Celebrating 70 years of the NHS

By Rob Dabrowski on 28 June 2018 NHS

Celebrations at Westminster Abbey and York Minster on July 5 will pay tribute to NHS staff and patients to mark the NHS’ 70th birthday.

Participants in the Westminster Abbey service will include Freya Lewis, a survivor of the Manchester terror attack who suffered 29 separate injuries, and Dr Martin Griffiths, a leading NHS trauma surgeon who led a team treating victims of the London Bridge terrorist attack.

Other special guests include Olive Belfield, who was in the first group of NHS recruits in 1948, and Lobke Marsden, who paints radiotherapy masks for children undergoing cancer treatment.

Simon Stevens, NHS England chief executive, said: ‘This is a landmark year for the NHS and we want to say a massive thank you to the dedication and skill of the many millions of people who have worked for the NHS, past and present.’

Singer Linda Nolan, who is being treated for breast cancer, will host a choral concert at York Minster and will be joined by 15-year-old Eve Senior, a survivor of the Manchester terror attack, who wants to become a nurse, and Amen Dhesi who became a carer at 13 for his dad who has bipolar disorder.

Performances will be given by the NHS Greenwich and Lewisham choir who will singing their latest single, With a Little Help from My Friends; and Britain’s Got Talent finalists, the B Positive Choir.

The services will be attended by around 3000 NHS staff from across the country and representatives of charities, councils, and other key partners who work with the NHS.
  
Wider celebrations on 5 July to mark the NHS’ birthday will include thousands of 7Tea parties to raise money for NHS charities. 

Dozens of landmark buildings will light up blue, including York Minster, the Blackpool Tower, the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, the London Eye and Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. 

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