Radio St Helier will be celebrating their 50th birthday virtually due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Being around since the 1970s, Radio St Helier has had over 18,000 days of broadcasting, all staffed by volunteers.

Hundreds of volunteers will be marking the milestone online- with a day full of live shows, on June 6.

As part of the celebration, the station plans to visit the archives, clips and music played from the last 50 years.

Your Local Guardian: Presenters have been working at home Presenters have been working at home

Since the pandemic, presenters have found innovative ways to keep patients entertained during their stay, creating shows from home to broadcast live to the hospital.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock recently recognised the importance of hospital radio during the current emergency by saying: “Hospital radio is always important, but at times like this when visitors haven’t been able to go into hospitals, it’s even more important.”

Station manager, Kevin Horkan said: “We wanted to mark the milestone of our 50th birthday to coincide with the official opening of our recently refurbished studio.

"We’ve unfortunately had to postpone that due to the current climate, but I’m very proud of our presenters and back-office volunteers for keeping the station going even if they can’t be ​in ​the station.

“We continue to broadcast to the patients with several live shows every day.

"We’re here to provide light relief by playing patients’ favourite songs and having a chat.

"In some cases, we are the only company that patients have when they are not able to have visits from family and friends due to social distancing rules.”

Former volunteers are invited to submit a recorded message with their own memories of the station by sending an mp3 to rsh50@radiosthelier.co.uk​.

You can send your own message or request a song either on the website at ​www.radiosthelier.co.uk​ or by emailing ​studio@radiosthelier.co.uk