Studio Refurbishment

Radio Lollipop, at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh, were donated £5,000 by Corstorphine Round Table to allow the studio and ante-room areas to be fully redecorated. Interior designer Kim McFarlane of Inarc Design was commissioned for the design and by the end of December 2001 the project was completed.

The refurbishment comprised the following;

Studio – the existing desk arrangement, a shelf, all the lighting and the carpet were removed. A new purpose built desk was built for the mixing desk (which is used to produce the radio shows) with a new integral lockable cabinet created for the technical equipment needed to run a radio studio. New under shelf lighting along with a coat of paint transformed the shelving area, a new low voltage 4 bar spotlight replaced the existing fluorescent light creating a new atmosphere to compliment the new colour scheme. Dark blue and mauve were used on the walls and the ceiling with a chequerboard pattern using both colours added on one of the walls. The existing children’s window seat was removed as the foam had withered under the constant use with new foam being bought and finished in corded violet material. A love heart and two star shaped cushions in lilac completed the window seat. Two new blue felt finished notice boards replaced the previous red boards and a new 3 bar low voltage spotlight added above the mixing desk.

Ante-room – the existing wall cupboards & drawers, existing door fronts and worktop were removed to make way for new fittings. New wall units & doors, new deeper drawers & fronts all differently coloured (dark blue, pale pink, light green & mauve) and a new dark blue worktop was all introduced, to tie in with the overall colour scheme. The existing lighting was removed and replaced with 3 new steel lacquered pendants, under unit lighting to the wall units, four small star lights on the ceiling with two larger star lights fitted on the wall either side of the new notice board. New lighting was added into the now lockable window display cabinet and the logo above the front door (previously visible from the main corridor until the hospital changed the corridor layout) was turned to face into the studio and backlit. The colour scheme incorporated the dark blue on the ceiling and the walls were finished in light green, pale pink and the dark blue. Another chequerboard pattern was added below the starlights using all four colours and topped off with concave and convex children’s mirrors.

Both areas were finished with a new carpet incorporating all the colours used and complimenting the overall colour scheme.

With this completed it was left to Chief Engineer Andrew Miller to rebuild the radio studio ready for broadcasting again. With one or two minor alterations to cabling and some new equipment, Andrew set to work and the studio was ready to use in no time.

Having witnessed the transformation almost on a daily basis, the change is amazing confirmed by all the volunteers and hospital staff who have since seen firsthand the new areas.

However, a few thanks need to be recorded before we finish as without these people the refurbishment would never have arisen.

1. Our biggest thanks must obviously go to Guy Holloway and everyone at Corstorphine Round Table who raised the necessary funds to allow this work to happen.

2. Kim McFarlane at Inarc Design who provided her time free of charge and came up with the designs for the studio.

3. Brian McKee and the workforce at Musselburgh Decorating & Maintenance who carried out the works.

4. Andrew Miller, Radio Lollipop’s chief engineer who rebuilt the studio.

Thanks again, and if you are passing please feel free to drop in and say hello and see for yourself the new studio.

In Judge Mike Anderson’s courtroom, justice may be blind but it’s certainly not deaf. Anderson, of the 262nd District Court, has implemented a sentencing program aimed at rehabilitating probationers while supporting Radio Lollipop,

Texas Children’s Hospital’s in-house radio station.The program is one of only two Radio Lollipop programs in the nation and the only one in Texas. Radio Lollipop broadcasts to Texas Children’s patient rooms through the hospital’s television system. Volunteer disc jockeys take musical requests, put children on-air from the bedside or in the studio and involve listeners through games, art projects and contests.Anderson requires each probationer he sentences to donate $50 to Radio Lollipop. He learned about the program when his newborn son was hospitalized at Texas Children’s for several days in January. He was so impressed, he decided to visit the Radio Lollipop studio.”I was even more impressed by what I saw,” Anderson said. “It was great. Any program that can give a sick child a project that takes his or her mind off illness is wonderful.”

“We are grateful to all of the donors who support Radio Lollipop programming,” said Sarah Fallon Maytum, Radio Lollipop coordinator. “We are so thrilled when people like Judge Anderson recognize the value of recreational programs for children in the hospital and support us by encouraging others to contribute as well.”