Whiston Hospital staff give back to local foodbanks

Staff at Whiston Hospital have today shown their support for the local community by donating to foodbanks in St Helens.

Today, Medirest, the organisation who provide services such as catering, domestics, porters and security at the hospital, have donated extra food from ‘Essential boxes’ that were handed out to their employees.

At the start of the pandemic, when it was hard to source the basic essentials in supermarkets like baked beans, tea bags, toilet rolls and pasta, every member of Medirest staff at the hospital were given a box full of essentials to support them through the initial lockdown. The extra supplies have now been handed over to the Steve Prescott Foundation, as staff were keen to help members of the local community who have been hit hard during the crisis.

Frank Carroll, Contract Director, Medirest said: “Right throughout the pandemic, our local community have been so supportive of our staff working in the hospital and we just wanted to give something back.

We’ve been so grateful for the donations received from all corners of the community, everything from food, toiletries, and even pyjamas, but we are conscious that there are people who now have little or no income due to the pandemic and this was our opportunity to help them with the goods we had.”

Local comedian Johnny Vegas collected the donation from the hospital and will distribute the food between The Hope Centre, St Helens and Newton Community Fridge.

Medirest is the healthcare division of Compass Group UK & Ireland, the UK’s largest food and support services provider. Over 10,000 free essential boxes have been given to their employees across the business, and an additional 7500 treat boxes, in recognition of the work of frontline employees.