Wyre Forest Labour will be celebrating the 70th anniversary of the foundation of the National Health Service (NHS) with a Street-stall outside Kidderminster Town Hall on Saturday 7th July from 11am – 1.30pm.

Our National Health Service turns 70 this month and Wyre Forest Labour’s Street-stall is to celebrate this and say ‘thank you’ to NHS staff both past and present.

In holding this Street-stall, Labour is inviting NHS workers and people from all our communities living and working in and around Wyre Forest to join in with us in this celebration.

Labour wants to demonstrate support for this brilliant, universal, free to use healthcare system born in 1948 by Clem Attlee’s Labour Government.

Labour will be raising awareness too of the damage that 8 years of Tory austerity has brought to the NHS.

Stephen Brown, Wyre Forest Labour said “Theresa May’s headline grabbing seeming quick fix for the NHS is an illusion. It’s an uncosted £20billion, she hasn’t said how she’ll pay for it, it won’t fix the NHS at all. It doesn’t even come close to the levels of historic funding needed and provided between 1948 and 2010. It doesn’t come close either to the 5% Labour said the NHS needs, and will be provided by Labour to put our NHS back on track, if Labour forms the next Government. People can see daily with what’s happening with Worcestershire NHS as it lurches from one crisis to another, a crisis made in Whitehall by the Tories, and feverishly supported by Mark Garnier, Wyre Forest Tory MP. Labour will end this crisis, with the support of the people and our communities back in 1948 Labour made the NHS, and together this time around, we can fix it too.”

The key to the day is the celebration of our NHS however, and there will be bunting, balloons, stickers and leaflets; and a giant NHS 70th birthday card for members of the public to sign. It is Labour’s intention to present this card to local NHS workers at 1.30pm.

Labour’s birthday card was chosen following a nationwide online competition.

The NHS is Labour’s proudest achievement. We cherish the way it puts people first and supports us at every stage of our lives, but we need to work together to ensure it serves us for generations to come.

The next Labour government will make sure the NHS is equipped to deal with the challenges of today, protect patients and staff, and ensure the long-term sustainability of our health service. We will always give the NHS the money it needs, boost funding for new buildings and stand up for patients’ rights to high quality and timely care. From the start of our lives to the very end, our NHS is there for us. Let’s celebrate it and fight for it.