Launched at the end of March, Furloughed Foodies is a voluntary organisation set up to feed NHS frontline staff in London with healthy, homemade meals.
After co-founder Floris Ten Nijenhuis’ South America travel plans were cut short due to the global pandemic, he began to cook alone for hospitals before calling on recently furloughed marketer, Chloe Hall, to help spread the message. Both were determined to make the best of the situation, striving to contribute positively to the battle against Covid-19.
Having spoken to friends who were doctors on the frontline, they soon established that
provisions of ‘normal’, balanced food was limited. Moreover, staff working in Covid-19 wards are often unable to visit the hospital canteens due to infection control, otherwise limited by opening hours. The pair identified an issue they believed they could offer a solution to, and Furloughed Foodies was born on 30th March.
In under a month, the project has raised an initial £10,000, but has set a target of raising £25,000 to continue supporting both NHS staff and to diversify their efforts by extending their services to homeless shelters and food banks.
Furloughed Foodies, co-founder Chloe Hall, told The London Economic: “‘Over the last three weeks we have been able to make the most of the situations we, and many others, have unexpectedly found ourselves in and created an organisation which has already supported thousands of our frontline staff with healthy and delicious food to fuel them through this crisis. We have been overwhelmed by the funds we have already received, but to continue what we are doing, and do more, we need people to continue to donate,”
Run by a collection of volunteers (most with no formal cooking training), the focus of Furloughed Foodies is to deliver healthy, delicious lunches and dinners to fuel people through the Covid-19 crisis. Food is cooked in home kitchens and delivered to a designated contact in each location. Each meal is capped at £1.50 per portion, made from fresh ingredients, and ready to be eaten quickly.
While Furloughed Foodies will continue to deliver an average of over 2,100 meals per week, across 15 hospitals, they group have realised that while supporting our frontline NHS staff is essential, more people than ever are struggling with food provisions, or the ability to source healthy, nutritious meals.
Further information on the project, donating and volunteering can be found on Furloughed Foodies’ website.
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