Volunteers deliver over 130,000 meals to NHS staff

Volunteers deliver over 130,000 meals to NHS staff

28 May 2020

Over the last eight weeks, we’ve organised daily deliveries of hot meals to NHS staff caring for patients with coronavirus as well as other wards, departments and services where it has been difficult for staff to access food.

With the support of many generous suppliers, restaurants and local businesses, we’ve also stocked three staff shops at Charing Cross, Hammersmith and St Mary’s hospitals – entirely free of charge for NHS workers, seven days a week.

The service has made it much easier for hospital staff to enjoy a high-quality meal during their shift while providing a range of small snack items, bottled drinks, basic toiletries and other everyday essentials to help those who are unable to visit shops or supermarkets outside their working hours.

Our fantastic volunteers have played a key role in maintaining this service, distributing hot meals to wards across our hospitals and serving tens of thousands of customers in our staff shops.

Sam Morris, Head of Volunteering at Imperial Health Charity, said: “A huge thank you to our volunteers who have provided such fantastic support to NHS staff as part of our coronavirus emergency response.

“We worked quickly to provide urgent help where it was needed most and – while the impact of the virus has been felt by us all – I’m extremely proud that our volunteers have been able to play their part during this unprecedented situation.”

Collectively, our Crisis Response Volunteers have contributed over 6,000 hours since the outbreak began and completed more than 1,700 shifts. In this time they’ve helped to deliver over 130,000 meals to NHS staff, with more than 65,000 visits to our staff shops.

As we emerge from the peak of the crisis, we’re moving into a new phase of support to help our hospitals recover and rebuild – and our volunteers will continue to play a significant role in this over the coming months.

We’re continuing to work with Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust to provide long-term support in two key areas:

• improving the hospital experience for patients and their families
• supporting the long-term wellbeing of NHS staff.

To find out more about the other ways in which we’re helping our hospitals respond to the coronavirus crisis, click here.