Volunteers from the UK’s tech community come together to create Meals for the NHS

Meals for the NHS, a non-profit organisation set up to provide meals to hospital workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, has now donated over 130,000 meals to NHS workers across a network of over 85 hospitals in the UK.

After learning NHS hospital staff are working 18 hour shifts with limited access to food, hospital canteens are closing at 5pm, vending machines are shut off and PPE restricts the ability to quickly access food, a small group of tech entrepreneurs banded together to create Meals for the NHS, in an effort to provide meals for these frontline workers. With “you can’t save an entire nation on an empty stomach” as its slogan, Meals for the NHS has now raised more than £1.5m from over 15,000 donors in only just over a month.

Meals for the NHS has partnered with Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), the bank of the world’s most innovative businesses and their investors, to ensure all donations go directly to the NHS (covering food, transportation and payments processing) as SVB will be covering the underlying costs of operations.

The non-profit has been able to expand its network of hospitals and increase the number of meals delivered to NHS staff, through its growing team, now made up of 75+ volunteers from across the tech sector at innovation companies including Deliveroo, Uber, Monzo, Spotify, McKinsey and many more. Meals for the NHS is also providing an economic lifeline to 200 plus local independent food providers around the UK, which for some providers, now represents over 50% of their business output.

Both the volunteers and donations have been driven out of the UK’s thriving tech sector, demonstrating the impact of tech talent and the startup ecosystem coming together to provide a tangible solution to those on the front line of the COVID-19 crisis.

“It’s amazing to see our UK innovation sector mobilise to help make a difference during this crisis. With the situation still ongoing, vital support is still needed and we invite everyone who can, to help feed medical staff at their local hospitals from the comfort and ease of their own homes, by making a secure donation here. Even a small donation makes a huge difference, one meal equates to a £5 donation, so we hope everyone can donate at least one meal to our amazing NHS staff,” said Alick Varma, co-founder of Meals for the NHS.

“We’re delighted to be a proud partner to Meals for the NHS in supporting our frontline NHS workers and care staff across the UK. It’s an incredible showcase of how talent and skills from the UK innovation economy can quickly collaborate to create and execute an idea to drive real impact within the communities we serve. I’d encourage everyone to go to MealsfortheNHS.com to learn more and if possible donate £5 for at least one meal to say thank you together.” Erin Platts, Head of EMEA and UK President of Silicon Valley Bank UK Branch.

For other ways to support the organisation, you can sponsor a hospital here and you can volunteer your time or your company’s services by clicking the link here.

Follow the organisation’s progress on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @mealsforthenhs and for more information on how to support the efforts, you can go to the website at: https://www.mealsforthenhs.com/