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Monday, 29 October 2007 |
Rolling Stone leads protest
Keith Richards raised the profile of a campaign against hospital cuts today by joining protesters in a march through Chichester. The Rolling Stone marched alongside thousands protesting against possible cuts at a hospital near the star's West Sussex country home. It was not quite Street Fighting Man and the student riots of the 1960s, but Richards joined 15,000 people in a march to save the appropriately named St Richard’s hospital in Chichester, West Sussex.
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Plans are afoot to designate one of the county's three hospitals - Chichester, Worthing and Haywards Heath - as the area's major general hospital and downgrade services at the others, according to local residents. Campaigners want St Richard's to retain its acute A&E and maternity services, and claim that if these services are axed, patients will be forced to travel to Worthing or Portsmouth to give birth or receive emergency treatment.
The rally was organised by the Support St Richard’s group. Over the past year supporters have included Sir Paul McCartney, Des Lynam and Dame Vera Lynn.
A spokeswoman for the 63-year-old said: "Keith Richards is a long-standing member of the West Wittering community and is pleased to lend his support to local efforts to save St Richard's Hospital. It is a vital local amenity for not only residents but for visitors and holidaymakers. The walk is planned to raise awareness and public support for the hospital."
 Richards emerged from a minibus decked out in a long black leather coat, skull-emblazoned scarf, a trilby, the requisite celebrity shades and waving a couple of pink flags. He was joined at the rally by Lauren Minto, 6, who was born with mis-aligned feet and has undergone a series of operations at the hospital to correct her walk. If the hospital loses its acute services unit she faces a 40-minute drive to a hospital in Portsmouth.
Another marcher, John Murray, 63, said: “I’m the same age as Keith so I was surprised to see how well he looked - particularly as he hasn’t quit the fags. Still it’s great that he came along and supported his local hospital.”
He led the protest march through the streets of Chichester and spoke to the crowd at the end of the rally.
The rocker, who is not known for his healthy living said, “I have used St Richard’s a couple of times myself and it has saved a couple of lives on my behalf. Why are we talking about downgrading St Richard’s? We should be talking about upgrading it,”
Stabbing a finger at the nearby Chichester cathedral, he added: “There’s a big building over there called the cathedral that will look after you in the hereafter. St Richard’s will take care of you in the here and now.”
He waved to cheering crowds and ended his speech with a reference to the hospital carrying his name. “I’m saving up for my halo,” he said.
Other celebrities who attended the protest march included actress Patricia 'Hyacinth Bucket' Routledge and actor Christopher Timothy, best known as James Herriot in TV's All Creatures Great and Small.
 The rocker has owned Redlands, a £1.5m moated home, in nearby West Wittering, since the 1960s. It was the scene of an infamous drugs bust in 1967. His main home is in Connecticut, USA.
It is not the first time that Richards has fought local authority. In 2002 he successfully campaigned to save an acre of woodland near his home because bats roosted in the trees.
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