On 17 April 2020, the Radio Society of Great Britain, working in partnership with the NHS, launched a new campaign called “Get on the air to care” to support the emotional health and wellbeing of 75,000 licensed UK radio amateurs – just some of the 3,000,000 worldwide.
Paul Devlin, NHS England Emergency Care Improvement Support Team and RSGB District Representative, says: “Now, more than ever, we need to optimise all modes of communication to help reduce loneliness and isolation within communities. Amateur radio provides a wonderful, unprecedented opportunity to help make this a reality”.
World Amateur Radio Day on Saturday 18 April 2020 celebrates this innovative, global community. Whilst amateur radio evolves continually to include technologies which are at the forefront of modern radio communications, radio amateurs can “Get on the air to care” with a simple handheld device.
Steve Thomas, M1ACB, General Manager of the RSGB explains: “Please help to increase amateur radio activity through club and repeater group nets, chatting with your friends or just by calling CQ. If you’d like to show your support for the NHS at the same time, Ofcom is happy for radio amateurs to add ‘/NHS‘ to the end of their call signs.”
Our new “Get on the air to care” web page includes our launch video so go to www.rsgb.org/gota2c and take a look.
As you get involved in “Get on the air to care” by being more active on the radio, please share your photos, video clips and news with the RSGB via comms@rsgb.org.uk and also on social media using the hashtag #GOTA2C
GB1NHS, the UK’s National Health Service radio communications station will be on the air as part of this campaign so listen out for it!
As you would expect, the RSGB is sharing details of this with the national and local media as well as the amateur radio media in the UK and across the world.
HQ hopes that you are excited by this special campaign and that not only will you get involved in the campaign yourselves, but that you will encourage your clubs and groups to get involved too.
Steve Thomas and Paul Devlin were interviewed on the morning of 17/04/2020 on BBC Three Counties radio – you can listen online now, their interview starts at 1:23:48 – https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p088bpbc
