A scheme launched by chefs to help provide healthy food for hard-pressed NHS workers in Yorkshire has expanded into a national effort and has now gone live in Cornwall.
150 ‘home cooked style’ daily ready meals – including a vegetarian option – are initially being supplied to Helston, Stratton, Launceston and Newquay Community Hospitals. The meals will be kept in fridges on site for collection by staff members 24 hours a day.
The meals are being prepared by a team of volunteer chefs at kitchens in Rock, led by Guy Owen, executive chef at the St Enodoc Hotel and Fee Turner of Rock based catering company Fee’s Food, supported by Tim Spedding (formerly chef at Coombeshead Farm).
Kate Holborow, The High Sheriff of Cornwall, is working with coordinator Emma Trelawny and James Strachan (owner of the St Enodoc Hotel) to roll out the scheme, in partnership with the Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust. The fridges have been loaned by Ginsters of Cornwall.
Food4Heroes, which has secured huge support already since launch on March 24, was prompted by a heart-rending online appeal by NHS worker, Dawn Bilbrough, who was unable to buy food in her local supermarket after completing a 48-hour shift. It has since won celebrity support of Ricky Wilson of the Kaiser Chiefs and Dr Who’s Jodie Whittaker, along with chefs across the country.
Holborow explained: “It is wonderful to see Food4Heroes launching in Cornwall and I am hugely grateful to the enthusiastic volunteers who have stepped forward to make it happen.
“The beauty of the Food4Heroes model is that the charity provides funding for each meal, meaning that whilst we are of course very reliant on our talented volunteer chefs, we are able to support local producers by sourcing locally and help keep the wheels of the local economy turning.
“Food4Heroes is a great initiative and please do support to ensure we can, in turn, continue to support our brave NHS staff and moreover expand to other hospitals across Cornwall.”
