"So you made it to 70… Kind of…"
The home of the words and thoughts of Piers Harrison-Reid, Poet and Nurse. Come on in, take off your shoes. Relax.
Introduction
Piers Harrison-Reid is a performance poet primarily inspired by his real-life big boy job as an Accident and Emergency Nurse, and the stories of life and loss from the people he meets there. Now perhaps best known for his viral love poem to the NHS ‘Love is for the brave’, he has supported the likes of Buddy Wakefield and Scroobius Pip, performed internationally and toured Scotland and England. He has featured on BBC Look East, is a weekly guest on BBC Radio Norfolk, has performed at a multitude of summer festivals including stages at Bestival and Latitude, and given keynote speeches to conferences including the Chief Nursing Officer of the NHS. He’s not angry he’s just disappointed. If you want to find out more than this brief overview see:
Love is for the Brave #NHS70
Happy Birthday NHS! You look great! Is that a new scarf? It suits you.
Hey Piers here! Just ahead of touring the UK the BBC asked me to write a short piece to celebrate the NHS at 70 years old which was awfully nice of them. Though I didn’t have long, I tried to be positive whilst talking about the recent stresses of the NHS. I love the NHS; too many people to mention in my extended family have dedicated their lives to it, and I think it is one of the best things about living in England, but… It is really struggling and unless we start talking about creeping privatisation, poorly paid and respected staff, and generally untenable funding cuts we will lose it as we know it. We also need to be less easily convinced by the scapegoating of foreign born people; they are holding it up so much more than harming it.
It went well, I think! The comments on the video are heart-warming, the support has been incredible, and it has been shared 12,000 and viewed a whopping 600,000 times on Facebook alone. I hope you enjoy watching it as much as I enjoyed making it, and please, please, please, share it with all your friends if you think I’m talking any sense! Maybe see you around?
Piers Harrison-Reid x
