"Folk For All" is a programme of folk music on Chichester Hospital Radio (CHR) in Chichester, Sussex, England, GB. CHR is a registered charity (no. 292599), based in St. Richard's Hospital, Chichester, part of the Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. CHR is even available outside the hospital campus, via the website's "Listen Live" page.
The "Folk For All" programme was started in May 2003 and is a weekly 1-hour-long programme presented by Ken Hobbs. Ken has been with CHR on-and-off since 1974 and is a past CHR Treasurer.
"Folk For All" aims to present all kinds of folk music suitable for the patients to listen to, who might not be 'folkies' (at least at the start - we can hope for converts!). This inevitably excludes some of the darker or more graphic traditional songs, and the more "characterful", unaccompanied traditional singers, (worthy as they might be), won't get as much of a look-in as more polished performers. Nevertheless, you're assured of a varied and interesting musical selection of recorded songs and tunes, sometimes on a theme, as well as the occasional live session from local folk artists, amateur or semi-professional, and, now and again, a visiting professional artist either live or in a special recording - all these folk kindly appearing for no fee. Ken has inveigled many well-known folk artists into recording special greetings for CHR and "Folk For All" - and special thanks go to them (five of them MBEs) for lending their voices. See this blog for photos in-studio of artists and of the 'voice-over' artists, perhaps captured at a festival.
The programme features occasional spots such as the "Roots Music Spot", where we play a track from a foreign folk culture, the "Vinyl Vault" of LP tracks. Since late 2017, excerpts from live concerts by leading folk artists have been broadcast on CHR/Folk For All, thanks to Brick Kiln Garden Centre, Chichester and their 'Folk in the Café' series. Many thanks to Brick Kiln and the artists for their permission to do this.
