Chelsea FC to Provide 78,000 Free Meals to NHS Staff and Community
Distributed to elderly and vulnerable people plus hospitals including Charing Cross
The meals are being prepared by the club's catering partner Levy and distributed daily for an initial period of six weeks - making an overall total of 78,000 meals.
Last month, Chelsea Football Club opened up its Millennium Hotel at Stamford Bridge to NHS staff working long shifts and unable to travel home.
This new initiative is also aimed at helping NHS staff who are working long shifts and therefore may find it difficult to obtain good-quality food on a regular basis.
The club says it also forms part of its continued effort to support the most vulnerable in our community during the global coronavirus pandemic.
The meals will be provided to Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust across their five local hospitals -St Mary’s in Paddington, Charing Cross Hospital in Fulham Palace Road, Hammersmith and Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea in White City and the Western Eye in Marylebone Road.
Chelsea FC will also be working alongside charity partners to support the elderly, those in sheltered accommodation and vulnerable groups. These include Age UK, The Smile Brigade, Unity Works, and other housing units in London.
Chelsea Chairman Bruce Buck said: "We are and have always been committed to supporting our communities, especially the vulnerable, and at this time we recognise this is more important than ever.
"Our owner, Roman Abramovich, has been instrumental in challenging us to find ways to support those in need and after we successfully launched the Refuge campaign and made the Millennium Hotel at Stamford Bridge available to the NHS, this was the priority so I am pleased to see it begin."
Professor Julian Redhead, medical director at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust said: "All our staff are working incredibly hard to support our patients and their loved ones during this very challenging time and it’s so important that staff can access healthy, nutritious food.
"We’re hugely grateful for this generous new initiative from Chelsea Football Club, which helps us to support the health and wellbeing of our incredible people."
April 17, 2020