Prince William and Kate to attend events to celebrate NHS birthday
06 July, 2021
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will celebrate the 73rd anniversary of Britain's National Health Service on Monday.
In the morning, Prince William and his wife Kate will attend a service of thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral, before hosting a "Big Tea" for NHS staff at Buckingham Palace in the afternoon.
The couple are joint patrons of NHS Charities Together.
The Service at St Paul’s will commemorate and give thanks to the NHS’s contribution to the country during the Covid-19 pandemic.
It will reflect on the work and achievements of NHS staff, volunteers and carers, and look ahead to the future of the organisation.
Guests will include leading figures in the NHS pandemic response and several hundred members of frontline staff, patients and others involved in the battle against Covid-19.
They will include NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens and May Parsons, who administered the first Covid-19 shot outside of clinical trials.
Also present will be Sam Foster, the nurse who gave the first vaccine from Oxford-AstraZeneca, staff members who treated the first Covid-19 patients in England, and people who have been treated for the coronavirus.
Later on Monday, Prince William and Kate will host the Big Tea in the gardens of Buckingham Palace to pay tribute to the work of NHS staff who have gone above and beyond to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic.
They will meet staff ranging from respiratory ward nurses, counsellors and care workers, to those in non-clinical roles, including catering managers and housekeeping co-ordinators.
The royal couple will pass on their thanks and hear about the staff members' experiences working over the past 18 months.
The NHS Big Tea is a national celebration of the health service, offering the chance for communities to come together, reflect and thank NHS staff and volunteers for the role they have played throughout the pandemic.
The Buckingham Palace event is one of thousands of Big Teas on July 5 in homes, hospitals, schools and community spaces across the UK.
William and Kate became patrons of NHS Charities Together, the independent national charity caring for the NHS, in December 2020.
NHS Charities Together is an umbrella organisation of 240 NHS member charities in hospitals, mental health, ambulance and community health trusts, and health boards across the UK.
Through their member charities they fund projects that improve services for patients and help NHS staff and volunteers, practically and emotionally, so they can continue with their life-saving work.
Source: www.thenationalnews.com
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