Hi, This is Christopher Eccleston and I will be reading Matt Kelly’s poem which he has contributed to Gratitude, a wonderful public art installation, which commemorates and celebrates the stories of this extraordinary moment in time and pays tribute to all of our key workers from across the country.

‘OUR HEROES’, BY MATT KELLY

At the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Wigan Council worker Matt Kelly watched his partner Jill Scully – a district nurse – fearlessly head out to work to care for her patients. He wrote ‘Our Heroes’ as a poem of hope in tribute to her brave commitment, and to honour all those working in the NHS and healthcare services across the UK.

Poem:

Our Heroes
I’ll tell you a tale that’s been recently written,
Of a powerful army so Great it saved Britain.
They didn’t have bombs and they didn’t have planes,
They fought with their hearts and they fought with their brains.
They didn’t have bullets, armed just with a mask,
We sent them to war with one simple task:
To show us the way, to lead and inspire us,
To protect us from harm and fight off the virus.
It couldn’t be stopped by bulletproof vests,
An invisible enemy invaded our chests.
So we called on our weapon, our soldiers in blue,
“All Doctors, all Nurses, your Country needs You!”.
We clapped in the streets, hearts bursting with pride,
As they went off to war while we stayed inside.
They struggled at first as they searched for supplies,
But they stared down the virus in the whites of its eyes.
They leaped from the trenches and didn’t think twice,
Some never came back: the ultimate price.
So tired, so weary, yet still they fought on,
As the virus was beaten and the battle was won.
The many of us owe so much to so few,
The brave and the bold, our heroes in blue.
So let’s line the streets and remember our debt,
We love you, our heroes, lest we forget.

Thank you for listening to this story. For more stories and information on Gratitude, please visit: www.thisisgratitude.co.uk