The UK's National Health Service (NHS) is a universally admired institution, providing free healthcare to 60 million people since its establishment in 1948.

However, the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a heavy toll on NHS workers, with 40% of frontline staff experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder, 20% having suicidal thoughts, and 40% planning to quit as soon as they find alternative employment.

In response to this, we launched Hopeline19, a free phone service for leaving messages of support for frontline workers, on Emergency Services Day in 2021.

Despite initial success, it became clear that more support was needed. A perfect storm of factors, including a cost of living crisis, inflation-driven pay squeeze, and increased demand for services, meant that frontline workers required urgent assistance.

A new way of providing instant support for 3 million frontline workers was needed.

Our key challenge: how could we get these messages to the right people, in the right places, at exactly the right time? And instead of asking them to find us, what if we found them?

Up and down the country, we knew that frontline workers were listening to the radio while on the job. In break rooms, waiting rooms, even hospital corridors.

So we set up Hopeline Radio: the world’s first radio station delivering public support directly to the frontline.

The station runs 24/7, delivering a constant loop of positive messages to anyone who tunes in.

Hopeline19 received over 2000 hours of supportive messages from the British public, which were having a transformative effect on NHS frontline workers.

However, only around 1500 staff were regularly using the service, prompting the need for a more effective distribution method.

Through speaking with NHS staff, the idea of using radio as a means of reaching them was suggested. In hospital waiting rooms and break rooms, staff are frequently listening to the radio as background noise.

The breakthrough thought was to harness the power of radio to deliver messages to the right people, at the right places, and at the right time. This approach would eliminate the need for frontline workers to find the service and instead make it easily accessible to them.

Frontline workers could access Hopeline Radio whenever and wherever they needed it, on their smart speakers, online, and even on an app.

We drove listeners to the station with 27 unique audio ads, each delivering a real message directly to NHS staff via Spotify, Healthcare-themed podcasts and hospital radio stations.

Hopeline Radio has been running 24/7 since its launch, and is regularly accessed by hundreds of hospitals across the UK.

And while the station delivered instant access to messages, we also knew that the scale of the mental health crisis in the NHS required more than positive reinforcement alone.

So as well as delivering the messages on a constant loop, Hopeline Radio also drove listeners to Frontline19: a charity providing free therapy and emotional support by matching frontline workers to volunteer therapists around the UK.

Hopeline Radio has had a significant impact on the mental health and well-being of frontline workers in the UK's National Health Service (NHS).

Through strategic media partnerships, Hopeline Radio has reached millions of people, with listeners tuning in daily to receive messages of support.

This increased visibility has led to a surge in demand for emotional support, with Frontline19 receiving over 9,000 requests every week for its services. To meet this demand, Frontline19 has expanded its network to include over 1,000 volunteer counsellors, psychotherapists, and psychologists across the UK.

As a result, over 250,000 pro bono counselling sessions have been provided to frontline workers, helping to alleviate the mental health crisis facing the NHS.

Hopeline Radio has demonstrated the power of media and creativity to connect people with valuable resources and services, and highlights the potential of audio platforms to drive social impact.