Christmas poetry competition

As part of the trust’s festive celebrations this year, our arts programme is offering the opportunity to all Newcastle Hospitals staff to showcase their creative writing skills with a Christmas poetry competition.

Newcastle Hospitals’ Christmas Carol service is to be held at Newcastle Cathedral on Thursday 11 December. We are inviting staff to submit their poems on the theme of ‘Christmas in the NHS’ to be read aloud at the service, either by themselves or another.

What does Christmas in the NHS mean to you? The busyness that winter brings, the small acts of kindness from colleagues and patients, the quiet moments of solitude amongst the festive rush. We would love to hear your poems reflecting on the NHS over the festive season.

If your poem is selected you will also have the opportunity to read your poem at the Carol Service. If you are unable to attend or wish your poem to be read out by another colleague this is also welcomed.

How to enter

Please attach and send your entries as a word document to [email protected] , with your email subject entitled ‘Christmas Poem’.

Please only include the following in your email.

• Name
• Work email address,
• Preferred contact telephone number
• Pronouns
• A line to confirm that you are a current employee of Newcastle Hospitals.

You can also apply by post, including the above details and your piece of writing to:

Attn. of Holly Richardson, Arts Programme, Newcastle Hospitals Charity, The Fleming, Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 3AE.

If you have any other questions, or would like to find out a bit more about our arts programme, please get in touch. Please also get in touch should you wish to participate but find barriers to accessing, or entering, the competition. We are unable to give individual feedback on entries. We very much appreciate the time and effort every applicant has made in order to apply.

Eligibility

• You do not have to have any prior creative writing experience to enter. The competition is open to all Newcastle Hospitals staff.
• The poem must not exceed 300 words maximum.