade Radio every Sunday evening at 6 pm (repeated on Tuesday’s at 9 pm) and we at Serenade will entertain them, free of charge and without any advertisements.
Of course some may be lucky enough to have access to one of those clever loudspeaker gadgets, if so they simply order it “Alexa, play Serenade Radio !” and there you are.
All of us who contribute to Serenade are ex professional broadcasters who work for nothing because we believe there is no other radio station like it and by making the programmes on Serenade we are hopefully providing a public service in these difficult times.
Being an online station people can listen all over the world and we get letters and emails from listeners in America, Australia, Sweden and Spain. So I think it’s time we spread the news to people in care homes all over the UK.
The proof of the pudding is in the eating so why not give it a try? One click on the “Programmes” tag on the Home page of Serenade, and you can see for yourself the range of music we broadcast. If you like what you hear please spread the word to your residents and their families.
Happy Listening
Visit www.serenade-radio.com