The London 2012 Olympics began in spectacular style with Danny Boyle’s opening ceremony being watched by millions of people around the world.

It paid homage to the National Health Service, which was featured as one of Britain’s proudest achievements during the £27m extravaganza. More than 600 real life nurses were amongst the 10,000 people who had volunteered to take part. Boyle said that the volunteers who came from the NHS were “proud people” that “work for something that they truly, truly believe in.” He added, “One of the reasons we put the NHS in the show is that everyone is aware of how important the NHS is to everybody in this country. We believe, as a nation, in universal healthcare. It doesn’t matter how poor you are, how rich you are, you will get treated…it is an amazing thing to celebrate.”

During this amazing scene the children were tucked up in bed, spelling out the words ‘NHS’ and ‘GOSH’ (Great Ormond Street Hospital). The 300 luminous beds contained special LED bedding, batteries and wiring, which will now be removed by a team of fifteen volunteers over the course of three days. This will transform them from imaginative showpieces into fully functioning hospital beds which can be used to treat patients.

These ‘NHS Hospital Beds’ will be donated to charity, where patients in the Tunisian Hospital Habis Burguiba De Medenine and Hospital de Taouine will receive the vital care they need.