The RSGB is delighted to be running an NHS charity auction as part of its Get on the Air for Christmas (#GOTA4C) campaign with the NHS.

Roy Bailey, G0VFS, who is an active member of Trowbridge and District Amateur Radio Club, won the Lockdown Category in the RSGB’s Annual Construction Competition. He offered to donate his beautifully-engineered VirusPerpleXed Bug CW Key to raise money for NHS Charities Together.

Roy says, “I chose to engrave the following inscription on the key to give a link (like a time capsule) to what has been an extraordinary and challenging time in history for us all, but most profoundly for the NHS - “The VirusPerpleXed Bug CW Key, This Morse key was handcrafted by G0VFS while STAYING at Home to Protect our NHS during the Corona Pandemic - Spring 2020”.  I hope that the auction will reflect well on the hobby of amateur radio and that, at this time of international crisis, the amateur radio community will once more respond by giving this auction its full support.”

Paul Devlin, G1SMP from the NHS England Emergency Care Improvement Support Team commented: “We are incredibly grateful to Roy for donating such a wonderful piece of engineering in support of NHS charities. The fact that this was handmade to the highest standards during lockdown make this a genuine one-of-a-kind project. We would love to follow the story of this project, not only to see how the funds raised benefit the NHS but also to see how the key helps someone to ‘Get on the Air to Care’”.

The auction will run from 9 – 19 December, ending on the day that the ‘Get on the Air for Christmas’ campaign begins. Full details of how to take part are on the Society’s website: www.rsgb.org/gota4c

(Source: Heather, RSGB)