Shropshire-based artisan biscuit producers, Original Biscuit Bakers, has donated thousands of hand-decorated gingerbread biscuits to NHS workers, the homeless and those in food poverty via food re-distributors, City Harvest, in London, and the Market Drayton Foodbank.
It has also donated to staff and patients at the Royal Stoke University Hospital via the ‘UHNM Charity’ - University Hospital of North Midlands Charity.
City Harvest, based in Acton, redistributes food that would otherwise go to waste to charities across the capital, which use it to make healthy meals for vulnerable people.
Since March 17, the charity has been receiving 20 tonnes of food a day from restaurants that have had to close during the nationwide lockdown – considerably more than the 35 tonnes it usually receives a week.
It has set up a fundraising page asking for donations to keep its delivery vans on the road. Every £50 donated will feed 200 Londoners, while £1,000 will enable one van to deliver 10,000 meals.
To donate to City Harvest visit: https://cafdonate.cafonline.org/11034#!/DonationDetails.
Meanwhile distributor JJ Foodservice has donated 4,800 veggie fish fingers, 425kg of chips and 47kg of mushy peas to the Cystic Fibrosis Ward of St James’ NHS Hospital in Leeds, which looks after 400 patients.
Ice machine manufacturer Hoshizaki is ‘prioritising ice machine orders for essential sites including hospitals’ in response to the increased pressures on hospitals in the current Covid-19 pandemic.
Simon Frost, director for UK & Ireland, said: “Hospitals up and down the UK, as well as across the globe, rely on Hoshizaki ice machines for a whole host of medical tasks. These include using ice to reduce swelling, keeping patients hydrated, storing perishables and even for organ cooling and transportation.”
And Bella Italia, part of Casual Dining Group, has committed to providing 1,000 free meals in April to NHS staff serving on the frontline during the coronavirus crisis. Team members reopened the company’s South Kensington branch and began preparing freshly cooked pasta and pizza from its spring menu, working with Deliveroo to provide the meals every week to West London NHS Trust.