LOCKDOWN LEADER: Vaughtons
Founded in 1819, Vaughtons team of highly skilled silversmiths have been using traditional methods to create beautiful pieces of metal work for centuries at their Birmingham base.
It’s this unassuming factory that makes medals for the Premier League, the London Olympics, the English Football League, the PGA, and mayoral chains of office – but they’re probably best known for the work they do with Aston Martin, producing the hand-punched insignia bound for the bonnets of Aston Martin and McLaren vehicles. The badges are predominantly handmade during many man hours; and though machines stamp the metal, every machine they use is manually operated – no automation involved. And now this luxury metal works company is turning its hand to another beautiful design.
“We saw what thousands of key workers doing around the country, putting their lives at risk, working for hours in uncomfortable protective equipment, and going above and beyond for the patients,” says Vaughtons managing director Nick Hobbis. After his children asked for some personally designed NHS ‘rainbow’ badges, “it got us thinking that this could be a way to give something back, to say thank-you to them.”
So with the design slightly tweaked, and subject to the exact same care and attention to detail, these beautiful pieces of art, available in gold or silver plate, and stamped using manually operated machines and with enamel laid by hand, are now yours to own for £9.99. Profits will go to NHS Charities Together. Says Hobbis, “They haven’t simply been churned out by big machinery, they're made with a lot of love and attention, with real British craftsmanship.”
Hobbis wants the lapel pin badges to be something people will be “proud to wear. We don't see this as a campaign just while the country's in lockdown. I really believe the NHS symbol will become the poppy of the 21st century, and raise money for charity for many years to come – a reminder of what people were willing to do for each other when they were called upon.
We'll keep manufacturing and selling these branches for as long as people continue to buy them.” Said Ellie Orton, Chief Executive of NHS Charities Together, “Thank you Vaughtons for donating the profits from this pin badge to NHS Charities Together. These funds will help us continue to support NHS workers, volunteers and patients impacted by COVID-19. What a lovely way to say ‘thank you’ to those of deserve it most.”
A video of Nick Hobbis, managing director Vaughtons talking to the camera about what the company do and the launch of the NHS badges