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Week ending December 3, 2011

BFBS SMASHES RECORD FOR UNDERWATER BROADCAST BY NEARLY FORTY MINUTES - November 28, 2011
from Claire Mulvey for BFSB

The “BFBS Pool Party” record attempt on the 24.11.11 at The Underwater Studios in Essex was stamped mission accomplished as BFBS radio presenter, Richard Hatch, broke the existing Guinness World Records title by nearly 40 minutes, achieving a final and verified record of 4 hours, 43 minutes and 54 seconds.

The pool party helped to raise awareness of the BFBS ‘Big Salute’, an umbrella charity set up by BFBS to support the following five forces charities;

BLESMA - British Limbless Ex Service Men's Association is the national charity for limbless serving and ex service men and women and their dependants and widows.

St Dunstan’s - Lifelong support for blind and visually impaired ex-servicemen and women.

Combat Stress - Provides treatment and support for ex-servicemen and women with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression and anxiety disorders.

Veterans Aid - Gives practical help such as housing or financial assistance as well as advice and advocacy to services veterans.

FAB - Activity camps give bereaved families a welcome break to meet and socialise with others who have experienced a similar loss.

The record-breaking day saw a pool-side performance from Toploader and gadget guru Olly Mann tested out some waterproof gadgets - including cheekily checking whether Richard’s mobile phone was as waterproof as claimed by its manufacturer!

Richard Hatch, who presents the afternoon radio show from the UK to Afghanistan and across the forces world, says; “My skin still smells of chlorine and it has taken two days to get rid of my wrinkly granny hands. I want to say thank goodness that's over - but part of me will miss the strangely foetal and comforting warmth of being submerged and isolated in the tank. Looking back it feels like some crazy Hunter S. Thompson dream”.

Nicky Ness, Controller of BFBS Radio and Combined Services Entertainment said; “Breaking this record was no mean feat. It sounded much easier than it actually was - but in the end the whole adventure turned out to be a tremendously fun piece of broadcasting and a real team effort, led by the still prune-like Richard Hatch, now legendary for his mad ideas. We were totally enthused by the amount of support we received from live guests and audience alike. As well as the technical challenges, overcome by the genius of the BFBS Technology department, we were also able to get very creative with the programme content. All in all, a very good day at the office, which just happened to be underwater.....and it's pretty cool to be holding a Guinness World Record too.”

Claire Burgess, the adjudicator from Guinness World Records said: “It was a pleasure to join Richard Hatch and the BFBS team on the record attempt. I was on site to verify that Richard broadcast his radio show live from The Underwater Studio and remained submerged five metres under water throughout his attempt. Congratulations to Richard on his Guinness World Record title and to everyone involved in its success.”