New radio programme will inspire young children and families to think about medical research

A series of fun radio shows designed to bring medical research to life for young children will air this month, and be available for free download.

Fun Kids radio, the UK’s only radio station for children and their families, will broadcast a new series called ‘Professor Hallux’s Miraculous Medicines’ from Monday 2nd January at 5pm.

The series explores the processes involved in medical research and how people can have a voice in such research.

The station’s resident scientist Professor Hallux, Nurse Nanobot and their medical creation Body explain how medicine works, why we need it, why it’s good to talk to people throughout the process of developing new medicines, and the tests a medicine has to go through to help treat illnesses such as Body’s tummy ache.

Each show explores a different theme in an entertaining way for children as Professor Hallux tries to get his new medicine to patients. They look at preventative medicine, ‘magic bullets’, history, the different forms medicine can take, testing new medicines and side effects.

The series comprises seven episodes, each three minutes in length. They are broadcast on consecutive days, over a ten week period.

As well as being broadcast on Fun Kids radio, the programmes will also be available to listen again online on the Fun Kids radio website and available to download through the Fun Kids iTunes channel.

The episodes have been developed as part of a Wellcome Trust Engagement Fellowship awarded to Bella Starling of the Public Programmes Team at Central Manchester University Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust (CMFT), in partnership with Fun Kids Radio, with advice from Generation R, the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, scientists and young people.

Bella explains: “Infants, children and young people are under-represented in clinical research; however, parents and young people want to be involved in and benefit from research, and have their voices heard.*

“Professor Hallux’s Miraculous Medicines willl captivate children who tune in to these fantastic programmes, and inspire young children and their families to think about medical research.

“Ultimately we want to help young people and their families to take an active role in medical research. We hope parents will join their little ones in listening to these fantastic programmes – either at home, or in healthcare and learning environments.

“We also want to track how this series is used to help us understand the impact of the series. The content is free to use for educational purposes; if you do want to use it, all that we ask is that you contact briefly to say how you might use it and provide some feedback afterwards.”

Please encourage young people to tune in and/or if you are an educational/NHS organisation if you have local public engagement initiatives that this content could feed into, please let bella.starling@cmft.nhs.uk know.

The Public Programmes team is a specialist unit advising on and delivering patient and public involvement and engagement, across Greater Manchester, nationally and internationally.  The engagement and involvement work of the Public Programmes team is a key component in CMFT’s mission to deliver pioneering research to improve people’s health. The Public Programmes Team is financially independent and not-for profit, hosted by Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in partnership with the University of Manchester.  Researchers can get in touch with the Public Programmes team for strategic input and practical know-how into programmes of work as part of grant applications.

About Fun Kids

Fun Kids is the UK’s only radio station for children and their families. It provides a radio environment for children which is unique to them and which they can call their own, entertaining and educating by encouraging children to listen, use their imagination and develop interaction skills.   Fun Kids is available across the UK through DAB digital radio.  Fun Kids is also available through the Fun Kids app and UK Radioplayer, as well as online at funkidslive.com and through smart devices.  Find out more at www.funkidslive.com.

Fun Kids has:

  • 400,000 weekly listeners, split between
    • 94,000 under 6 years old
    • 189,000 7-11s
    • 70,000 12-14s
    • 100,000 15+ (including parents)
  • 250,000 monthly website visits
  • 4m monthly views on YouTube
  • 50,000 monthly podcast downloads

*”Turning the Tide” RCPCH report http://www.rcpch.ac.uk/sites/default/files/page/WEB_DC16148A_RCPCH%20Research%20%20Us%20A5%20Booklet%20FINAL%20FINAL.pdf.