HE LOVES his rock music and now Alec Gaines is picking up his guitar to do some good for a Hampshire Hospitals.

While the national lockdown goes on, Alec and some musical friends are working on The Rockdown Project – and the goal is to deliver some entertainment and a financial boost for local health trust charities.

In the HHFT area, Alec and his musical friends will be encouraging donations to be made to Hampshire Hospitals Charity. The charity is managed by HHFT, which runs Andover War Memorial Hospital, Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital, and Royal Hampshire County Hospital, in Winchester, and is split into ward and department funds.

Much of the income for the Hampshire Hospitals Charity derives from donations from patients, relatives and friends. The funds are used to provide items that will benefit both patients and staff, including brightening up patient treatment areas and staff facilities.

Talking about The Rockdown Project, Alec, who works for the fraud and management security service operated by Hampshire and Isle of Wight Partnership of Clinical Commissioning Groups, said: “We are a group of like-minded amateur musicians, who have been gigging in pubs, clubs and other venues in and around Hampshire for more years than we care to remember.

“As the Covid-19 crisis has forced us to cancel all our gigs for the foreseeable future, we have instead been making music from the safety of our own homes.

“By recording the parts of songs individually, and then sharing them over the internet, we are producing some unique cover versions of some classic rock tracks.

“We are offering the songs for download for free, and are encouraging donations to specific crowdfunding pages which will be raising money for Hampshire Hospitals Charity and other local trust charities in Southampton and Portsmouth.

“We hope people enjoy our efforts, and if they would like to make a donation, we would be really grateful and it would help our NHS trust charities at this greatest time of need.”

You can find out more about The Rockdown Project, including details of how to donate to the Hampshire Hospitals Charity crowdfunding page, by going to www.rockdownproject.com