Coronavirus: Pub landlords delivering food to NHS workers

The landlords of a pub which has been forced to close have set up a service delivering fruit and vegetables to NHS and healthcare workers.

Bradley Richards and Trina Lake set up a stall outside their pub in Costessey, near Norwich, on Wednesday after deciding to sell groceries.

But Ms Lake said they then struck on the idea of delivering food to health workers after spotting a nurse's plea.

"We've been overwhelmed by the comments - we're in a bit of a daze," she said.

Ms Lake said she and her fiancé - who together have five children - moved into The Crown 18 months ago and feared for their future when it was announced it would have to shut due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"This has been difficult for everyone. We came in and put our heart and soul into the pub," she said.

"It was all a bit random, but within four hours on Wednesday we contacted a wholesaler and got up and running outside the pub with an old bench and my sister's gazebo.

"On Friday I saw the nurse Dawn's post about not being able to get any food and I thought 'let's go help the nurses'."

Ms Lake said the couple set up a makeshift stall outside the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital that night to sell produce to shift workers, before being politely requested to pack up by security staff.

But not before supply night nurse and community health manager Jackie Peyton took a photo of the couple and praised their efforts on social media.

"I thought what they were doing was a lovely gesture," said the mother-of-one.

"Nurses working 12-hour shifts can't easily get to the shops, it's not about money but it's about the ability to get hold of food.

"These people are thinking of frontline workers, they have had their pub closed down and they're helping us to help you."

Ms Lake said they were now offering to deliver boxes of fresh produce to hospital workers, either close to their workplaces at collection points or their homes if they lived nearby, while maintaining "social distancing".

"We have had comments saying we're legends. I read these messages and think 'really, we're just doing what we can'.

"People need it and we need it," she said.