Volunteer chefs cooking 125 meals a day for Homerton Hospital staff

The Homerton Hospital has thanked volunteer chefs who have been cooking 125 hot meals four days a week for frontline staff in need of good food and moral support after physically and emotionally exhausting shifts.

The food is prepared through East London initiative +HOME by chefs from nearby restaurants – Clapton Chinese restaurant Lucky & Joy, Hackney Road’s Mediterranean joint Moro and neighbouring tapas bar Morito.

Set up by artists Fiona Banner and Melanie Manchot, designer Nina Tolstrup and chef Sam Clark as a means of expressing gratitude to NHS workers, the meals provided are described as “varied, vegetarian and always nutritious,” with choices so far including vegetable and bean soup, koshari, aubergine rice bowls, and daal dishes.

Head chef and Lucky & Joy co-owner Ellen Parr said: “We’re really trying to keep our staff in work as well as feed people. Since this all began to happen, we’ve been looking for something to do to help, and the Homerton were looking for people to do 100 meals a day regularly.

“It’s for everyone in the hospital, from the cleaners to the security to the doctors and nurses.

“We’re really keen, as we’ve opened as a takeaway but we’ve got limited hours and a limited menu, and everyone’s looking to keep busy and keep feeding people. It’s really great for morale, and we’ve loved doing it so far.”

One Homerton nurse said: “+HOME just made the end of my day so much better. I can go home now and sleep, no need to stand in line and go shopping.”

The scheme has now set up a JustGiving page to fund food costs, with all involved giving up their time for free, which has already raised over £14,000, reaching its initial target of £10,000 within 24 hours.

Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Jude Williams said: “On behalf of us all, we are so grateful to the +HOME team for producing gorgeous, freshly made food for our frontline staff.”