A supermarket, where absolutely everything on its shelves is totally free of charge and has been “built with love” by the community served by Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to support its NHS heroes, opens today.
In what is believed to be a nationwide first – totally unique to Preston – doors to the NHS Heroes Support Hub, which is within walking distance of the Royal Preston Hospital in Oliver’s Place, will open at 4 pm.
Observing all social distancing rules, volunteers will oversee staff self-serve a variety of fresh fruit and vegetables, bread, non perishable goods such as pasta and rice, tinned, jar and packet foods, frozen and chilled ready meals, bottled water and other drinks, milk from the fridge plus household and toiletry products until 8 pm and then again, from 8 am to 10 am next morning to follow clinical staff shift patterns seven days a week. No payment for anything will be taken.
The idea for the NHS Heroes Support Hub came initially from Preston’s Muslim community after the owner of the retail development offered the use of a free 30 metre by 18 metre unit.
Once shared, the whole community quickly became eager to help as project
leader Naeem Din, who is a member of Preston’s Masjid-e-Aqsa Mosque and a representative of both the city’s Leao Marinho Brazalian Jiu Jitsu Academy and the charity Aspiring Communities, which supports people and communities working together, explained: “We have people of all faiths and backgrounds volunteering all kinds of help to make our hub the best it can be.
“Ask not what the NHS can do for you, but what you can do for the NHS. The NHS doesn’t discriminate and whether you are Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Hindu or of no particular faith, whatever your colour and creed you can donate supplies, collect donations or give time. For this reason, the whole of Preston is getting behind the hub, including members of my Ju-Jitsu academy, who come from across the world and as we all know, the NHS is loved worldwide.”
Naeem, who runs his own sustainable energy business, added: “With pubs and restaurants closed, we have had offers of a lot of frozen food – pizzas, ready meals and other frozen goods.
“We have had a freezer unit donated but we don’t have as much capacity as we need to take all the donations so if anyone can either give or loan us additional units, we would be immensely grateful. It’s our intention to be able to offer our local NHS heroes as much variety as possible for as long as they need us to serve them.”
Paula Wilson, Head of Charities and Fundraising for Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “This is so amazing. We feel very privileged to have this unique facility on our doorstep. We are humbled by the local community’s show of love and support for our NHS heroes. It is so kind and we are very grateful.”
Anyone wanting to donate items or time to the NHS Heroes Support Hub should first email donations@nhsheroeshub.co.uk. To observe non essential travel and social distancing rules, collections, timed drop-offs and volunteer slots are being prior arranged.