Docs Not Cops was greatly saddened to hear of Pete Gillard’s death on the 21st of April.
His (online) memorial will be held this Saturday, the 9th of May.
He was a committed NHS campaigner and an inspiration to many of us, both in his national and local activism.
He brought our organisations closer together, helping forge alliances in a number of cities nationally.
Pete fought for a NHS free to all at the point of need, and it was moving to hear that during his last illness he was treated at his local hospital that he successfully fought to keep open – one of many victories achieved by Shropshire Defend Our NHS.
Rest in Power, Pete.
Our thoughts are with his partner Gill.
For more information, see Keep Our NHS Public’s statement: “Remembering Pete Gillard”, from which the below photograph – and quotation – are taken:
During his time in New York, he was active in solidarity with the ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) movement, which was demanding action on the AIDS epidemic that was cutting a deadly swathe through LGBT communities at that time, with authorities adopting a posture of indifference. Pete was also a passionate internationalist and anti-racist – from his youth, when he fought against the far-right National Front as part of the Anti-Nazi League, to his later years, when he was a passionate opponent of the racist Hostile Environment regime that denies healthcare to many migrants and undocumented people in Britain.
