By Olivia Mumby

NHS protest group, Health Campaigns Together, has announced plans with The People’s Assembly for a protest this Saturday(FEB3) at Leicester Royal Infirmary.

The protest will be held against the government’s current lack of funding for the NHS.

The announcement follows Leicester protestors’ previous success in stopping plans to end heart surgery at Glenfield Hospital.

In a statement issued yesterday, Steve Score, chairman of the Save Glenfield Children’s Heart Centre campaign, said: “We want to continue the energy of thousands of people who supported our battle to save the NHS.”

The protest will be held between 11am and 12:30pm on Saturday outside Leicester Royal Infirmary.

Supporters will gather around the area of Infirmary Square, near the entrance to the new children’s A&E department, holding signs and handing out leaflets.

Mr Score continued: “The severe funding crisis in the NHS has become all too apparent in the last few months: The queues at A&E, cancelled operations and longer waits.

“Over the last few years NHS funding per head of the population has fallen. We now have fewer beds per person than all but two of the EU countries.

“We are calling for immediate and significant increase in government funding every year, for no cuts and closures and an end to privatisation.”

The Leicester protest will be part of a series of nation-wide protests called by Health Campaigns Together, with the main protest being held in London.

Spokesperson for the Campaign Against NHS Privatisation, Robert Ball, said: “We can afford a good health service. The UK is the 6^th richest nation in the world.

“We are calling for an emergency injection of cash plus increased levels of funding in coming years, restoring the historical 4% after inflation, and annual increases.”

Current government funding cuts will mean that, in Leicestershire alone, 243 acute care beds will be lost, St Mary’s birthing centre in Melton Mowbray will be closed along with hospitals in Lutterworth and Oakham, consultant led maternity services at Leicester General Hospital will be lost, and the number of beds provided at Hinkley and Bosworth Community Hospital will be halved.

More information can be found on the NHS in Crisis’ Facebook page.

By Sophie Sandberg

Five University of Birmingham students took home this year’s UniSlam title at the Curve Theatre in Leicester after an intense weekend dedicated to the art of poetry.

Over the course of three days, Leicester was filled with aspiring poets from all over the UK and Ireland who took part in UniSlam – a national poetry slam and summit competition for university students.

The team from the University of Birmingham came out on top followed by Bath Spa University, University of Kent and University of Manchester.

The winning team: Hannah Swingler (coach), Hannah Ledlie, Kimberley Knaggs, Anne Gill, Sean Colletti, Mikey Barnes

“Last year we came in second place and to end this journey with a win is huge for me, now when my degree is coming to an end,” said Sean Colletti, 29, who was also given the UniSlam Ambassador award for his attempt to create unity among the teams outside of the competition.

Mr Colletti said: “[The award] came as a total surprise but it feels good to give something back to the management of UniSlam, because of all the hard work they have put in to make this possible – but getting first place is just as important as this award.”

“It’s been an intense but amazingly fun weekend and we’ve met so many talented people, but this just makes it an even more memorable experience,” said Kimberley Knaggs, 18.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling and it just feels good to bring the trophy back with us to Birmingham,” added Anne Gill, 22.

Teams from 25 universities across Britain and Ireland travelled to Leicester to bare their souls through poetry in front of a highly qualified panel of judges, all with a background in professional poetry.

Representatives from De Montfort University (DMU) and the University of Leicester also entered this year’s competition but neither team made it through the preliminary rounds.

“It has been a great experience to be around so many talented people and this is definitely something that will inspire my writing,” said Dominic Haynard, 21, one of the poets who represented DMU in the competition.

UniSlam does not only support talented university poets, but also groups of people who experience various barriers in accessing literature and engages them with poetry in an inspiring way through various development programmes and schemes.

If you or anyone you know wants to join next year’s UniSlam or get involved in other ways, visit uni-slam.com.