The National Health Service Amateur radio station GB1NHS teamed up with Burton upon Trent Amateur Radio Club for a special event on Sunday 9th September 2018. 

 

The event was held at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire in support of the first ever national emergency services workers memorial day (Official 999 day). The aim of the day was to celebrate the amazing work of our emergency services colleagues across the country. 

 

The team had special permission from the National Memorial Arboretum to operate from the Ambulance Service memorial site within the grounds. This was a huge privilege and a very unique opportunity. 

 

A significant number of people attending the Arboretum came to visit the special event station. It was a huge success and a brilliant opportunity to demonstrate how amateur radio can help to promote special events such as the Official 999 Day. 

 

Members of the Burton upon Trent Amateur Radio Club were able to demonstrate a range of operating procedures. This ranged from morse code to the latest remotely operated Flex Radio Systems. They also operated a special event callsign GB1ESM (emergency services memorial). 

 

Paul Devlin from the NHS Emergency Care Intensive Support Team and custodian of GB1NHS would like to thank the following organisations for helping to make the day such a success:

The National Memorial Arboretum. 

Burton upon Trent Amateur Radio Club

Essex Ham

RAYNET UK

Leicester RAYNET 

NHS Improvement

NHS England

 

Paul would like to particularly thank the following individuals who played a key role on the day:

Burton upon Trent ARC members:

Geoff Newstead G8EKG

Bob McCracken G6EIH

Barry Hardy 2E0ZAI

Gary Coleman M0YIG

Mike White G4HZG

Roger Smith M0RGH

 

Leicester RAYNET member:

Bob Owen G7PNG

 

Pete Sipple M0PSX technical adviser for GB1NHS and Chair of Essex Ham. 

 

Paul states that the greatest degree of praise however should go to the team at the charity behind the National Emergency Services Memorial (NESM). This team worked tirelessly over a number of years to make this day a reality. They have won the backing of our Prime Minister Theresa May for the event. 

 

For further information please visit the following websites and twitter sites: 

 

Official 999 Day

http://www.999day.org.uk/organisers/

@Official999Day

 

Burton upon Trent ARC

https://burton-arc.wixsite.com/burton-arc/the-club

@BurtonRadio

 

NHS Amateur Radio Station 

www.GB1NHS.net 

@GB1NHS