United to deliver 60,000 meals to NHS staff

Manchester United have today confirmed that the first of an initial 60,000 prepared meals for NHS staff across Manchester will be dispatched from Old Trafford tomorrow in a joint initiative between United, Manchester United Foundation, Mealforce and the club’s catering supplier, Bidfood.

As part of the ongoing effort to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, these meals will be delivered free of charge across four sites in Manchester over the coming weeks. NHS staff based at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust and Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust will benefit from the service.

Over 80 permanent and casual club staff, who have volunteered to prepare the food in the kitchens at Old Trafford, will be involved in the preparing and delivering of the food. Staff and facility costs are being covered by United while all other costs will be underwritten by Manchester United Foundation.

“Thank you to Manchester United, Bidfood and Mealforce for this very generous offer for our hardworking NHS staff,” said Peter Blythin, an Executive Director at MFT. “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.”

Dr Pete Turkington, Chief Officer and Medical Director at Salford Royal, also expressed his gratitude. “A huge thank you to Manchester United, Bidfood and Mealforce for this fantastic donation; your generosity is very much appreciated,” he said. “We have been overwhelmed by the continued outpouring of support by the local community and businesses who have been so generous with their donations for our staff during these incredibly challenging times.”

All work will be completed in line with UK Government social distancing restrictions.