The Million Pound Footballers. This programme is about the May Day for Nurses appeal where the economist tried to petition Footballers to give up a days wage to create a hardship fund for nurses and the result of the appeal. http://www.maydayfornurses.com/ It actually went very well: Dear May Day for Nurses supporter, I wanted to share with you all the latest news for our campaign and explain how you can continue to support us should you wish to do so. What a result! On May 13th we achieved something completely unprecedented. Almost one half of all Premiership players gave their pay that day to the May Day for Nurses Hardship Fund, every single Premiership club agreed to back the campaign, and nurses led players out at the Newcastle-Watford Game. Nurses were the news on almost every channel and radio station that day. Thank you for your support. Your letters of inspiration helped me keep going when things got really tough, as they inevitably and often did. And many of your stories were ones that I took with me when I met with the footballers so that they could hear directly from you. As you know the "football part" of the campaign officially ended on May 13th. But I am glad to let you know that the final whistle seems not to have as yet blown. Steve McClaren contacted me on May 14th asking if he could give up a day's pay too. Which I gladly accepted. And last week the England team announced that they were giving up their match fees from their latest friendly to the Fund. Watch the campaign story - on Channel 4 If you want to see the journey that ended on May 13th, please tune in to Channel 4 at 9pm this Thursday and watch the story of the campaign, "The Million Pound Footballers' Giveaway". It is a real behind-the-scenes look at the world of football as you have never seen it before. It is also, despite the seriousness of the campaign, very funny - partly because I know so little about football that I kept on making dreadful mistakes (calling famous players by the wrong name etc, etc). But also because there are some very intriguing characters who helped me along the way: Mohammed Al Fayed, Jamie Redknapp, Alastair Campbell and many more, all of whom we see in a very new light. Influencing policy On the political front, I have already met with David Cameron, Sir Menzies Campbell and the shadow health secretaries Norman Lamb and Andrew Lansley. I have had a meeting with Hazel Blears, the Labour Party Chairman, and Gordon Brown's office has been in touch, so I am hoping to meet with him soon too. It has made a massive difference in my meetings with politicians to have been able to say that over 30,000 people have registered their support for the campaign on http://www.maydayfornurses.com , so please if you do have friends, colleagues or family who have not yet registered, do encourage them to do so. Remember we're not asking for their money, just for them to register their support. There are a couple of practical matters that I want to use this opportunity to share with you: Applying for the Hardship Fund If you are a nurse and want to apply to the Hardship Fund, The Royal College of Nursing is currently in the process of putting it together. This will take some time, as clubs are still sending monies in and the RCN is setting up its relevent mechanisms and procedures. As soon as it is up and running, it will be widely announced and I will send an email out to all on my list. Donating to the Hardship Fund For those of you who want to make personal donations to the Fund, please do, by going to the website and clicking on 'donate now' on the top navigation bar. Please do not feel at all pressurised to make a financial contribution, it was never my intention to ask for money from the public for the Fund. But so many hundreds of you wrote in, asking to be able to do so, that I feel that it is only right that those who do want to contribute should be able to do so. And finally, I want to thank you once again for your help, support and inspiration. I could have never got here without you. And we have already made a difference. Nurses are already getting more attention from political leaders than they were before. And I will continue to work to ensure that a long-term solution to the current nursing crisis is delivered. Warm regards, Noreena (Hertz) Well done to all who supported the appeal. (Y)
