Lidl gives away free fruit and veg to NHS staff during coronavirus outbreak with help from Royal Voluntary Service

The Royal Voluntary Service (RVS) has partnered with supermarket chain Lidl to give away free fruit and vegetables to NHS staff during the coronavirus outbreak.

The team at Sunderland Royal Hospital took part on Monday, March 30 to give out around 250 bags of food to healthcare workers.

Although some supermarkets have set aside hours for NHS staff to shop, some healthcare workers have struggled to get to the stores in those times because of shift patterns.

RVS Retail Support Manager for the North East, Michael Bartley said: “We began giving bags out at around 10am. It was slow at first but once word got round, by 10.45am, all 250 bags had gone.

“I hope Lidl send us more, some of the NHS workers were quite emotional, it was a great thing to do.”

Michael also thanked the RVS team for their efforts throughout the coronavirus outbreak.

He added: “They have been fantastic. Quite a few of our volunteers can’t come in at the moment due to their age and having to self-isolate so everyone is working as hard as they can.”

Christian Härtnagel, Chief Executive Officer at Lidl GB, commented: “We are so grateful to the NHS and all of its staff for their hard work.

“This is our small gesture to say thank you and help provide NHS staff, who may not be able to get into store regularly for basic groceries.”

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