The idea for a hospital radio station in West Lothian was born in 1987, when a group of keen enthusiasts got together to map a way for the new station. At that time, Bangour General Hospital was still West Lothian's main hospital, and the new hospital was still plans on some drawing board. Those attending that first meeting included Jim Black, Billy Haggarty and Jimmy Young.

It took four years for the planning, fundraising and pestering to work, and by the time the station was launched in 1991, West Lothian had a brand new hospital, St John's Hospital at Howden in Livingston New Town.

By 1995, Radio Grapevine was still only broadcasting for 6 hours a week. At that time too, the previous Committee, who had been there since the start, left and handed on the baton to a new and energetic team of volunteers, consisting of Jimmy Young as Chairman, Ken Manners as Secretary and Stuart Sibbald as Treasurer.

Broadcasting quickly stepped up and grew to cover 7 days-a-week, with a mix of new and old members alike, including Jim Black, Alan Russell, Mike Kelly, Mags Sutherland, Kenny Paton, and Kate Blake. Soon after, the new committee began to take Radio Grapevine in a new and complimentary direction.

A lottery grant was applied for and won, to provide a trailer, fitted out to allow the station to undertake road shows at various local gala days and fundraising events. Over time, this has proved to be a popular addition to many of the local events we attend.

In 1999, members of Radio Grapevine got the chance to get involved in real radio, with the setting up of a local RSL (restricted service license) under the name of 'Real Radio'. The project proved so successful, it was repeated the following year, still staffed by a good percentage of Radio Grapevine volunteers. While the name 'Real Radio' was eventually bought by the Guardian Media Group for the relaunch of Scot FM and their other stations in the north of England and South Wales, the management of the RSL's were eventually successful in bidding for the West Lothian commercial license, and now broadcast as River FM, with some of those who participated and presented during the original RSL's now taking to the airwaves on a regular basis.

At the same time of the original RSL, Radio Grapevine went live 24 hours a day with the purchase of a new pc and the Raduga automation software. Following the second RSL, the studio play out system was enhanced with the purchase of a computer running Myriad 2.0, a 'live assist' type play out system. This has since been upgraded with a second pc, and more up to date versions of Myriad which have taken over from the old Raduga program, and allow far more flexibility to the station to tailor its output to what the listeners want.

In 2001, Radio Grapevine launched its first web site, giving basic information to anyone visiting. This has, since then, been enhanced several times, to what you can see now. Following the destruction of our original road show trailer in 2002, a new unit was bought offering far more comfort and flexibility.

This also led us to review the events the trailer was needed for. Given that it is 6 metres long, and weighs over 2.5 tonnes, it is too large or heavy to take to most venues. Instead, we can now offer a flexible approach based on the size needs of the particular event. The station continues to provide live programmes every day of the week, and has music and entertainment to suit almost every taste. If you want to know more, or be part of this history in the years to come, click here to find out about joining.

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