The East Anglian hotel and gastropub group Chestnut has launched Giving Tree, a new arm of its business dedicated to supporting local communities
East Anglian hospitality group Chestnut, which owns the Northgate in Bury St Edmunds, the Packhorse Inn at Moulton, Westleton Crown, The Ship at Dunwich and the Three Blackbirds at Woodditton, has teamed up with Food4Heroes to help provide fresh, nutritious meals for frontline key NHS workers.
Chestnut has launched the not-for-profit initiative initially to provide 300 free meals per week to NHS workers at the Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital CCU, who are working longer shifts and have little time or facilities to prepare food. Each meal is costing £2.50 to produce and the aim is to add more meals and hospitals in the region as funding increases.
Food4Heroes is a national scheme which was set up following a heart-rending online appeal by NHS worker Dawn Bilborough, who was unable to buy food in her local supermarket after completing a 48-hour shift. By the end of April Food4Heroes expects to have delivered more than 60,000 meals to 12 hospitals in England.
Funded entirely by the goodwill of the local community Chestnut has launched the Giving Tree, a newly established arm of the business dedicated entirely to supporting its local communities with not-for-profit initiatives. It has already attracted interest from local businesses as award winning house builder Hopkins Homes and top 100 UK law firm Birketts stepped up to provide funding to kick-start the initiative.
How can you help?
Make a donation to Giving Tree via GoFundMe – you will be supporting the team in buying local produce, which will then be turned into nutritious meals by experienced chefs. These will then be packaged and delivered directly to Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital, whilst adhering to social distancing advice at all times.
The initiative is operated entirely by volunteers – every pound will be spent providing fresh meals and supplies to frontline teams in East Anglia.
Want to help NHS frontline workers? Donate hereAny contribution, big or small is welcome.
Philip Turner, founder of Chestnut said: “We are absolutely delighted to be working in partnership with Food4Heroes. We have been inspired by many heart-warming initiatives across the UK and as East Anglia is our heartland, it makes complete sense to support our local front-line teams as best we can. “There has already been some great response by businesses and local people in the region. I would particularly like to thank both Hopkins Homes and Birketts for their very generous donations.
“To make sure we can continue to keep feeding our key workers we do need your support, so please keep donating.”
Chris Rees, East of England director of Food4Heroes said the organisation was delighted to be able to rely on such a trusted and quality operator as Chestnut to roll out free meals for the NHS in East Anglia.
“It is wonderful to be able to help and support our NHS heroes at a time when they are literally risking their lives to support the people of Britain during this crisis.”
If you are a business that would like to offer support, or to become a partner of the programme please contact Philip Turner on 07802 498855, email: philip@chestnutgroup.co.uk
Join the Suffolk Magazine Facebook group to be part of the great Suffolk community
