Hugh Pym Takes a Look Back at the Covid Years
Evening with BBC Health Editor to raise funds for The Upper Room
Hugh Pym
March 28, 2025
The Upper Room homeless charity is hosting an event next Thursday evening (3 April) featuring Hugh Pym, the BBC's long-serving Health Editor, in conversation with Torin Douglas, the former BBC Media Correspondent.
When COVID-19 first entered our lives in 2020, Hugh Pym became a constant presence on our screens, providing in-depth reporting to a public desperate for information. Since the pandemic officially ended in 2023, he has continued to report on its fallout, along with other health-related news, including government policy and the state of the NHS. He has recently completed a hard-hitting new book, scheduled for publication next year, entitled Unfit: The COVID-19 crisis and the future of the NHS.
The health sector is not his only area of expertise. He was one of the leading economics correspondents covering the period from late 2007, when Northern Rock was undone by the credit crunch, into 2008, when the collapse of Lehman Brothers triggered a global meltdown and plunged the UK into recession.
The event takes place at St Michael & All Angels, Bath Road, Chiswick (W4 1TT) at 7pm with doors open at 6:30pm. There is no charge for entry, but you are invited to make a minimum donation of £20 per ticket. You can donate here, or on the night.
The Upper Room is a frontline charity dedicated to supporting socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, including the homeless, ex-offenders, and destitute migrants. Established in 1990, it began as a modest initiative—a trestle table offering sandwiches outside a church—and has since evolved into a dynamic organisation addressing both immediate needs and long-term challenges faced by its beneficiaries.
Central to The Upper Room's mission is the provision of essential services through its 'Hub for the Homeless.' This includes offering hot meals, clothing, and bedding to those in need. In 2023, the charity served nearly 33,000 meals.
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