Pictured above: Santa Claus visited the Irish Kidney Association’s Renal Support Centre, located on the grounds of Beaumont Hospital, Dublin for the launch of Radio Snowflake 2016.
This Christmas season will see the return of the much-loved Radio Snowflake, Ireland’s original yuletide radio station. Radio Snowflake was originally set up as part of special community week in Ringsend, Sandymount and Donnybrook and provided an additional few weeks broadcasting for the Christmas season.
Readers of a certain ‘quality vintage’ may recall the station’s popularity during the 1980s, when its fresh approach built up a large festive following on AM and FM radio. It is this legacy that DJ and station manager, David Baker, is keen to build on: “I’m looking forward to bringing the sound of Christmas back.
I believe our style is unique and different. Whilst we will play great favourites that everyone knows, the sound won’t be tacky and predictable and full of Christmas cracker jokes. It’s a station everyone will enjoy and is the perfect mix for Christmas with top quality presenters,” he said.
Gone are the days of cranking the dial to hear your favourite Christmas tunes, however, as the station’s new app will allow people anywhere to listen in with ease, and this year’s Christmas broadcasting run will seek to spread the seasonal goodwill even further by benefiting a great charitable cause.
“We are supporting a fantastic cause in the Irish Kidney Association this year and we plan to create great awareness about the work it does over the station’s 26-day run,” Baker explained. “From accounts by the people who work there day to day, to families who have been called for a life-saving organ transplant, there’ll be some real stories to hear. We hope that people will share in our celebration of Christmas by enjoying everything the station has to offer.”
Speaking at the launch of Radio Snowflake 2016, Colin White, the National Projects Manager of the Irish Kidney Association said, “We are delighted that the Irish Kidney Association has been chosen as Radio Snowflake’s charity partner this Christmas as our registered charity actively promotes the gift of life through raising awareness about organ donation.”
Listeners to the station will be encouraged to get their organ donor card by free-texting the word DONOR to 50050, by downloading the Donor Ecard App on their smartphone, or by ticking their wishes on their driving licence application.
The station’s official app can be downloaded for free by searching for ‘Radio Snowflake’ in Google Play Store and iTunes. Alternatively, programmes can be listened to live online at radiosnowflake.com. Radio Snowflake broadcasts from midday on 1st December through to the 26th December.
IKA Radio Snowflake Pictures courtesy of Conor McCabe.
David Baker, Manager, Radio Snowflake; living kidney donor Clidhna Costello and her husband Terry McElroy from Bray, Co Wicklow with their twins, Donagh and Caoila, who were born in May 2106 just two years after Clidhna donated a kidney to their son Tadhg (now aged 5, pictured front row centre); kidney transplant recipients from deceased donors Harry Ward from Baldoyle, Dublin and Patricia McKenzie from Portmarnock, Dublin; and Colette Fennelly from Bishopstown, Cork whose husband Don underwent a deceased donor kidney transplant in September 2016.
Front Row:
Living kidney donor Conor Dalton from Castleknock, Dublin, and his transplant recipient wife Sarah and their baby Annabelle born in August 2016; kidney transplant recipient Tadhg McElroy (age 5) from Bray; and Santa Claus, North Pole.
By Harry Bradley
