The organisers of the Software Craftsmanship conference have announced that ticket sales have raised over £15,000 for historic Bletchley Park, with more cash due to find its way to the publicly-funded charitable fund thanks to a rather special hardware auction.

In its third year at Bletchley Park, the Software Craftsmanship conference was founded by Codemanship's Jason Gorman based on concepts put forward by Peter McBreen in the book Software Craftsmanship: The New Imperative. In his book, McBreen called for more professionalism in the software industry - a cry Gorman and others have taken to heart and extended with a manifesto for change.

Each year, the funds raised by the Software Craftsmanship event go towards helping keep Bletchley Park - home to the historic codebreakers of World War II and now a heritage attraction and home to the National Museum of Computing - open and fund the vital restorative work so badly needed by some of its less well preserved buildings and exhibits. Since 2010, the event has raised a much-needed £40,000 - making Gorman, a patron of the charitable Bletchley Park Trust which runs the site, the charity's biggest private fundraiser.

'Bletchley Park has played a pivotal role in the development of modern computing, and is a Mecca for the software craftsmanship community, making it the perfect venue,' Gorman explained of his choice of location for the event. 'There's a real community spirit about the conference, and we’re very grateful to all the amazingly talented software developers who've generously given their time. I believe Bletchley Park plays a big part in building the goodwill that the conference runs on.'

Software Craftsmanship 2012 is a special event for two reasons: firstly, it coincides with the centenary of Alan Turing, the noted polymath who helped develop much of what would become known as computer science in secrecy before being driven to suicide by the government over his sexuality; secondly, it will be Gorman's last event as chair.

'It's time for someone else to have a go, and introduce some fresh ideas,' Gorman announced today. 'But whoever organises the conference from now on, I'll ensure that it will be run at Bletchley Park, and it will continue to raise money and play a part in building Bletchley Park for the future.'

To help raise even more funds for the Trust, Gorman today announced a special treat for attendees at the event on Thursday: an auction for a Raspberry Pi ARM-based microcomputer, the spiritual successor to the room-sized electromechanical monsters on which Turing and colleagues worked, signed by its creators including project founder Eben Upton.

More details about the event are available at the official website.
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