A demo was held in Okehampton in a biting wind and freezing temperatures this morning, Saturday, in support of the NHS and striking nurses and ambulance crews as well as teachers and train drivers.

The group gathered with placards outside St James Chapel in the town centre, attracting support from passing motorists who tooted their horns.

solidarity with strikers demo Okehampton Saturday January 21
The demo (Sarah Pitt/Tindle)

'There is no way I'm sitting at home while the NHS is disintegrating,' said organiser Greta Button. 'I will keep coming out every day if I have to, to make a difference.

She added: 'We are just a mixture of local people. None of us are NHS workers but we all have friends and family that are in the NHS so we do know a bit about what is going on. I work in a school, so I will be out with the teachers next week.

'I think really for the first time people are behind the people that are striking, they see the reasons why. That is the point of today, to show local people that we are in support of the NHS and all our striking workers for better pay and conditions, all the workers that helped us through covid. Train drivers lost their lives, doctors and nurses lost their lives and they deserve better pay and conditions, they really do.'

Greta, who works as a parent support advisor at Okehampton Primary School, said she had sympathy with all public sector workers currently on strike, including teachers 'who kept out schools going through covid'. Teachers are to strike countrywide on February 1.

Nurses will again walk out on strike on February 6 and 7, following industrial action in December.

Both professions want substantial rises in pay.