Poems of Hartlepool hospital trust nurse feature in book raising cash for Covid-19 NHS heroes

Mel McEvoy, who works for North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, has three poems included in the book These Are The Hands: Poems from the Heart of the NHS.

In fact, he has three poems in the book which has quickly become a bestseller and is raising money to support the health and wellbeing of NHS staff and volunteers on the frontline of the Covid-19 emergency.

Mel, a nursing consultant in palliative care said: “Poetry catches the moments I see as rich in meaning.

“I’m very proud to have my poems included. It’s a book about the NHS where I have spent most of my working life.

“And it’s all for charity which is fantastic.”

His three poems featured in These Are The Hands are titled ‘He swims in the silence’, ‘Do your own dead come for you?’ and ‘Living in an empty house’.

All proceeds will be donated to the NHS Charities Together Fund COVID-19 Emergency Fund.

Writer and TV personality Stephen Fry said the book is: “A wonderful anthology to celebrate the NHS, which is itself the best poem a country has ever written.”

Mel added: “Working in end of life care has been a privilege and has had a profound effect on my life.

“I’ve been with people as they come to accept their oncoming death, I’ve seen how it affects them and how sometimes from that knowledge comes enormous strength.

“My poems may seem like they centre around end-of-life, but really they are about life.

“They explore the past, where people come from, their experiences and have been described as a ‘narrative of emotion’.”

Mel has a long interest in poetry and had a previous collection of poems published called An Emptied Space.

He recently completed a Master’s degree in Creative Writing with Distinction. He hopes a collection of poems he wrote for his degree around all the different people using the hospital lift will also be published.

Published by Fair Acre Press, These Are The Hands is available now from Amazon priced £9.99.

The Hartlepool Mail has launched our #HealthHeroes campaign where we are encouraging readers to share their messages of support for the incredible work our health workers are doing at this extremely difficult time.

To help you do this we have set up a dedicated Facebook group and Instagram page where you can share your messages, stories, photos and videos.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.

Thank you