MEALS FROM MARLOW

Since we opened The Hand and Flowers in 2005, we have all been astonished at the response from the local community in Marlow, who offered their support and celebrations of what we were trying to achieve. Because of this, we are deeply grateful of all of you and feel strongly about our place in the community. We have always been conscious of food poverty in the local area and wanted to lend a hand wherever we could.

Towards the end of March 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic, the needs of our local community became clearer than ever. Wexham Park Hospital in Slough posted on their social platforms about their staff, who were working 18-hour shifts, eating from vending machines and when they finally found the time to reach the supermarket – they were met with empty shelves because of panic buying.

It’s not as though we had the medical skills to help them complete their lifesaving work – so we thought we can at least keep them fed with proper food while they help us all.

This sparked motivation for me, Andy Agar and Chris Hughes and we wanted to help but obviously couldn’t do it alone. We set up a Go Fund Me page and were shocked to see, with the help of the amazing local residents, that we had raised our target of £100,000 in just two days!
With the support of Pub In The Park and Lush by Tom Kerridge alongside the teams at The Hand and Flowers and The Coach, we were able to set up a ready meal delivery service for those who needed it most. But it still wouldn’t have been possible without the generosity of our local suppliers, producers and volunteers.

Together, we cooked and prepared over 80,000 meals, with more than 750 meals sent out to those who needed it most each and every day! Nutritious ready meals were sent to Wexham Park Hospital, Wycombe General Hospital, The Link Foundation in Maidenhead, and Marlow Parish council. From there, they were distributed to the medical and other key workers who desperately needed help.
What was initially a short-term service to provide whatever help we could has become a fully-fledged charity in its own right so that the team can continue to help those who really need it. So, despite the current low mood nationally, it is really heart-warming to see how caring Marlow is, not just to its locals but to the surrounding areas too.

The one hundred thousandth meal delivery

On 12th February 2021, we delivered the 100,000th meal to Wycombe Hospital and the recipient of this special meal was Operating Department Practitioner Kym Northeast.
Kym, like all of her colleagues, has gone above and beyond the call of duty over the last year, caring for COVID patients seemingly without a break.
To say thank you to Kym, the guys at @pubinthepark put together a VIP weekend package for her and five colleagues to be their guest at the Marlow event later this year, who knows, maybe we will all get to see them on stage and say thank you in person ! A huge thanks to Chris Hughes for making this happen.

Whilst 100,000 meals is beyond all that we expected to achieve when we set up Meals From Marlow last year, we haven’t finished yet, and will continue to support those in need in our community and our amazing NHS staff going forward.

My genuine thanks to all of you who rolled up your sleeves and got stuck in with the project as well as all of those who supported with their generous donations. It’s great to see what we can achieve when we all work together!

So many people have demonstrated such commitment to the project, we are all truly humbled.

Here’s to the next 100,000 ‼️

Food delivery by Meals From Marlow to local hospitals

MEALS FROM MARLOW

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