Manchester United to deliver 60,000 meals to NHS staff

Manchester United have continued their incredible humanitarian efforts during the coronavirus outbreak with the announcement of delivery of 60,000 meals to Britain’s National Health Service.

The meals will be prepared using the club’s facilities by its catering staff before being delivered across Greater Manchester.

Over the coming weeks, these meals will be delivered free-of-charge across four sites in Manchester as part of the ongoing effort to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. NHS staff based at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT) and Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, who would normally have to provide their own meals while on-duty, will benefit from the service.

The donation effort will involve over 80 permanent and casual club staff, who have volunteered to prepare the food in the kitchens at Old Trafford. Staff and facility costs are being covered by United while all other costs will be underwritten by Manchester United Foundation.

From there, the club’s catering supplier, Bidfood, will support the daily operation by facilitating the temperature-controlled deliveries across the city, also free-of-charge.

Peter Blythin, executive director of Workforce and corporate business at MFT said:

“Thank you to Manchester United, Bidfood and Mealforce for this very generous offer for our hardworking NHS staff. These meals will be a great boost to our teams at Oxford Road Campus in Manchester city centre, Trafford General Hospital and Wythenshawe Hospital as we all work hard together in our response to Covid-19.”

John Shiels, chief executive at Manchester United Foundation said:

“While many of our regular programmes have been disrupted by the pandemic, Manchester United Foundation is doing everything possible to continue helping the communities that we serve during this period of elevated need. Delivering meals to local hospitals is a wonderful initiative that unites the Old Trafford workforce in its support of the NHS; I thank everyone for their commitment to this inspiring scheme.”

Collette Roche, chief operating officer, Manchester United said:

“It is an honour to provide this service as part of our support to the NHS. We are all indebted to them for what they are doing to protect and care for us all. Our talented chefs and catering team are extremely proud to be contributing to the national effort at this time.”