Borough Market has launched a campaign to provide frontline NHS staff with free fresh fruit and vegetables.
It comes after a video of one nurse, Dawn, went viral, after she posted a tearful message about being unable to get fruit and veg at the supermarket following her shift.
The ‘Feed the Frontline’ campaign will see St Thomas’ Hospital, King’s, and the Maudsley given four thousand bags of seasonal fruit and veg every week.
The market is also calling for the campaign to go national, asking for companies to fund its expansion across the UK.
“With the UK in lockdown, we owe an enormous debt to the fantastic people of the NHS and other frontline workers battling COVID-19,” said Darren Henaghan, the managing director of the market.
“They are working around the clock to save lives, care for the sick and control the spread of coronavirus.
“With London at the heart of the UK epidemic we want to play our part in the national effort against COVID-19 by caring for the carers – giving them fresh, high quality food to help them stay healthy and feed themselves and their families.”
Private companies have pledged funding for the campaign throughout April. Once at the hospitals, the bags of fruit and veg will be distributed to frontline staff by NHS volunteers.
Other markets following suit include Bradford St James’s Wholesale Market, in Yorkshire, which is also providing fruit and veg to Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.