Sunshine Coast 92.7 MIX FM radio’s Caroline Hutchinson on her career

After 26 years of talking listeners through fires, floods and charity drives, Queensland radio star Caroline Hutchinson is stepping away from the microphone and has revealed her next move.

Caroline Hutchinson from 97.2 Mix FM grabs her Bear for Care teddy with her copy of the Sunshine Coast Daily. The Bear for Care campaign has now come to a close - thank you for your support.

For 26 years, Sunshine Coast radio listeners who have switched the dial to 92.7FM have heard the voice of Caroline Hutchinson.

The 92.7 MIX FM stalwart has been with Sunshine Coast residents through fires, floods and as they have emptied their pockets for others to give to charities the radio station supports.

With her retirement from radio and her final show coming up fast, she reflected on the highlights of her career.

She and co-host Mark Darin became a team 20 years ago and the pair has kept Sunny Coasters entertained and informed for more than 5000 breakfast shows.

Caroline said her radio show had been extremely fulfilling and she had “loved it” all.

An emotional moment as 92.7 Mix FM breakfast announcers Caroline Hutchinson and Mark Darin discover they smashed a $600,000 fundraising goal for the Give Me 5 for Kids appeal.

“I feel very grateful for the love and support I have received for 26 years,” she said.

“People have been very kind to me and my family, inviting me to things, answering the call when I was doing charity stuff and telling funny stories on the air.”

The morning show pair is an active part of the Sunshine Coast community, pictured here with Visit Sunshine Coast chairman David Ryan with Caroline Hutchinson on the left and Mark Darin on the right.

Caroline started out at GWN7 in Western Australia as a TV journalist.

After moving to Albury in New South Wales with her husband, she was offered a job on the radio and never looked back.

“It will be very weird to no longer be Caroline from the radio, but I am excited about what is next,” she said.

The morning show stalwart said she would miss her work mates the most, describing them as family.

Caroline Hutchinson.

“It will be hard not seeing them every day,” Caroline said.

She said the moments she would hold close were when radio had been the most useful to the community.

“The Peregian fires, or big rain days, when we raise money for sick kids or solve a mystery for someone, that is when I love radio the most,” Caroline said.

MIX FM’s Give Me Five has raised nearly $8m dollars for sick kids on the Sunshine Coast.

“There is no such thing as a bad charity,” Caroline said, calling the money raised during her time the greatest achievement of her life.

Her favourite memory was the morning they had a little girl on air who needed cancer treatment in Brisbane.

The mother of the child needed a car to get there every day and a couple who was about to put a fairly new car up for sale heard about the issue and donated their car.

“That’s the power of the radio,” Caroline said.

The funniest moment on air for her was the day chef Tony Kelly came into the studio to do a cooking segment, but his electric frypan shut down the entire radio station.

“Our technician was apoplectic, so it probably was not funny at the time, but it still gives me a chuckle,” she said.

Caroline has seen radio evolve over the past two decades.

She said the platform was “the great survivor” and had a strong future.

“If you are stuck in traffic, or you want to know what is going on down at the beach, or you are wondering where Christmas carols are this weekend, radio will always have the answer,” Caroline said.

In her time, she has seen radio get “a lot more personal”.

“When I started on the air the bosses would have said, ‘don’t talk about what you did on the weekend, no one cares!’ But we know that is not true,” Caroline said.

“Radio is a friend to people, and they want to share your life.”

Caroline’s final show will be broadcast live from Wishlist at the Sunshine Coast University Hospital on December 20.

It will follow the “Farewell Caroline tour”, a week-long series of outdoor broadcasts.

Caroline will then start a business with her friend Lisa Rowe, the former CEO of Wishlist.

They aim to help businesses understand where their charity dollars go and make sure their clients and staff know the true impact of that generosity.

Originally published as Sunshine Coast 92.7 MIX FM radio’s Caroline Hutchinson on her career