HOLLYWOOD star Michael Sheen urged crowds to stand up for the NHS at a rally this Sunday in Tredegar, the birthplace of NHS founder Aneurin Bevan.

Around 300 people marched from the clock tower to Bedwellty Park on St David’s Day, despite sleet and wind buffeting their placards.

They fear that the NHS could be “dismantled” and sold off if May’s general election returns a Tory government.

In a passionate speech, Mr Sheen told the crowds that Aneurin Bevan had “a truly monumental vision”, describing the NHS, set up in 1948 in the wake of WWII, as a symbol of equality and fairness.

He asked those assembled: “What sort of society do we want to be? It is a choice. Do we want to be a society that is fractured, divided, disconnected, mistrustful of its own people – that sees people as commodities, instruments of profit? Or do we want to be a society where all are equal in value, and that value is not purely a monetary one?”

Rebutting Margaret Thatcher’s famous claim in 1987, he was met with cheers when he exclaimed “There IS such a thing as society”.

“We do not turn our backs on those facing hard times. We do not exploit their weaknesses - because ‘they’ are us. If not now, then at some point in the future.

“We leave no-one behind. We only say we have crossed the finish line when the last of us does.”

West End star Katy Treharne, along with Zeph Gould, sang songs from Phantom of the Opera as the rally closed.

Aneurin ‘Nye’ Bevan’s great niece Jane Williams was on the march. She said she did not think her uncle would be happy to see the direction the NHS has taken in recent years. “I think privatisation is a real danger,” she said. “Not so much in the Welsh NHS but in the rest of it.”

72-year-old Ray Dauncey, from Blackwood, came on the march with his daughter and two granddaughters. “I don’t want to see the NHS dismantled and it looks as if it’s already happening”, he said. “We will do anything we can to stop it. So we have come to the home of the NHS in Tredegar. Everybody should have an equal opportunity to health.”

His granddaughter Holly Gentle, aged 11, said: “It’s important that we look after other peoples’ health and not just our own.”

Mayor of Tredegar Ryan Watkins quoted Bevan, saying: “You can’t call a country civilised unless there is free healthcare. Losing the NHS isn’t something we can allow.”

Nick Smith MP joined the march, telling those assembled: “Let’s be proud of our town and our friends and neighbours here today to stand up for our NHS.”

The ‘People’s March for the NHS’, was one of a series of events planned all over the UK by a group of mothers from Darlington who marched 300 miles from Jarrow to London last summer in protest at NHS privatisation.

A department of health spokesperson said: "Official NHS accounts show that use of the private sector amounts to only six pence in every pound the NHS spends. Charities, social enterprises and other providers of healthcare play an important role in the NHS, as they have done for many years.”

For more information, visit peoplesvotefornhs.org.uk.