It is with great sadness that we report the death of former KeeP 106 presenter Jim Davis at the age of 81.
From the launch of the station in 2018 until earlier this year Jim presented a number of popular specialised music programmes featuring organ music, military bands and big bands, dance bands and jazz, which he had previously presented for many years on Ridgeway Radio, the former radio station for Dorset County Hospital.
Jim had worked for a local firm of solicitors as a Legal Executive, but it was through his passion for the Scouting movement that many will remember him most. His service to scouting in Dorset spanned more than 60 years during which he was a Scout Leader and was appointed by the Scout Headquarters to be in charge of Brownsea Island arranging the rosters for helpers in the Scout office/information centre on the island.
In the 2021 Dorset Scouts Celebration of Achievement Awards, Jim received the Chief Scout’s 60 Year Service Award and also had held the Silver Wolf award which he used to wear occasionally at Scout events.
Jim will certainly be missed in the Scouting world in which he had been so active.
As far as local radio was concerned, Jim became involved after meeting fellow presenters Peter and Heather Foster. Peter shares his memories of Jim:
“I first met Jim when we were attending concerts at the Dorset County Museum and when we helped with the annual Scout Post, at Christmas. At the concerts, Jim would record a view from the audience as an interval feature, and it was on the strength of these that I invited him to join us on Ridgeway Hospital Radio as a music presenter. What followed was a very positive contribution to the world of local broadcasting, first for hospital patients and then with KeeP 106.
“Jim enjoyed a very wide appreciation of music. He was a Patron of the London Symphony Orchestra. He had a big love of the Theatre, regularly attending many and varied productions at the Chichester Festival Theatre. Jim became very adept at radio commentating, covering such events as the Olympic Torch being carried through Dorchester, the Weymouth Veterans Armed Forces event; Visits to London for Chelsea Flower Show and the Lord Mayors Show.
“His Scouting career spanned many decades. He was Dorset’s most decorated Scout, and Brownsea Island, where Scouting started in 1907, was where he was very active in later years. We recorded a centenary scouting event in Dorchester with Jim, culminating in a big parade to and rally in Maumbury Rings.
“Jim was a joy to work with, someone with a great sense of humour and who enjoyed everything he did.”
