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Coronavirus: The hospitality heroes fighting back
In the midst of an unprecedented crisis for the hospitality industry, many operators and their teams are taking positive and innovative actions to support those working in the sector as well as their local communities.
As well as covering the nationwide developments in relation to coronavirus, The Caterer will be showcasing these actions over the coming days and weeks, reminding us all what an amazing sector hospitality is. To share your efforts or messages to the industry, please email news@thecaterer.com.
**Tom Aikens Charity Cooking Challenge **
More than £3,000 has been raised for hospitality charity Only a Pavement Away through the Tom Aikens Charity Cooking Challenge, which launched last month.
The fundraising drive was launched to help hospitality workers pushed out on to the streets after losing their jobs in the Covid-19 pandemic.
It calls on participants to cook a meal in five minutes, donate £5 to the Hospitality Against Homelessness campaign, nominate five friends and share a videos to social media with the hashtags #fiveminutefeast and #hospitalityagainsthomelessness.
Charity single
The musicians who work at live music venues the Piano Works have released a fundraising cover single of Mariah Carey's Hero.
Funds raised from the release of the single will pay for food and drinks for frontline workers at al fresco dining spaces created through the Grand Outdoor Cafe campaign, which is being spearheaded by Piano Works.
Funds are being raised through streaming platforms YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify. The single can be heard here:
Hospitality Delivers
Publicist Jori White has launched website Hospitality Delivers, in conjunction with hospitality marketing freelancer Peter Kerwood, to showcases the restaurants, hotels and individuals who have lunched initiatives to support frontline workers and their communities during the pandemic. It also lists complimentary foodie masterclasses and restaurant pivots.
White said: "Hospitality Delivers is our way of demonstrating solidarity in this time of need. We are working hard to add new information to the site every day; the more brands we include, the more help we can give our industry.”
To find out more go to: hospitalitydelivers.org/
Rooms for NHS workers
Point A Hotels has announced it will open the doors of its nine hotels in London, Edinburgh and Glasgow, exclusively for NHS workers to come and stay free-of-charge for up to two nights.
The initiative is a thank-you "for all the lives saved and care given during the pandemic", with NHS employers able to register here: www.pointahotels.com/thank-you-nhs/
Charity Quiz nights
Sam Harrison, of Sam’s Riverside in Hammersmith, west London, has organised two online celebrity quiz nights, to be held on 16 and 29 June, raising money for the Charlie Waller Memorial Trust.
Participants will pay £25 a household to take part via Zoom with celebrities including TV personalities Ant & Dec and actors David Tennant and Suranne Jones hosting rounds.
To book a place visit www.samsriverside.co.uk from Monday, 8 June.
Waste not, want not
Hilton has opened ‘kitchen hubs’ in its hotels across the country for social enterprise Open Kitchens, enabling the initiative to double its output and provide 50,000 more free meals a month to those in need, using produce which would previously have had to be thrown away.
Open Kitchens was previously forced to turn down huge quantities of food due to lack of storage capacity. In response, Hilton has stepped in to turn its high-capacity hotel kitchens, which usually cater for large-scale conferences and events, into regional kitchen hubs, which will accept deliveries of up to 10 tonnes of surplus food per week.
The new kitchen hubs – situated at the brand’s Birmingham Metropole, London Metropole, East Midlands Airport, Nottingham and Hampton by Hilton Sheffield hotels – will store food before it is delivered to local restaurants for preparation and distribution.
In addition, the Hilton London Metropole – Hilton’s largest hotel in the UK – will serve as a community kitchen. The hotel’s chefs will prepare 1,000 meals a week to be distributed via the Felix Project to people in need including the homeless, children who rely on free school meals, the elderly and those living in isolation, with ambitions for more community kitchens in Hilton hotels to be added in the coming weeks.
Bruton Provisions
Merlin Labron-Johnson and Michelle McLaughlin of Osip restaurant in Bruton, Somerset, have turned the restaurant into a farm shop selling baskets of produce to support the suppliers whose ingredients would normally be used by the restaurant. The team is also producing 50 free meals every Sunday for vulnerable people in the community and delivering to people who are self-isolating.
**Free hospitality photography support **
Ben Duffy and Jeremy Rata’s Hospitality Photographic business is offering free hotel, restaurant, pub and wine trade photography for six businesses suffering as a result of the Covid-19 crisis.
The pair are offering six independently owned businesses a no-charge, one-day photoshoot for some new images to help with their reopening campaigns.
Former managing director of the Devonshire Group Rata will also provide each owner with one hour of management consultancy advice; while Kate Greville, the PR behind Hotel Football and Stocks, has offered two months of free PR to the six selected.
Businesses should be in genuine need of assistance. Interested parties should email Jeremy at rataphotography@icloud.com or text 07779577754 before 2 June.
**Lockdown lunches **
The team at Mitchells & Butlers is raising money for NHS Charities Together through a virtual cookbook.
Featuring over 50 recipes, M&Be Inspired can be download directly from the project’s Just Giving Page, with donations encouraged and an initial target of £5,000.
**The Yianis Foundation **
John Christodoulou, founder of the Yianis Group which owns hotels including the Hilton Manchester, London Marriott Hotel Canary Wharf and Canary Riverside Plaza hotel, has been supplying NHS staff with energy and morale boosting packs.
The property entrepreneur’s Yianis Christodoulou Foundation has created 6,000 care packs for the staff at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel which included energy-releasing snacks, hydration drinks and fresh fruit. The foundation will also be supporting hospitals in Manchester, Liverpool and Southend-on-Sea.
In addition, the Foundation is working in association with the National Federation of Cypriots in the UK to create a network of 40 volunteers along with courier service DHL who have pledged to help the elderly and vulnerable amongst the 355,000 Cypriots that live in the UK by delivering to them food parcels and essential supplies.
The Garden House
The Garden House in Norwich operators Tanya and Jonathon Childs have given £2,000 to the NHS. The couple won BT’s Sports Manager of the Month and the winnings – which were initially £1,000, doubled by BT when they heard of the pub’s community support – are being used to provide televisions for NHS staff to use during downtime and tablets for patients to stay in touch with loved ones.
Every step counts
The people and operations teams at Scottish restaurant and bar operator Buzzworks Holdings aim to walk, run and cycle the equivalent of 16 marathons in aid of Hospitality Action.
Each year the team at Buzzworks take on a community challenge to raise money for their nominated charity of the year. The 2020 challenge is to complete a ‘tour’ of all Buzzworks’ venues, totalling 214 miles.
The people and operations teams are in a race against each other to see who can reach the collective 214 miles first, while raising money for the charity.
Chartwells, the education catering specialist of Compass Group UK & Ireland, has been working closely with West Sussex County Council to ensure any surplus food, caused by reduced numbers of children attending schools, is donated to local charities.
The organisations have donated a range of products including over 500 sandwiches, four cases of apples, plus cheese, bread, treats and crisps. The supplies also included Steamplicity products - a meal solution that uses a micro-steaming system to cook a range of raw and pre-cooked ingredients to be ready to eat within minutes.
The two main charities who have benefited are Stonepillow Charity in Chichester, who support and empower homeless and vulnerable people, and Littlehampton Community Fridge, who make surplus food available to those who need it in the community. FareShare, the UK’s largest charity fighting hunger and food waste has also received items to share with the local communities across Brighton, Horsham and Crawley.
Pilot Light
As part of Mental Health Awareness Week 18-24 May, mental health campaign Pilot Light will be hosting events such as live cook alongs with chefs including Tom Brown, Kirk Haworth and Brad Carter; talks with special guests; and yoga, personal training and sound meditation classes.
Open House
Open House London, the group behind restaurants including the Lighterman in King’s Cross and Percy & Founders in Fitzrovia, have donated 7,700 meals to local NHS hospitals in partnership with Hospitality for Heroes.
The team are making 2,700 meals per week for staff at the Chelsea & Westminster, St Mary’s, St Bartholomew's and Royal Free hospitals.
Healthy Hospo
Healthy Hospo, in association with spirits group Brown-Forman, has launched the ‘Lockdown Lowdown’, a series of health and wellness webinars aimed at helping bar professionals around the world.
To equip bartenders with coping mechanisms, Healthy Hospo has developed four digital workshops, covering topics including dealing with anxiety and stress and the benefits of good nutrition.
Healthy Hospo will curate a series of expert speakers across the workshops, hosted on Zoom. Beginning on 18 May, the webinars will take place every Monday for four weeks.
Click here for more information and to register.
In it Together
My Thai restaurant group founders Simon Gybras and Apiyada Latham are launching a non-profit deli in Leeds to raise funds for Yorkshire’s most vulnerable. In it Together deli will include freshly baked goods, meats and a variety of Thai, Indian and European ready meals
All profits will to go to the city’s elderly, struggling families, most vulnerable individuals and the NHS. There will also be a fridge filled with a selection of meals and deli items for NHS staff.
There will also be a personal shopping and delivery service offered help more senior citizens living outside of central Leeds.
Feed our Frontline
Las Iguanas, part of Casual Dining Group, has joined the Feed Our Frontline campaign and will be providing 1,800 hot meals a week for NHS workers at the Birmingham Heartlands and Queen Elizabeth hospitals.
The initiative, which will operate out of the company’s Temple Street branch in Birmingham, will see meals delivered three days a week, including a range of the Latin American restaurant’s vegan and beef chillies, burritos, and Brazilian curries.
Feed Our Frontline is funded by the FeedNHS initiative, launched by Damian Lewis and Matt Lucas, and is serving more than 10,000 meals a day across the UK.
If you would like to donate to the initiative, click here.
Glasgow Cosmo
Staff at the Glasgow Cosmo restaurant have still been busy in the kitchen preparing 50 free hot meals a day for doctors and nurses in the critical care departments at nearby Leverndale Hospital.
Lila delivery service
Chef Jake Finn, who was due to open his own restaurant Lila in May, has pivoted his cooking offering in light of the lockdown into a food delivery business. Finn is delivering meals and BBQ-ready meats, fish and vegetables for four or six people – mains and sides – with everything cooked fresh and to order.
Best-sellers include beef lasagne, shredded chicken with sticky caramelised onion, seabass with sauce vierge and aubergine parmigiana, among other dishes, versions of which would have been on the menu at Lila.
Mine Community Kitchen
Cornwall-based restaurant Mine, run by Angus Bell and Katy Mulheir, has re-opened its kitchen as a social not-for-profit project to bring cooked meals to the people of Falmouth, which can be delivered to homes or paid forward to an NHS worker or vulnerable person.
They are working with local authorities and charities to deliver meals where needed, including to the elderly and families who have to rely on foodbanks. They have set up a Crowdfunder here.
Mobile Newt
The Newt in Somerset is delivering boxes of fresh produce from the hotel’s estate, local growers and artisans to the Bath postcode area.
Free meals for drivers
Moto, Britain’s biggest motorway service area operator, has given away more than 4,000 meals to HGV drivers as they keep the country afloat during the coronavirus lockdown.
The scheme, for HGV drivers parking overnight, is averaging more than 250 meals a day from the 24 sites taking part. Drivers get a choice of breakfast, lunch or dinner and food is cooked in on-site kitchens before being boxed and delivered to special collection points.
Tin Can Kitchen
Originally conceived as Newport’s first outdoor food court and bar, Covid-19 forced head chef Barry Fallon to pivot his Tin Can Kitchen business ahead of opening and launch it instead as a takeaway and delivery service, offering Cajun-inspired burgers, sides and do-it-yourself pizza kits.
Subject to planning and government restrictions, Tin Can Kitchen will reopen with artisan traders serving street food from kitchens in converted shipping containers. NHS workers can also benefit from a 20% discount.
National Curry Week for Health Heroes
Food ordering platform ChefOnline held its National Curry Week for Health Heroes initiative last week to deliver more than 25,000 meals to health workers across the UK, free of charge. With the support of at least 50 curry restaurants and the Asian Restaurant & Takeaway Awards (ARTA), deliveries were made by participating restaurants to local hospitals up and down the country to thank the frontline workers for their work in battling the Covid-19 pandemic.
Comfort Cookbook
A digital cookbook featuring recipes from south-west chefs including Nathan Outlaw, Paul Ainsworth, Elly Wentworth and Michael Caines has been released to raise money for industry charity Hospitality Action.
The book of comfort food recipes using south-west produce has been compiled over the last few weeks by Lucy Studley of Cornwall Content and Gabriella Dyson of the Maverick Guide, with food styling, photography and design by Ali Green, all free of charge.
The cookbook can be accessed online but asks for a donation via the project’s JustGiving page.
A year of free stays
Sea Containers London is offering a year of complimentary stays to NHS workers as part of its Nominate Your NHS Hero initiative.
The hotel is giving away 365 free stays to NHS staff from around the country; people can nominate their NHS hero by telling their story via the hotel’s website and stays can be booked across the year from when the hotel reopens its doors.
Each of the nomination stories will also be exhibited in the hotel’s gallery space. To nominate an NHS Hero, click here.
Premier Inn says thank you to key workers
Hotel group Premier Inn has partnered with Deliveroo to serve almost 9,000 free slices of pizza to NHS and key workers staying in its London hotels over the last three weeks.
In London, 10 Premier Inn hotels have remained open to accommodate key workers, including NHS staff, and have been hosting weekly ‘Pizza Wednesdays’, with pizza delivered by Deliveroo donated by Pizza Hut funded by donations from the general public.
The partnership has been set up as part of owner Whitbread’s Force For Good sustainability programme and is part of a wider initiative led by Deliveroo, which is making 500,000 free meals available to frontline NHS staff across the UK.
A Wave With Words
The Best Western hotel group has launched Wave with Words: letters to say “Hi” when we’re feeling low. It's an initiative that sends letters to people who want to stay in touch when times get lonely.
The hotel chain says it has a team of volunteer “grown-up wordsmiths, small scribblers, toddlers and teens all ready to lend a hand” to offer the free letter-writing service. To request a letter for yourself or for that special someone who currently feels far away, simply complete the form on their website
**Olympian serves NHS workers charity's 100,000th meal **
Food4Heros has served its 100,000th meal to NHS and care workers with he help of Olympian Jonny Brownlee.
The initiative was launched at the end of March by Amanda Guest of Guest Dining and HR consultant John Brownhill. It has raised more than £250,000 to provide free, healthy meals with the help of chefs, catering companies, restaurants and pubs.
The volunteers include Andrew Bradley of Bradley’s Outside Catering, who is serving 3,745 meals a week in Yorkshire, and the Old White Hart in Lyddington, which is serving 400 meals a day to Kettering General Hospital, with Michael Caines to work with Exeter College to supply Exeter Hospital soon.
Brownlee said: “Food4Heroes’ brilliant work is keeping our NHS heroes healthy and energised. It started in my home of Yorkshire, and I’m really proud to be taking part in serving the 100,000th meal.”
NHS volunteer
Since the Crown hotel in Bawtry, Doncaster, temporarily closed its doors in line with government advice and chef Keegan James Loveday was put on furlough, he has been volunteering as a service assistant volunteer for the NHS based at Doncaster Royal Infirmary. His jobs include cleaning wards and public areas, moving patients around the hospital, and helping with laundry and post.
Help given ASAP
The Association of Serviced Apartment Providers is working with members to offer safe accommodation to frontline key workers across the country, with SACO offering the free use of 12 apartments for three months to the London Fire Brigade so they can self-isolate.
The Mandeville hotel
The four-silver-AA-starred, 142-bedroom Mandeville hotel in London’s Marylebone is supporting the local community by offering grocery and pharmacy pick-ups; donating 100 weekly ‘wellbeing’ boxes to Westminster’s St Mary’s Hospital with toothbrushes and toothpaste, shampoo and conditioner, bottled water and snacks; and offering its parking spots for essential workers.
Wedding of dreams
The five-red-AA-starred, 306-bedroom Rosewood London hotel in Holborn has partnered with luxury wedding company Bridelux and wedding suppliers to offer a complimentary wedding worth over £100,000 for one couple working as key workers, NHS staff or carers during the Covid-19 crisis.
Suppliers from florists to cake makers and stationery to styling have donated their time towards a wedding for up to 150 guests, to be held in the hotel’s grand ballroom. The couple will stay in one of the hotel’s top suites for their wedding night, with breakfast served in the morning.
Soho House
A small team of chefs at Soho House's White City House in London are preparing 1,000 meals a day for frontline workers at two local hospitals, working with Meal Force. Furthermore, 300 meals are delivered daily from Soho Farmhouse to the John Radcliffe hospital in Oxford, and 20 rooms at Mollie’s Motel have been made available to NHS staff.
The group's toiletries brand Cowshed has sent out over 90,000 products to 50 hospitals and charities, with amenity kits including miniature face creams, lip balms, full size hand creams and shower gels. Soho Home also sent 160 pallets of crockery, glassware, bedding and linens to Giving World for NHS workers and families in need.
Aspirations Eight
Members of the Stonegate Pub Company team currently enrolled on the company’s eighth cohort of its top tier training programme, Aspirations, completed a 590-mile virtual journey, raising nearly £12,000 to help the families of colleagues taken by Covid-19.
The initiative saw the group of 10 walk or run the equivalent of the distance between their pubs, and took them from Glasgow to London, back to Stonegate’s head office in Luton, before heading back to London for a virtual celebratory drink at the company’s flagship site, the Tatterhsall Castle.
The last five days saw the Aspirations Eight team cover 60 miles each and nearly 23 marathons between them.
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Hide & Fox
Hide and Fox restaurant in Saltwood, Kent, has been offering a produce box and meal delivery service to elderly and high-risk people in the area. The business has also started a gift voucher campaign; for each voucher sold until the end of May the restaurant will donate 15% of the takings to the NHS Charities Together campaign.
Relish the opportunity
Liverpool-based independent catering company Relish has launched a food production and delivery service to provide large-scale support to frontline staff and at-risk individuals within the community.
The company will be delivering meals to schools, community centres, homeless shelters, housing associations, care facilities and hospitals and has already produced more than 5,000 meals for those in need in Liverpool.
Relish can provide 5,000 pre-prepared meals per day and using its own fleet of catering vans can deliver next day to freezers across Merseyside, Lancashire, Cheshire and Greater Manchester.
Relish is offering food and drink at half price and will only be covering the cost of what it takes to produce and deliver, with staff volunteering their time. The company also plans to deliver £2,000 worth of meals to food banks and charities over the coming weeks.
Chef jackets appeal
The Culinary Association of Wales (CAW) has appealed for surplus chef jackets which can be made into masks and other items for care workers, such as scrubs bags, headbands and caps.
Chefs are being asked to post their clean, spare jackets to: Trailhead Fine Foods, Unit 13 Severn Farm Enterprise Park, Welshpool, Powys, SY21 7DF, where they are collected and distributed to people who convert them into valuable items for frontline staff.
Alternatively, chefs who have access to a sewing machine are being encouraged to make the items themselves for carers in their community.
Dr. Oetker Professional is offering 50,000 servings of their 1 of 5 a day Deep Dish pizza for free, to support open schools and to feed children of key workers during lockdown. The donation is part of Dr Oetker Professional’s ongoing commitment to the education sector and supporting the needs of children, school caterers and key worker parents across the UK.
Dole Packaged Foods Europe is supporting homeless charity St Mungo’s to donate 14,500 fruit bowls that will be distributed to some of the most vulnerable people in London housed in temporary accommodation by hotels. Isabelle Spindler, vice president and managing director Europe for Dole said they also hope to be announcing further initiatives soon.
Marathon effort
Louise Casey, who works at the Premier Inn Warrington Central North in Cheshire, has raised over £500 for the NHS and Great Ormond Street Hospital by running an indoor marathon around the hotel during her 12-hour night shift. You can still donate to her JustGiving page here.
Afternoon tea
The Lanesborough hotel in London's Knightsbridge is marking St George’s Day today (23 April) by delivering its Peggy Porschen afternoon tea to NHS staff at St George’s Hospital in Tooting. The teams across all wards at the hospital, which has more than 9,000 staff and is the largest healthcare provider in southwest London, will receive boxes of sandwiches, scones and cupcakes.
Fuel the Fight
US-founded non-profit campaign Fuel the Fight has launched in the UK to feed NHS workers and support the hospitality industry. Since launching in London on 13 April over £15,000 has been raised, which goes towards providing retail price meals from restaurants to feed NHS workers, putting money back into the hospitality industry.
So far 165 meals have been delivered to the likes of the Royal Hospital London, St Thomas’ Hospital, St Charles’ Hospital, Homerton University Hospital and St Bartholomew’s Hospital. Restaurants involved in the initiative include Jackson Boxer’s Orasay and Brunswick House, Oren, Bao, Lino, Eggslut and Arabica.
Raffle to raise
Jade Douglas, sous chef at independent catering company Wilson Vale, is running a raffle to raise £5,000 for the NHS while she is on furlough. Douglas is offering a winning prize of a three-course meal for two, which she will cook for the winner in her home or theirs once it is safe to do so.
Tickets and donations are via her JustGiving page until 30 April.
Hotels for Health
Tripadvisor has launched Hotels for Health, a programme to connect NHS trusts with hotels that can supply rooms. The site allows NHS trusts to flag that they need rooms, and for hotels to advise they have spare rooms available. The teams at Tripadvisor will then connect the hotels to NHS trusts in need.
Baking bread for those in need
Nina Matsunaga, head chef at the Black Bull in Sedbergh, Cumbria, is baking bread to support those in need locally. Twice a week she is baking breads to be sold at Powell’s Green Grocers in the town with all money raised from the sales donated to the Sedbergh United Charities Fund to assist those in need locally.
#TreatOurNHS
Home Grown Hotels has joined the #TreatOurNHS campaign and has pledged to donate 190 free overnight stays at its Pig hotels, including breakfast and dinner, to care givers.
As a gesture of thanks, the group is donating the night prior to re-opening across each of its hotels to members of the NHS. This includes the Pig at Harlyn Bay in Cornwall, which was due to open next week but the opening has been pushed back due to the coronavirus pandemic, and NHS workers will be the first guests to stay at the hotel.
The group is asking the public to nominate members of the NHS, care workers, volunteers or researchers who work within 25 miles of Pig hotels to stay at the properties.
Fight against food waste
Catering firm Lexington, part of Elior, has linked up with several charities to deliver meals to those who need it, and is fighting food waste with app Olio.
The caterer has teamed up with Newham-based the Magpie Project to donate food to support 90 low income families; the Manna Society in London Bridge to help homeless people; Children With Voices to set up a community food hub for 100 families, older people and NHS workers in Hackney; and Caritas Anchor House to provide wraps and energy bars to its homeless shelter in Newham.
The group is also delivering food to NHS Trusts including St Bartholomew's Hospital in Smithfield and the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, while Lexington’s chef-director Rob Kirby has been cooking meals and sweet treats twice a week for Intensive Care Unit doctors and nurses at Darent Valley Hospital.
Bear Kitchen
The Bear Kitchen project, which seeks to get people eating more healthily and with less impact on the planet, has launched a fundraiser to allow it to provide meals to NHS workers at London hospitals including the Royal London, University College Hospital, Homerton and Guy’s and St Thomas’.
Off to Work
While she is on furlough, Narmeen Kamran (assistant operations manager at hospitality recruitment, staffing, consultancy and training firm Off to Work) is volunteering to coordinate the cutting, sewing and delivery of scrubs to Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust. So far 50 have been delivered to the hospital, with thousands more at the cutting and sewing stages.
**Firm steps up to ensure Covid-19 wards have catering equipment **
Bolton-based NWCE Food Service Equipment responded to an urgent NHS request from Royal Lancashire Infirmary for four regeneration ward service trollies to be used on the newly opened Covid-19 only wards.
The units are used to transport and serve hot and cold meals, helping to keep patients safe, fed and comfortable.
Managing director Ben Olding said: “Under normal circumstances these trollies would be a straightforward and relatively easily sourced request. However, at the moment due to the coronavirus pandemic we have a well-publicised global shortage of health care equipment from PPE to catering equipment.
“Fortunately, with over 20 years of experience within the catering supplies industry NWCE have built up a network of contacts, who all recognised the urgency of the request and the response we received was astounding.”
Coffee for NHS heroes
Caffè Latino, a family cafeteria chain in London, has launched a fundraising campaign to provide 15 espresso machines and 15,000 coffee pods, as well as cups, stirrers and sugar for staff areas at Guy's, St Thomas' and Evelina hospitals in London.
www.gofundme.com/f/coffee-for-nhs-heroes
From Dishoom with love
Dishoom Kensington donated almost 2,000 jackfruit biryanis and chicken rubys to St Mary’s Hospital in London last week, working with the Feed our Frontline social enterprise.
**Arora supports the Nightingale **
The Arora Group, owner and operator of the InterContinental London - The O2, is providing free accommodation to the NHS teams at the Nightingale Hospital at ExCeL London, a field hospital set up to support the NHS in dealing with the coronavirus outbreak.
Buy a voucher to save the high street
The founder of travel website familytraveller.com has launched a e-platform for small businesses to offer vouchers for use when the lockdown is over.
Not for profit savinglocal.com will allow people to support their favourite pubs, restaurants and shops despite them being closed.
Dent said: “The next two to four weeks will be the real crunch for smaller businesses as they start to run out of any cash reserves they may have had. A healthy local high street and community is vital, never more so than now, and we believe this platform could be a lifeline for many smaller outlets that otherwise may not survive.
“We want to raise awareness with businesses across the country that may benefit from community investment. We encourage them to list themselves on the site and there is absolutely no charge for this. Equally we encourage consumers to nominate those businesses they want to see survive the lock down.”
**Honest burgers' charity meal kits **
Honest Burgers has today released 250 ‘Honest at Home’ kits, with all proceeds going to three charities.
The kits contain everything you need to make four Honest burgers at home including four British chuck steak and rib cap patties, four British cheddar slices, Honest’s homemade red onion relish and pickles, four Turner & George smoked bacon rashers and four burger buns.
Customers are asking for ‘honesty box’ donations in return for the kits, worth about £35 each, to the Trussell Trust foodbanks, Hospitality Action or the Landworkers Alliance.
Kits are available from: www.honestburgers.co.uk/
Kitchen CUT
UK-based technology company Kitchen CUT has developed F+B To Go, a free tool for all business to offer delivery or click + collect at no cost to the business, customer or community. There are no set up fees, no subscription fees for the software and no limits to the number of products on offer.
This tool is free to use for the rest of the year, irrespective of EPOS, Stock system or menu management system and businesses of any size and any location can sign up on any device and be operational within the hour. The entire ordering process from menu to payment is entirely contactless.
To find out more visit www.kitchencut.com/fb-to-go
Bella Italia
Casual Dining Group’s Bella Italia brand has committed to providing 1,000 free meals to NHS staff serving on the frontline during the Coronavirus crisis this month.
The company’s South Kensington branch in London was reopened and has been working with Deliveroo to provide pasta and pizza every week over the next month, as part of the delivery provider’s campaign to make 500,000 free meals for NHS workers.
Honesty burgers
From Monday 20 April, Honest Burgers is offering 250 ‘Honest at Home’ kits with the items to make four ‘Honest burgers’ at home, with all proceeds going to charity. Customers are asked for an ‘honesty box’ donation for the kits (which are worth around £35) with the money going towards food bank network the Trussell Trust, industry charity Hospitality Action and the Land Workers’ Alliance.
Fare Share
The chefs of Bridgwater-based catering company Somerset Larder have been preparing 250 weekly meals to be sent to Fare Share South West, which helps vulnerable people through difficult times.
**#OYORoomsforCarers **
OYO Hotels & Homes has launched OYO Rooms for Carers where people can book overnight stays at OYO properties for frontline healthcare workers for £25 per night. The rooms are passed over to NHS trusts and OYO is not taking a commission on these bookings.
Stays can be booked starting on any dates and for any duration, with every room night passed to an NHS trust for a healthcare worker to redeem at any OYO hotel across the country that is currently open for key workers. Room nights that cannot be utilised by NHS trusts will be cancelled and refunded.
OYO is also in talks with local councils to see if any of its hotels can be used for alternative purposes, such as interim accommodation for those in need, with Cardiff Council taking over OYO Cardiff Central hotel to increase provision for homeless people. Ritesh Agarwal, founder and group chief executive, announced he would be forgoing 100% of his annual salary for the rest of the year.
Stars of Manchester
Native Manchester is offering free stays to all NHS employees, including medical professionals and healthcare workers, and Greater Manchester Police, while the Lowry hotel has donated surgical gloves to the NHS.
The Manchester Hoteliers’ Association (chaired by Lowry general manager Adrian Ellis) is also putting together care packages containing non-perishable foods, toiletries, blankets, chargers and other essential goods to be distributed to both the NHS and homeless community.
A Plate for London
The founder of London street food market concept Street Feast, Dominic Cools-Lartigue, has launched A Plate For London, a new non-profit social initiative to bring food to those in need in the capital.
The platform is focused on helping people who were in food poverty before the pandemic, children who rely on free school meals during term time, and those who have lost their jobs and find themselves in food poverty as a result of the enforced lockdown, get access to groceries and hot meals.
The initiative is working with suppliers and independent restaurant brands to put together food parcels and hot meals, which are distributed to people that need them through local councils and charities.
Hospitality angels
The Angel & Crown pub in London’s Richmond is serving hot meals every day to more than 30 local homeless people. The pub, owned by Fuller's and operated by Nick Botting, is ensuring these most vulnerable members of the community receive one hot meal a day. Dishes are prepared by the pub chef and collected in full compliance with the government's social distancing guidelines. Local outreach organisation SPEAR is directing rough sleepers to the service.
Community Kitchen
The Railway hotel in Saltash, Cornwall, is operating a community kitchen, providing free hot meals for those in need during lockdown. Licensees Neil, Gloria and Lewis Challen are preparing the meals and shopping for local people in self-isolation.
Here to Help
Tony Matharu, owner of Blue Orchid Hotels, has opened his hotels to key workers and foreign nationals left stranded as well as launching Here To Help London to assist key workers and the wider community during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Partners include the Samaritans, Westminster City Council, Square Mile Food Bank and various Business Improvement Districts; and services vary from food and book delivery to online therapy and wellbeing support and helplines.
Here to Help London also formed a partnership with Augment Bionics to distribute face shields across London hospitals and GP practices.
Community food project
Calcot & Spa, the four-red-AA-starred, 35-bedroom luxury hotel in Tetbury, Gloucestershire, and part of the Calcot Collection, has launched a community food project in response to the Covid-19 crisis.
With the support of the hotel's principle shareholders, the Stone family, and led by executive chef Richard Davies, the Calcot team is working with local councils and volunteers to prepare and deliver complimentary cooked meals to 600 vulnerable people in the area, including the elderly, vulnerable families, key NHS workers and those self-isolating.
Food4Heroes
Chestnut, an East Anglian hospitality group, has teamed up with Food4Heroes to help provide meals for frontline key NHS workers. The not for profit initiative has been launched to initially provide 300 free meals per week to NHS workers at the Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital CCU, with the aim of adding more meals and hospitals in the region as funding increases.
One thousand meals
M and Gaucho Restaurants have partnered with the Hildon Foundation and Deliveroo to deliver 1,000 meals each week to Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and the new Nightingale hospitals. A selection of meals from the M and Gaucho menus will be prepared by culinary director Mike Reid and provided at both lunchtime and dinner for frontline workers.
Kent pubs offering crucial support
Ben and Luke Chell, owners of the Sans Pareil in Wainscott, Kent, have been running a free school meal delivery service for those who need it. The pub kitchen has been preparing meal packs every weekday morning, which are then delivered to those who have requested it.
The Royal Oak in Hawkhurst has also offered its rooms free of charge to key workers, such as NHS workers and the police, who are looking for somewhere to stay in order to safeguard the people they live with.
Coming up Rosewood
The team at Rosewood London hotel in Holborn have been cooking and delivering food to the NHS staff at Great Ormond Street Hospital, near to the five-red-AA-starred, 306-bedroom property.
Pasta delivery supports closed businesses
Nationwide pasta delivery service Pasta Evangelists is to support restaurants that have been forced to close through new initiative #RallyForRestaurants.
The service will offer limited-edition dishes inspired by top chefs, and donate 20% of the profits back to the chef's restaurant.
The first chef to take part is Ben Tish, culinary director of the Stafford Collection, including Norma restaurant in Charlotte Street, who has shared his recipe for Pasta alla Norma.
Each #RallyForRestuarants dish will be available for seven days.
Caterer cooks for homeless
The team behind caterer Regis Banqueting and Regis Coffee Bar & Bistro have been producing free food for the homeless as well working with a charity to distribute meals to the vulnerable and those who are self isolating.
The business is also planning to give away £3,000 towards wedding catering for a couple affected by the coronavirus outbreak and is calling for nominations from within the hospitality industry.
To find out more go to: www.regisbanqueting.co.uk/contest
Hospitality for Heroes sees top chefs cook for NHS
Some of London's top chefs are cooking nutritious meals for frontline NHS workers as part of new initiative Hospitality for Heroes.
Founded by Oli Coles, CEO of OtherClub, Hospitality for Heroes was kickstarted by an Instagram “nominate” challenge that saw chefs challenge one another to share a recipe to encourage creative and healthy cooking at home.
The chefs taking part include Sally Abe, head chef of the Harwood Arms and Matt Abe, chef at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, who together are preparing 500 lunch dishes a week for the Royal London Hospital. Rose Ashby, head chef of Spring at Somerset House who has served up 200 meals a week for NHS staff at Homerton Hospital as well as Ollie Templeton and Mark Tittiet, head chefs of Carousel who have been preparing 400 meals a week for several of the capital's hospital.
Pub launches non-profit essential grocery boxes
The team at the Cricketers on the Green in Pirbright is producing non-profit essential grocery boxes, which can be ordered online and safely picked up from the pub's car park.
The boxes are designed for two or four people and include essential groceries such as milk, bread, cheese, fresh fruit, veg and more.
The team is also creating takeaway pizzas available on Friday and Saturday evenings and has plans to roll out themed boxes with everything locals need to create their own pub Sunday lunch or Saturday brunch.
Managing director Dean Kennett said: “Shutting our doors was heart-breaking, let alone eerie. It felt like all the hard work everyone has put in to get our business where it is today was being thrown away. I knew I had to do something quickly to change that mindset and pouring our efforts into charity work seemed like the best way to do it.”
Marlow Meals
Chef-restaurateur Tom Kerridge and a group of volunteers from Marlow have raised more than £100,000 in 48 hours to fund free meals for NHS workers and other groups in need. The project, titled Marlow Meals, has committed to 600 meals a day for six weeks but will now try to expand to 1,000 meals a day for a longer period. Kerridge has provided kitchen facilities and supervision while chefs are donating their time and effort to produce the meals daily.
Most of the meals will go to frontline NHS workers at nearby hospitals Wexham Park in Slough and Wycombe, with other meals going to vulnerable people in Maidenhead, Marlow and surrounding villages.
Strand Palace providing free meals to ambulance services
The 785-bedroom Strand Palace hotel in London is delivering free meals to the London Ambulance Service as part of the MealForce initiative, providing more than 600 meals to ambulance control rooms across the capital, including Barking, Bow, Croydon and Waterloo.
St Albans chefs dig deep to help farmers
The St Albans Independent Hospitality and Retail Association has chefs and staff who are keen to ensure that farmers get help to harvest their crops for the season and keep the food supply chains operating.
Association representatives Sean Hughes, who runs three pubs in the city, and Mandy McNeil have reached out to the National Farmers Union to offer support, saying: "Farmers, we are here and we are keen to do what we can to help."
Farmers in need of people to help can contact Save St Albans Pubs on Facebook @savestapubs Facebook group.
**Help 4 Hospitality campaign **
Berkmann Wine Cellars is giving the public access to its entire range online in a bid to raise funds for the hospitality industry.
Hospitality businesses can request a code from Berkmann, which they can share with their mailing list to give them all a 5% discount, with the wine cellars donating 12.5% of the total value of any orders made using the code to the hospitality business that distributed it.
Any hospitality business can apply for a code by visiting h4h@berkmann.co.uk
Cakes for frontline workers
The husband and wife team behind Leicester-based Postive Bakes bakery is matching every purchase made with a like-for-like donation to frontline NHS workers.
The couple, who make allergen-free, plant-based-cakes, said they hoped the gesture would be an "uplifting surprise treat during their long shifts".
Rooms for NHS workers
The St Pancras Hotel Group is offering rooms at its three London properties to NHS staff. Healthcare workers will be able to access rooms without reservations at the the Gyle, the California and the Megaro hotels, all in London's King's Cross.
Bagpipes in Crieff
The sound of bagpipes resonated through the village of Crieff last night as Crieff Hydro hotel's chief executive, Stephen Leckie and his sons, Richard and Charlie, performed a rendition of Highland Cathedral to offer their thanks to all the NHS staff and carers at this difficult time.
The RAF Club provides accommodation to key workers
The Royal Air Force Club, a historic private members’ club in London’s Mayfair, is providing accommodation to the military, government and other key workers tackling Covid-19, many of whom have been assisting with the building and logistics in opening the new Nightingale Hospital at London’s Excel Centre. The club has also committed to three months’ full pay for all full-time staff.
Whitbread donates 27 tonnes of food
Whitbread, which operates Premier Inn hotels and restaurant brands including Beefeater, Brewers Fayre and Table Table, has donated more than 27 tonnes of food to charity.
The food, which has been diverted as a result of the closure of its restaurants, is enough to provide 64,387 meals, most of which will be redistributed through food redistribution charity FareShare’s nationwide network of frontline charities as they work to support those most vulnerable through the coronavirus crisis, including schools, food banks, care homes and homeless shelters.
The donations include approximately 9,800 tomatoes, 2,100 potatoes, 4,000 bananas and 15,500 pints of milk, with more items to be donated in the coming week.
Rockliffe Hall donates toiletries
The five-red-AA-star, 61-bedroom Rockliffe Hall hotel in Hulworth, near Darlington, has gifted 576 shower gels to Darlington Memorial Hospital after a message went out asking for products for patients who don’t have any toiletries due to the current ban on visitors.
The Initiative launches grocery service
The Initiative, which owns and operates six sites in the UK, has turned its Deli Cat & Sons site in London’s Broken Wharf into a food and drink delivery service and online grocery. The employees from the closed sites have been retained and are working to fulfil the orders for takeaway, delivery and the online grocery store, and further staff have been recruited from the industry to help.
As well as distributing 500 survival packs a week to those who have registered and need it most, the venue is also putting £1 from every order towards a food bank help those who have been left struggling and unemployed in the hospitality industry.
Loch Lomond distiller creates hand sanitiser
Independent distiller the Loch Lomond Group has produced several thousand bottles of hand sanitiser. The group has partnered with Fareshare Scotland, which will ensure distribution to those who need it most, and thousands more have been committed to more than 150 organisations including healthcare and frontline services.
Publican delivers free meals to NHS staff
Publican Eduardo Dantas of Ei Group’s Tia Maria bar and restaurant in London’s South Lambeth is preparing and delivering up to 60 freshly cooked meals each day to NHS staff working at King’s College hospital. Dantas has been paying for, preparing and delivering the meals himself, and now donations are being received towards his continued work.
Farnborough chefs cook for the NHS
Mark Walshaw, a senior head chef for foodservice firm Amadeus, and his next-door neighbour Gavin Roche, who also works as a chef in Farnborough, teamed up to provide meals for NHS staff at their local Frimley Park hospital.
Walshaw sourced produce from Amadeus’ base at Farnborough International Exhibition and Conference Centre, including vegetables, couscous and rice, that would have otherwise gone to waste due to the rescheduling of events at the venue. Roche then cooked up the ingredients at home before delivering more than 50 batches of couscous curry to the hospital as a treat for hard-working staff.
Chester restaurateurs feed the homeless
Independent Chester restaurants, including Gary Usher's Sticky Walnut, Chef's Table and Joseph Benjamin, are taking it in turns to provide meals for Soul Kitchen Chester, which provides hot food and drinks, clothing, shower facilities and support to those that are homeless or struggling financially in the area.
Signature Dining hands out essential ingredients
Caterer Signature Dining, part of the Genuine Dining Co, has been preparing boxes of essential ingredients from its stock, which are being handed out to carers.
The Torridon launches bespoke programme for staff
In addition to continuing to provide complimentary accommodation and F&B to the 15 members of the team still living at the five-AA-star, 18-bedroom Torridon hotel during the national lockdown, owners Dan and Rohaise Rose-Bristow, who also live onsite, have designed a bespoke programme for the ‘Torridon household’.
Utilising the time created from the temporary closure of the Scottish Highlands hotel to upskill and maintain the team’s morale, a training and development plan has been developed, including hospitality management courses, foreign language courses, resilience training and F&B courses.
Activities such as group hiking, the ‘Torridon Olympics’, running club and helping out with the maintenance of the kitchen garden and Torridon farm have been taking place throughout the week.
Rhug Estate donates surplus stock
Lord Newborough, owner of the Rhug Estate in Corwen, Denbighshire, donated surplus stock to Hope House Hospice in Oswestry. Cakes, bread, milk and eggs were delivered to the children’s hospice from the organic farm, café and shop, which has closed its bistro and takeaway but is still operating its farm shop and drive-through.
Camden Brewery launches virtual pub
Camden Town Brewery has launched the Camden Bre.www.ery bar, a virtual pub in partnership with Hospitality Action to help raise money for the charity’s Covid-19 emergency fund.
The brewery is organising a programme of entertainment over the coming weeks, from pub quizzes to live music. During each event, there will be a ‘digital tip jar’ on JustGiving to raise money for Hospitality Action, as well as a donation mechanic live on Camden’s web shop.
**Yard Sale Pizza launch fund to feed NHS workers **
The Yard Sale Pizza team has been making delicious drop offs to its local London hospitals - Homerton, Whipps Cross, and the Royal London. The group has set itself the aim of feeding 5,000 NHS staff in the coming weeks and has asked for donations to support its efforts - with £10,000 raised since Friday alone.
The donation page can be found here: yardsalepizza.com/merch/
Honest Burger teams up with City Harvest
Honest Burgers has teamed up with London charity City Harvest to deliver thousands of cottage pies and lasagnes to the vulnerable. Honest Burgers founders and staff worked overnight to turn all of the leftover steak in their Sutton-based butchery into the nourishing meals, which were delivered to the vulnerable by City Harvest.
Wasabi donates 500 meals a day to NHS workers
Japanese-style food chain Wasabi is donating 500 free home bentos meals a day to NHS workers for as long as they can. If you'd like to suggest a London hospital or frontline worker to send them to please email paul.hine@wasabi.uk.com.
Last Monday it closed all its stores, its drivers collected all the surplus food from their kitchens, including 500kg of fresh salmon that went straight to food charity City Harvest which it then distributed in just three days to the elderly and vulnerable. City Harvest works closely with the hospitality and food industries ensuring no food goes to waste. You can donate to City Harvest here.
Mildred’s restaurants makes 400 meals a week for NHS staff
Independent vegetarian and vegan restaurant group Mildred’s has committed to delivering 400 meals every week to four London hospitals to support NHS frontline staff caring for coronavirus patients. On Tuesday (24 March) the Dalston site made meals and dessert and delivered it to Whipps Cross and Whittington Hospital staff. Yesterday (25 March) it made vegan curry and vegan spaghetti bolognese meals for Barnet and Whitechapel hospitals.
Sam Anstey the managing director of Mildred’s has set up a crowdfunder to raise £5,000 to continue supporting the NHS staff, over £4,600 has been raised. You can make a donation here.
Damian Wawrzyniak offers to bake free sourdough for local NHS
Damian Wawrzyniak is the chef owner of Polish restaurant House of Feasts. Since shutting its doors he has been baking and selling 70 to 80 loaves of bread per day and making bread donations to his local NHS hospitals.
He has set up a crowdfunder to raise £4000 for a professional planetary mixer so he produce 200 - 300 loaves a day. You can donate to it here.
Foodspeed donates dairy produce to the NHS
Foodspeed a supplier of fresh milk and dairy products to the hotel, restaurant and catering trade in London will donate as much of its surplus stock and ingredients to NHS hospitals.
It can deliver to hospitals across London. Please contact them for remaining stock here.
**TakeawayToday can help hospitality businesses serve takeaway safely **
TakeawayToday is a new platform to help pubs, restaurants and cafes pivot to a takeaway food business safely and efficiently by removing the need for close interaction. Made by Crave a British hospitality technology company. Its CEO Gareth Hughes said: “With the COVID-19 crisis, our communities need feeding at home, including more takeaway and delivery food options.” Find out more here.
Simon Boyle charity gives out 3,500 meals
Chef entrepreneur Simon Boyle’s social enterprise restaurant Brigade Food and Bar and charity Beyond Food Foundation has distributed over 3,500 meals to charity and vulnerable people. Beneficiaries have included the homeless, Veterans Aid, Age UK, St Mungos, Pecan Food Bank, NHS staff, City Harvest and White Chapel Mission.
Following the government shutdown of restaurants he plans to continue support for shelters, hostels and food banks by connecting them remotely with food manufacturers and businesses with surplus and unused food. He has set up a crowdfunder to raise £50,000. You can make donations here.
Alchemilla Restaurant offers free meals to frontline NHS staff
Alex Bond the chef-proprietor of Michelin-starred Alchemilla in Nottingham will be offering free meals for all NHS frontline staff.
They can be collected from the restaurant with a valid NHS card between 12pm and 3pm on Tuesdays and 10am and 3pm on Fridays starting the 31 March. Contact Alchemilla here.
NEC Group and event organisers donate food to local good causes
Two event organisers in partnership with NEC Group venues have donated their event food to good causes.
Tropic Skincare donated all fresh food due to be consumed at their bi-annual event at the NEC to Real Junk Food Project Birmingham which takes food that is going to waste and produces healthy, meals for all on a ‘Pay-As-You-Feel’ basis. For more information about Real Junk Food Project Birmingham, please visit here.
Whilst BCS the Chartered Institute for IT donated 250 lunches due to be provided to delegates of their Skills for a Digital World 2020 event at the ICC, to Lozells Methodist Community Centre which receives food donations and distributes them to the local homeless community. Carlton Connell the operations director at Tropic Skincare, requested aaid: “It’s great that something positive can come out of such a sad situation. The NEC team were excellent and supportive in making donation arrangements.” For more information about Lozells Methodist Community Centre, please visit here.
The Corona Care Challenge has raised £32,000 of £100,000 goal to make care packages
The Landesberg Family behind the Arts Club, AOK Kitchen and JAB have set up a crowdfunding page with the goal of raising £100,000 for the production of care packages to be delivered to people in need. The Corona Care Challenge has already raised an incredible £32,000.
They are helping the elderly, single parents, those with disabilities, high risk people and NHS staff in multiple hospitals across the capital. Care packages include non-perishable goods; tins, pasta, rice jams to fresh fruit and vegetables, dairy produce as well as household essentials like; laundry detergents, toilet roll, cleaning product & toiletries and baby formula. You can support the fundraising drive here.
LabTech offers 10 apartments to emergency services and the vulnerable
LabTech the property and investment firm that owns Camden Market has announced a series of initiatives to aid the emergency services and vulnerable during the coronavirus outbreak.
These include complimentary stay at 10 of its apartments from its estate for NHS workers and their families, the elderly and people at high risk of eviction. Use of the Camden House events space for emergency services to use during breaks with free hot drinks and breakfast.
Additionally, Camden House is providing rooms to Camden Kitchen three days a week to provide them with a space to cook for the increasing numbers of homeless.
LabTech’s CEO Yaron Shahar said: “London is facing a unique challenge and we all have a responsibility to do what we can to help.”
Gails Bakery gives out bread deliveries at the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity
NHS workers at leading cancer hospital the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity in London reported there wasn’t any bread left in shops when finishing their shifts, so Gails Bakery stepped in to give out freshly made loaves. You can donate to the hospital here.
James Sommerin makes huge food drop to NHS Cardiff & Vale workers
Michelin-starred chef James Sommerin made a huge food drop from his James Sommerin Restaurant to NHS staff at Cardiff & Vale UHB. Emergency nurse Emily Davies wrote: “Lots of happy faces around the hospital! We are all very grateful for your kindness and generosity at this time, it means more to us than you will ever know.” You can donate to the hospital here.
Sandy Mount House donates to local Welsh foodbank
Hefin Roberts the head chef of Sandy Mount House, in Anglesey Wales donated supplies to the local food bank which will be distributed to local families in need. To help them visit here.
Adam Jackson cooks up meals from Feversham Arms Helmsley for York NHS
The executive and head chef of the Feversham Arms Helmsley Adam Jackson and his team made what was left in their fridge; lamb, pasta and crumble and served it up in containers for frontline NHS workers at York District Hospital.
The Athenian Greek street food gives all staff a weekly care package
Greek street food restaurant the Athenian is taking measures to protect the wellbeing of its staff. It will now be giving a weekly parcel of basic necessities, including feta pastry, lentils, tomatoes, tomato paste, pasta, olive oil, lettuce, and toilet roll, in order to make sure that the ‘Athenians’ get their basic needs covered.
It also plans to open several new delivery-only kitchens with Deliveroo Editions, both in and out of London. This will allow it to trade online only, keep staff in work as it wants to maintain company morale. You can order online from them here.
Itsu donates £15,000 worth of free meals to the NHS
Prior to closing its Asian-food restaurants, Itsu staff across the country spent their last day of work making boxes of sushi and salad. They produced over £15,000 of free meals for hospitals including the intensive care units at UCLH, University Hospital Lewisham & Ealing Hospital, North Manchester General and many more. They were supported with produce from The Meatless Farm. What a fantastic job!
Cutter & Squidge moves sweet treats store online - gives 30% discount for NHS staff
Founded by sisters Annabel and Emily Lui, luxury bakery firm Cutter and Squidge specialises in sweet treats and ‘biskies’ part cake, part biscuits.
Whilst it has temporarily closed both its stores it has moved all its operations online. There is a £9 price for any delivery within the M25. There is free Easter egg ship nationwide and its offering 30% off everything to NHS staff. Find out more here.
staurants are given complementary food hampers
Andrew Nutter runs online isolation kitchen cook-along
Andrew Nutter, founder of Nutters Restaurant in Rochdale, has been running an isolation Kitchen cook-along, with an online tutorial in how to prepare a main course, dessert and bottle of wine using ingredients sold from the restaurant.
Small Holding opens farm shop offering local produce
The Small Holding in Kent has transformed itself into a farm shop, offering hampers of local produce, three-course takeaway meals, and vegetables from the small holding plot
Matt Healy launches fundraiser to feed 500 NHS staff Sunday roast
Chef-restauranteur Matt Healy, a 2016 MasterChef: The Professionals finalist, has launched a fundraiser to feed NHS staff a Sunday roast at his Matt Healy x The Foundry restaurant in Leeds.
The initial £1000 funds target was met within an hour. He has, so-far, raised over £1,500 of his new £2,000 target which could mean he is able to feed 500 NHS workers his roast voted 'Britain’s Best' in a poll by food giant Unilever.
Additionally, on Sunday (23 March) he donated meals and flowers to NHS staff at the High Dependency Unit Bexley Wing at St James’ Hospital in Leeds. To donate to the Go Fund Me page go here.
Leon donates to Oxford food banks
Healthy fast food brand Leon in Oxford donated on Saturday (21 March) 380kg of beans, 174 tubs of hummus and 360 cases of fresh juice to the elderly, isolated and those using food banks. It received manpower and distribution support from Sofea and Oxford Hub.
Yummy Pubs owner and 66 staff offer to volunteer to support the NHS
Following the government’s pledge to cover 80% of wages for three months Tim Foster, co-owner of the Yummy Pub Co tweeted “I made a promise this morning that if Rishi & Boris delivered today I would volunteer to work for NHS England for FREE until this was over. Offer still stands. What has changed, is that 66 of my Yummy Pubs team have done so too. Where do you want us chaps?”
If you know anyone Tim or his team of 66 can support call 01342 832263 or message Foster @YummyTim via twitter
I made a promise this morning that if Rishi & Boris delivered today I would volunteer to work for @NHSEngland for FREE until this was over. Offer still stands.
— Tim Foster (@YummyTim) March 20, 2020
What has changed, is that 66 of my @yummypubs team have done so too.
Where do you want us chaps?
Rosa’s Thai Cafe cooks for the Intensive Care and Lungs Unit at NHS Homerton
Rosa’s Thai Cafe in Hackney, specialists in authentic Thai cuisine, have cooked up a storm for the Intensive Care and Lungs unit at NHS Homerton in Hackney. It has pledged: “We'll be keeping the team fed for the foreseeable future as they carry out their life saving work.”
James Cochran feeds his local fire brigade following supermarket sellouts
Chef restauranteur James Cochran discovered his local fire brigade were unable to buy any food because all the supermarkets had sold out. In a video posted to Instagram he reveals he supplied the fire crew with goods from his Islington-based restaurant 12:51. He said: “a little thank you 12:51 re going to be giving them a whole load of freebies so they’ve got a lot on their plate to eat.
12:51 is now offering a personal delivery service to anyone in the N1 post code. Over 50’s, pregnant, disabled people that are self isolating will take priority. Call 07934203269 or email orders@1251.co.uk and for everyone else we are on Deliveroo and Slerp. Find out more on the 12:51 Facebook page here.
Diageo pledges to donate key ingredient for eight million bottles of sanitiser to help frontline health workers worldwide
Leading alcoholic beverage brand Diageo has pledged to donate the key ingredient for eight million bottles of sanitiser to protect frontline healthcare workers to overcome a worldwide shortfall following the coronavirus crisis.
The firm behind Smirnoff and Johnnie Walker will donate two million litres of Grain Neutral Spirit (GNS) a 96% strength ethyl alcohol used primarily in the production of vodka and gin to hand sanitiser producers in multiple countries at no cost. This will enable the production of more than eight million 250ml bottles of hand sanitiser.
Diageo chief executive Ivan Menezes said “Healthcare workers are at the forefront of fighting this pandemic and we are determined to do what we can to help protect them. This is the quickest and most effective way for us to meet the surging demand for hand sanitiser around the world.”
500,000 litres are earmarked for the UK and the Republic of Ireland.
Relish Events’ staff offer a helping hand with cooking
Following Relish Events’ closure of its operated café venues to comply with government guidelines on distancing it is looking to deploy its out of work staff to companies and organisations struggling due to the coronavirus outbreak. It also has a production kitchen it is willing to offer the use of.
Co-director Rob Goves said: “We have teams of chefs and staff that could work in the private or public sector. Care homes, retirement villages, the NHS and other care charities and companies may be swamped.” For more information please contact Relish Event Catering on 01285 658444 or email info@relishmail.co.uk.
Chester Race Company to offer free frozen meals for emergency front-line workers
From 25 March Chester Race Company will be be supporting frontline NHS workers and emergency services staff dealing directly with the covid-19 crisis, by offering them a free ready-cooked frozen meal.
Available for collection from Chester Racecourse, on production of their NHS or emergency services ID, staff can collect a free freshly prepared frozen meal, ready to take home and pop in the oven or microwave. Workers can choose from a menu including Lasagne, Shepherd’s pie, Thai vegetable curry, fish pie and Mediterranean pesto chicken. The collection point will be open between the hours of 9am – 9pm.
A Just Giving page has been set up to raise funds towards the ongoing production of meals. If you would like to donate to support this worthy cause, please visit here.
Cardiff restaurant owner Giovanni Malacrino donates pizza and pasta
Cardiff restaurant owner Giovanni Malacrino is giving away pizza and pasta to the most vulnerable people hit by the Coronavirus. His three Giovanni's restaurants, on the Hayes, Park Place and Cardiff Bay are currently open for deliveries, and the 59-year-old said he wanted to help NHS workers, the elderly and anyone else who is in need as much of the country stays at home in self-isolation.
He said: “At the moment, we can donate around 500 meals over the next few weeks, like a pasta dish or a pizza, for people to heat up at home or in their workplace.” If you are or know of anyone vulnerable in Cardiff who needs food and is unable to pay, send a Facebook message to Giovanni’s Restaurant Cardiff here.
Albrighton Hall Hotel offers rooms for office space
The Albrighton Hotel and Spa is a 16th century manor house in Shropshire. It is offering its empty rooms at special rates for use as office space for those who want to work in isolation but who would find it very hard to work from their home.
A private room with work desk and ensuite bathroom can be hired for between 8.30am and 5pm. Rooms cost £8 per hour or £50 for eight hours. Find out more here.
Paul Bakery to open the Bread Market - free hot drinks for NHS professionals
On 23 March French artisan bakery Paul will open the Bread Market from its central bakery in Acton to meet increasing consumer demand for fresh bread during the current crisis and to help alleviate the pressure on supermarkets.
It will be open daily and there will be ‘buy one get one free’ on all 400g and 800g loaves on online delivery orders, in-store and bought direct from the Bread Market. Same day delivery is also available via UberEats.
To support NHS staff on the frontline against coronavirus Paul is offering free tea and coffee to all UK health professionals. The bakery also donates unsold food to London based charity, the Felix Project on a daily basis to help feed the people who need it. Learn more here.
Gaucho and M Restaurants launch home delivery service - 50% off for emergency workers
Gaucho and M Restaurants have launched a premium home delivery service for people unable or unwilling to dine out. On offer is a selection of choices from their menu cooked in the restaurant before being dropped to your door, wine can also be included. Deliveries will arrive within half an hour of being ordered and will be brought by restaurant staff on foot, with the option of no contact if required.
Additionally, emergency services staff workers will receive 50% off on all orders for collection.
Order from Gaucho here. Order from M Restaurants here.
Qoot gives out free lunchboxes to children eligible for free school meals
Qoot the food and drinks brand behind coffee chain the Gentleman Baristas has pledged to offer complimentary lunches to school children eligible for free schools meals but who are unable to attend following school closures.
Any child who shows their benefit documentation will receive a lunch box comprising of a sandwich, drink and a snack. Can be collected from open branches of Chloe, the Lebanese Bakery, Dominique Ansel and the Gentleman Baristas.
Piano Works virtual visit - watch a live gig online
The Piano Works in Farringdon and London’s West End are closed until further government advice is issued. However it has announced it will be streaming live music tonight (20 March) and Saturday night from 8pm via their Facebook page, encouraging customers who are staying indoors to “turn the music up and escape with four hours of non-stop live music streaming” into people's homes. Tune into the Friday gig here. Make a donation to the performers here.
'We know you can’t come to us, let us come to you' - Operators adopt virtual reality during crisis
Coffee shop converted into general store to support the isolated
Cookbook author Romilla Arber owner of the community-driven Honesty Group food company, has converted her coffee shop into a general store to support the vulnerable. Located in Inkpen, Berkshire it now sells groceries and household goods with the express purpose of delivering to the elderly and those in isolation. Find out more here.
Dine with Lime - hospitality recruitment firm cooks meals for home delivery
Following the coronavirus outbreak Lime Recruit, specialists in hospitality recruitment, has seen all its business disappear overnight. Instead of closing down it has decided to temporarily change what it does to continue trading and keep its staff in employment - it will now cook meals for home delivery and collection.
It has secured a commercial kitchen. Chef consultant Duncan was Marcus Waering’s sous chef and Dominic was head chef at Earl’s Court exhibition centre. Lime Recruit staff has supported the Helping Hands charity in Leamington for months by helping in their kitchens and and will continue to support them now by making a donation to the Helping Hands charity from every meal sold. Find out more here.
Football legends give 176 hotel beds to NHS workers
Retired-footballers Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs co-owners of Hotel Football and the Stock Exchange Hotel are to close them to the public from today (20 March) so they can offer their 176 beds to NHS workers and medical professionals. The rooms will be free of charge and the staff will operate the hotels as normal.
The rooms will be earmarked for NHS health workers who need to be away from any family in isolation. Explaining why they are doing this Neville said: “The whole of our industry needs to show solidarity not just for our staff in these uncertain times but for the people who need the accommodation most in the coming months.”
The Tap & Run converts restaurant section to an ‘old village shop’
In the new industry climate Stuart Broad has been making changes at his pub the Tap & Run in Upper Broughton. He is converting part of the dining area back to its former glory as a village shop which should be ready to open this weekend.
It will sell dairy products, chilled meals, bakery products, dry store products, fruit and veg, confectionary and pre-prepared meals that customers can take home and heat up themselves. There is a delivery service which will be free to over 70s and NHS workers within a certain radius.
Andrew Wong and Kimberly Hernandez make at-home meals for the elderly and vulnerable
Michelin starred chef Andrew Wong is working to create at-home meals for elderly and vulnerable members of the local community aided by Kimberly Hernandez, Head Chef at Kym’s. The means they produce will be packaged and hand delivered free of charge – left on the doorstep for those self isolating - ready to be heated up at home. The initiative is currently being organised through his local parish church - St Peters in Eaton Square, London . Wong’s initiative is helping to keep his staff busy and motivated whilst also supporting his surrounding community.
**Loyal Tavern London donating grocery boxes to elderly **
Tom Cenci the chef patron of the Loyal Tavern London will be operating his restaurant as a grocery store and deli with all the basics including egg, pasta, rice and toilet paper fresh vegetables, charcuterie, and wine to support the local community.
He will also be donating grocery boxes to the elderly, if you need or know anyone that needs help please get in touch here.
Chester Race Course organises foodbank drop off
Today (March 20) Chester Race Course has opened a food bank drop off site at the Holiday Inn Express at Chester Racecourse and to kick off donations has donated £1000 worth of food items to help those in need.
It has also set up a Just Giving page for people who are unable to visit in person but would like to make a monetary donation to West Cheshire foodbank. Donations can be made here.
Chocolates for hospital staff
Boutique chocolate house Pierre Marcolini has delivered a large stock of chocolates, delicacies, pastries and seasonal creations for Easter to hospitals in London, Paris and Brussels to support hospital staff and caregivers who are mobilised in the fight against COVID-19.
Feed It Back Academy free webinar for operators on how to handle the coronavirus crisis
Feed It Back Academy is launching a free webinar series on Monday 23 March to support operators during the corona crisis with Academy Trainers Karen Turton and Mark McCulloch
The operations-focused course, led by Karen, will focus on cleaning protocol, processes and how to engage employees and reignite business after the crisis has passed. Mark McCulloch, leading the marketing course, highlights what businesses can do in the here and now to drive footfall and the reputation of their businesses, ranging from guidance on what content to use across social channels, to articulating the wider purpose of the business by engaging and supporting the local community. Find out more here.
Conker gin make and give away sanitisers for the community
Dorset-based gin distillery Conker are making and bottling sanitisers from the waste 'heads' of their gin production and, as well as distributing them to their wine shops, bars and restaurants, are currently working on producing them for the wider community, particularity the most vulnerable who desperately need it - care homes, community workers and the elderly. They are not profiting from this and are currently discussing with HMRC about removing the spirits duty.
Flamenco pub owner Alex Clayton provides pick and mix care cleaning and shopping care packages
Alex Clayton, owner of Spanish restaurants Flamenco and Tasca Dali in Warwick, is launching pick and mix-style care packages, including cleaning and food shopping services designed to support the elderly and vulnerable who are being asked to self-isolate for three months. Vulnerable members of society can also order weekly cleans as well as a free grocery shopping delivery and an additional 10% discount is being offered on any orders for the over 70s and for NHS staff.
Women On Wheels
The founders of Pomelo, the modern British tapas restaurant, Natasha Cooke and Lucy Pedder have set up an all-day delivery service.
They offer homemade hearty meals designed to be frozen and fresh fruit, veg, milk, juices and other groceries which they are still receiving from their suppliers but do not want to go to waste. Many of the mainly women team deliver on mopeds.
Michelin-starred chef Roger Jones delivers free meals to community
Roger Jones the chef-proprietor of the Harrow at Little Bedwyn has been giving out free meals to the vulnerable in his community. Meals included lamb casserole, monkfish with wild mushrooms and vegetarian curry.
He retires at the end of March but plans to keep offer a food service to those who need throughout the summer.
Chefbay needs chefs to host live cookery sessions
Chefbay is a food lovers’ community where members can view the culinary newsfeed, the recipe feed and participate on the forums.It also gives chefs a platform to find employment and their very own audience by uploading videos of themselves cooking recipes that they personally enjoy.
Chefbay is looking for bold chefs that can host live video cooking sessions for people at home who want to learn how to cook. They pay a minimum of fifty pounds for one to two hours work. Contact them here.
Oakman Inns now offering collection and delivery service
Independent pub group Oakman Inns now offers a collection service so customers can take away meals including wood-fired pizzas, vegan dishes, grilled fish and a selection of beers and wines.
It is also launching a new in-house local delivery service for pub locals who are unable to leave their homes and to help self-isolators or anybody else who wants quality pub food delivered to their door.
Chefs back Hospitality Action
Chefs including Tom Kerridge, Tom Brown and Ellis Barrie have all appealed for people to donate to Hospitality Action's emergency relief fund, which will support those affected by coronavirus across the industry. With many hospitality workers facing a reduction in hours or a complete loss of income, the charity is asking those who can to give their support. To make a donation click here.
**Market sets up hospitality help centre **
Liverpool's Duke Street food and drink market has opened its foyer today as a drop-off point for donated goods. With a million jobs at risk in the sector, the market is asking the city's residents to leave non-perishable goods in the foyer, in order to redistribute them to those who have been affected by the virus. Matt Farrell, one of the market’s directors, said: "We want to do all that we can to support people within the hospitality industry who may be struggling during this time."
BrewDog gives distillery over to efforts
Brewer and pub company BrewDog has started to make hand sanitiser at its distillery in Scotland to help with shortages. The company said: "We are determined to do everything we can to try and help as many people as possible stay safe." The firm says it will give the sanitiser away to loc
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