A centre ripe for broader casting

Tuns weekend the Catholic Radio and Television centre at I-latch End, Middlesex celebrates its 25th anniversary. Margaret Coen outlines its past and looks to the future.
ST GABRIEL'S looks just like any other house in the tree-lined ,peaceful setting of Oakleigh Road. in the Middlesex suburb of Hatch End, just about one hour's ride away from the heart of London.
But its Tudorish looking housefront hides a buzz of activity within a complex of highly sophisticated buildings in the back garden: it is the home of what has become one of the most important Christian broadcasting centres of Europe since it was founded in 1955.
The centre was the brainchild of Fr Agnellus Andrew OFM who last year was appointed bishop and vice president of the Pontifical Commission for Social Communications in Rome.
Fr Agnellus had discovered through his work as a religious programmes producer and commentator at the BBC that broadcasting provided "an entirely new and unexpected opportunity for the Church to speak the Word of God to many millions of people whom She was quite unable to reach in any other way."
A venture which was initially regarded by some as a somewhat dubious experiment has grown into a fruitful fig tree with offshoots all over the world. Now, with the respectable experience of 25 years and the pioneering and revolutionary enthusiasm safely behind it, it has reached a crucial stage in its development. Where is it going now?
In this country there has been a positive mushrooming of regional and local radio with plans for more on the way because of the demand for local social identity, community education and comprehensive information services. Could Hatch End expand its role to assist in the training of broadcasters for this kind of output which is essentially of Christian inspiration?
If it managed to obtain official recognition and became eligible for some government assistance there would be the possibility of widening the prospectus and attracting university graduates and school leavers contemplating a broadcasting career. This would necessitate an expansion of Hatch End facilities and an increase in permanent staffing.
And how acceptable would it be if Hatch End took an entire change of direction and became a production centre and reservoir of Christian communication material? Could one ever envisage a Catholic broadcasting station for this country based at Hatch End?
Hatch End is owned by 10 Trustees including the 7 Roman Catholic Archbishops of Great Britain and 3 well known laymen but the Centre really "belongs" in some sense to the Catholic population of Britain. Perhaps we all need to open our eyes and find ways of participating in its future developments. What goes on there and its future shape perhaps deserve more than our annual rather mindless contribution to the collection plate on 'Communications Sunday.'