Amateur Radio Newsline International Newsmaker Award for 2020

The winner of Newsline's second annual International Newsmaker of the Year Award is the Get on the Air to Care project, conceived of by Paul Devlin G1SMP and operated jointly by the UK's National Health Service and the Radio Society of Great Britain. Created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the campaign has decreased social isolation in the UK and around the world by encouraging amateurs to Get On The Air 2 Care - with inactive hams returning and those who always wanted to, becoming newly licenced amateurs. It also gave rise to this season's Get On the Air 4 Christmas initiative. Most importantly, though, #GOTA2C has accomplished something amateurs work so hard to achieve: the campaign has placed amateur radio front and centre in such mainstream media channels as the BBC, ITV Wales and major newspapers, raising amateur radio's profile and attracting new licence-holders even in this era of remote-testing.

Congratulations to Paul Devlin G1SMP, who conceived of the idea as part of the NHS England Emergency Care Improvement Support Team and to the Radio Society of Great Britain and the National Health Service who have implemented it. You'll be hearing more from Paul Devlin next week when Newsline chats with him.

Meanwhile, the RSGB and the NHS have added yet another element to their campaign: an NHS Charity auction beginning December 9th and ending December 19th at the start of the Get on the Air for Christmas campaign. One item for auction should surely help amateurs get on the air to care, even after the holidays. It is a Morse Code key handcrafted and donated by Roy Bailey, G0VFS, of Trowbridge and District Amateur Radio Club. Having based his design on the noted semi-automatic Vibroplex, he has dubbed his creation the Virus-PerpleXed Bug and an engraved decal bears its name. If you wish to participate visit the Society's website for details.