An author and broadcaster originally from Hampton and a TV writer from Teddington are two of the people involved in an amazing auction to raise funds for masks for the NHS called Ask for Masks.

Items include a cream tea with Dawn French, (latest offer £1000) A bespoke quiz created especially for you by Lucy Porter and Justin Edwards? A chat with Kerry Howard of Witless fame. A week in a beautiful five-bedroom house in Polzeath as well as wine and champagne, exclusive tickets and dining experiences and art works.

Or perhaps a drawing, piece of pottery, or lipstick created especially for you? A Line of Duty mug?

These and many other wonderful prizes are up for grabs in a fun and uplifting charity auction.

The auction is supported by the Teddington-based creator of Line of Duty and Bodyguard Jed Mercurio who used his twitter feed to show hilarious out-takes from Line of Duty to help promote the auction.

He wrote:"Here's another irreverent Line of Duty video as a shameless inducement to support â¦@asksformasks.â©. Bid for amazing lots in the charity auction and help provide much-needed PPE for health care staff."

Watch the Line of Duty bloopers here

The project is also supported by broadcaster and journalist Rachel Lovell, who was brought up in Hampton and attended Rectory and Richmond College and now lives in Devon.

She said:"I've been amazed at the success and staggered by the celebs involved and the generosity of individuals, both in bids and donating prizes. It just shows how people want to help in any way they can and is really heartening."

All the prizes have been donated by businesses and individuals - with funds raised going direct to these organisations getting PPE to places where gaps remain, from hospitals to care homes, hospices to GP hubs.

The fundraising effort was started by Dr Katie Sanderson, a doctor on a COVID-19 ward in a London Hospital, who contacted TV presenter Sue Perkins, who agreed to front the auction."

Dr Sanderson said:"I am a doctor and spent March and April looking after patients with COVID-19 in a London hospital (I am now working in a hospice).

"I have been very distressed by the significant gaps that remain in PPE provision, in hospitals but even more so in hospices, GP surgeries, and other community settings including care homes.

"Clearly PPE provision should not be charitably funded, but at the moment there are limited options for those who are failing to obtain it through official routes, and this is forcing my colleagues to take unnecessary risks to look after their patients.

"I have become involved with the Doctors' Association UK, where we have been collecting data which highlights just how many frontline staff still face shortages of PPE, in collaboration with Messly.

"We have been working with NHS Hero Support, Scrub and Face Protection Hub, and Let's Beat Covid to do what we can to get PPE to places where gaps remain.

"These organisations are doing an astonishing job of distributing PPE quickly and efficiently to places that don't have it.

"They are a handful of volunteers with no overheads and a network of volunteer drivers who have managed to get well over 100,000 items to places with no PPE, including a hospice which would have had to close without their help.

"They are sourcing partly from factories abroad in China, and partly from UK and other European manufacturers, and they also receive a lot of donated PPE.

"They are also working on technologies that will contribute to a more sustainable supply of PPE. I hope the need for this will diminish as the official effort becomes smoother, but progress is slow, and frontline workers need PPE now!

"These organisations desperately need to raise more money to be able to continue and expand this work. There have been incredibly generous charitable donations to date, to support the NHS and its workers.

"I understand that many people feel that PPE should not be charitably funded, but improving provision in the short term is something that many of us would be very grateful for indeed.

"The second auction will also benefit Med Supply Drive, an organisation run by doctors and medical students, which is supporting the development of novel solutions for tackling PPE shortages. I will wind this effort down as soon as it is no longer needed."

Sue Perkins, also presented the first auction, which raised over £42.000, said:"I'm delighted to be helping Katie out, and to be lending my support to this wonderful campaign.

"No one should lack the basic kit they need to be safe in the workplace and, with your help, we can get essential PPE supplies out to those in the community who need them the most."

Bid in the auction today

Go to Ask For Masks website