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A grassroots hospital radio station has lined up a range of new content and interviews for the Christmas period, writes Lauren Evans.

YYFM, which is Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr’s on-demand internet radio station, was launched in February 2021.

It was the brainchild of hospital admin worker Steven Davies – a familiar face to hospital visitors and patients because of his work on the reception desk.

The Christmas content will begin streaming from Friday, December 17 and includes a Welsh language Christmas special, where listeners can learn Christmas-themed Welsh words and phrases.

There will also be an interview with former Caerphilly RFC director and Pontypool RFC forwards coach Jared Lougher.

Mr Lougher will be interviewed by YYFM volunteer Ffion Harris, who will ask him about his background in the sport, as well as his Six Nations predictions.

The radio station has also said it is working with music group Keep Cardiff Live to create music-based content, such as interviews with musicians working in the entertainment industry.

Over the Christmas period, the station’s contributors will be working on a variety of ongoing projects ready for the New Year, such as recording stories with Caerphilly-based creative writing group Tales Around The Teapot.

Speaking to Caerphilly Observer after the station was launched earlier this year, Steven Davies said: “I came up with the idea because of the hospital’s single-room environment.

“It’s fair to say the hospital room TV sets were stuck on one channel and in this day and age we had to do something better to combat the loneliness and isolation felt by some patients.

“Was there a way to bring more entertainment to the patients?”

After successfully putting in a funding bid to health board bosses, Steve then approached Caerphilly County Borough Council and the University of South Wales to get the project started.

He was put in touch with University of South Wales (USW)’s Community Radio Tutor Steve Johnson, who in turn enlisted the help of journalism students to produce content for the fledgling station.

Third year journalism student Jordan Howell was recruited to tie everything together and look after the technical logistics of getting the programmes online – including the launch of the website.

Since then, the station has featured a variety of interviews and even Spanish language lessons.

It has also reached listeners as far away as Spain and the United States.

All YYFM content can be accessed via itsyyfm.com.

Spoken word programmes can also be streamed via the Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Apple platforms, while music shows can be found at mixcloud.com/itsyyfm