Packing meals for the NHS
Soldiers have been giving up their free time to help provide meals to NHS Staff who are working tirelessly in the fight against Coronavirus
A large team of volunteers from the Bicester community, consisting of veterans, civilians and serving soldiers, have given up their time and devoted themselves to working with the charitable organisation ‘Salute The NHS.org’ where they can.
All of the volunteers have embraced the task of packaging vital meals for brave NHS Staff currently working within COVID-19 wards or self-isolating at home.
Amongst those volunteering are men and women from 1 Regiment Royal Logistics Corps (RLC) and 241 Signals Squadrons volunteering. There are also veterans from Pioneer Regiment (now RLC).
“Any free time that I’ve got I volunteer to come down… I feel really, really proud to be part of it
To be able to provide the nurses with meals while they’re at work and also to take away a meal in the evening, is really rewarding”
— WO2 Squadron Seargant Major Janine Crowdy, 241 Signal Squadron
This project was part of the £1million initiative — Salute The NHS.org — which was funded and first launched by Ron Dennis of F1 McLaren.
It was set up late March and went public in the media on 06 April in response to a concern expressed by his daughter who is an NHS Doctor.
The project has been established in Hangar 113 at the Bicester Motion site — a former WW2 RAF hanger.
To get the ball rolling former Pioneer and Garrison Quartermaster Lieutenant Colonel Billy Dilkes, set up a Facebook page — Bicester Pioneer Volunteers — asking for volunteers to help pack and provide meals for the NHS.
What started with fifteen Royal Logistic Corps soldiers has now grown and the wider community has bolstered their numbers to form the Bicester Pioneer Volunteers, a mixture of Regular and Reserve soldiers and local residents.
There are approximately ten hospitals benefiting from this amazing support including those in central London at the John Radcliffe, Charing Cross, Hammersmith and Great Ormond Street Hospitals as well as those within the wider and more local area including Oxford, Horton, Leeds and Nottingham.
Since the Bicester Pioneer Volunteers initial launch, there has been a huge increase in the demand for packages from 330 a day to circa 1500–2000 a day — What started as a small venture utilising local Bicester businesses and their suppliers has now morphed and outgrown its capacity.
