RSVP HITS THE AIRWAVES

Yet another exciting, and unexpected, area of voluntary activity opens up to the volunteers of RSVP West.

Swindon's new Community Radio station was launched on 15 March. General broadcasting to the Swindon area and online began two days later, with RSVP volunteers being amongst the first to be heard.

RSVP West volunteers Patrick Williams and David Brown were joined by former CSV staff member Sheila Parsons to present the first of their weekly programmes under the title Old Duffers Hour. This is a discussion programme directed at the over-50 age group, focusing on a specific subject each week.

Subjects will include Leisure, Staying Active and Volunteering, Older people in and from other countries, Education and lifelong learning, The youth of today and Environment and climate change. But they started with a look back at the year 1969, the year that Swindon Town FC met Arsenal to win the FA Cup. They will also be inviting special guests to talk about their own area of expertise.

The Old Duffers trying out the studio. Left to right: Dave Brown,
Sheila Parsons, Patrick Williams.

They are under the direction of a professional broadcaster, formerly of the BBC, who will also operate the control console. However, before long they expect to gain the skills to work it themselves, so proving that — like other over-50s — they're just as capable of learning new tricks as the young ones.

© 2003–08 RSVP West. Page last updated on 18 March 2008.