Thackray Museum of Medicine has put the experiences of NHS workers at the heart of an installation called ‘The Night Before NHS Christmas’.
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00:00I'm Edward Appleyard, I'm Chief Executive here at the Thackray Museum of Medicine.
00:03It is that festive time of year when we all come together and hopefully bring a
00:07little bit of joy to the world in a time when actually so much is going on.
00:10There's a big concern to us at the moment around the globe but here at the
00:15Thackray we really celebrate people at the heart of everything we do and what
00:18better time of year to do that than at Christmas. And this year we're
00:22celebrating really special people that work in the NHS over the holiday period
00:26looking after all of us when we're sick and we can't enjoy Christmas at home.
00:30This year we're presenting the night before NHS Christmas and we're really
00:34excited to have brought together so many stories from colleagues mostly at LGI
00:38and Jimmy's next door to us too which is where we are in Leeds here. Everything
00:43from maternity wards to cardiologists and things in between it's been such an
00:47interesting array of people to work with. I mean some of the wonderful stories
00:51that have come out for example Lucy who works in the maternity ward there's
00:54always a competition between Jimmy's and LGI every year around who's going to
00:58get that first baby on Christmas Day and what we've really brought together is
01:01this idea of a celebration across the Christmas period. Obviously it's
01:04difficult for staff in the NHS to work across that period but actually they
01:08really embrace the joy. They obviously really care because that's what they do
01:12every single day in their jobs and want to make that a very special time for
01:16people. Those stories have been brought to life by a wonderful artist called
01:19Andy Singleton. He's based in Wakefield and he works primarily with paper but
01:23he's an illustrator too. The artworks that you see are based on that ultimate
01:27festive story of the night before Christmas. So in the night before NHS
01:31Christmas we've adapted that with wonderful poetry by our very own
01:33Jessica Smith and he's brought to life in an illustrative paper way in the
01:39form of six wonderful books which are intricate, beautiful, they are so well
01:44designed and thought out. We're also working with a company called Rensemble
01:47who are bringing the Thackray to life in a totally different way. Every weekend
01:51between now and the 23rd of December you are bound to feel joy, feel engaged,
01:56feel happy. It's a wonderful experience.