Our National Health Stories was a national programme of creative activity which aimed to tell the stories of staff from 19 UK trusts in recognition of 75 years of the NHS. Trusts worked in different ways, collaborating with a variety of creatives and staff. At Mid Cheshire Hospitals Trust we worked initially with poet Beth Calverley. Beth’s practice centres around co-creation and for this project she teams own words to create poems. Extracts from the poems are featured in the short film below
Beth also created a poem for our trust based on the many conversations she had with staff during her visits here. It is recited by members of staff in the film.
Mid Cheshire colleagues performed some of the poetry to an audience of hundreds during a national event to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the NHS.
Felicity Nixon, Matron DCSS, and Karen Simpson, Deputy General Manager at Victoria Infirmary Northwich, were among the stars of the show at Our NHS Stories Live in Manchester. You can see the recording here: https://ournhstories.org.uk/live-2023 (Mid Cheshire at 59 minutes 24 seconds on the Finale Live Stream).
We worked with artist Jac Seifert of Orakel Workshop to create bespoke artworks of the poems. These artworks adorn the walls of Leighton Hospital, Victoria Infirmary Northwich and Nantwich Church View, Community Hub.
