Wednesday, 08 July 2020

A wave of takeaways donated for key workers at The Royal Marsden, The Christie and other cancer hospitals

London, 8th July 2020 - Tech charity initiative Bytes for Heroes has been set up by technology entrepreneur Peter Rossi to feed as many NHS workers as possible during the coronavirus pandemic. Since the initiative launched, Bytes for Heroes has raised over £40,000 and provided over 10,000 hot meals to NHS frontline heroes. As we’re now approaching a new phase of this pandemic, the Bytes for Heroes team are launching a program throughout July and August called “The Shift Lift” whereby catering teams across London and Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle will be providing £20,000 worth of Deliveroo vouchers for delicious food and snacks and takeaways to our NHS heroes, and giving them a lift after their shift!

Having secured funding to support the NHS in London, Manchester, Liverpool and Newcastle, Peter has chosen to support staff at specialist cancer hospitals including The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust in London where his school friend Deborah James, aka ‘Bowel Babe’, is treated.

Cancer hospitals continued to provide treatments throughout the pandemic, working hard to make vulnerable patients feel safe coming to hospital, as well as caring for patients with COVID-19. As specialist cancer hospitals weren’t overwhelmed with COVID in the same way as general hospitals, they acted quickly to work with NHS England, local networks and the private sector to create COVID-protected Cancer Hubs. With ringfenced theatre space and intensive care beds, they were able to offer surgery to patients whose operations had been cancelled elsewhere. Thousands of cancer patients were able to access surgery thanks to such Cancer Hubs, with the Hubs now helping to recover normal services. Staff working in these specialist hospitals now coming out of the pandemic are looking ahead to meeting peaks in demand as referrals for cancer treatment increase post-lockdown.

At a time when the majority of food outlets are only just reopening, Bytes for Heroes is mobilising the technology and catering industries to join forces and help boost staff morale and show appreciation for their dedication and hard work.
Bytes for Heroes is looking for donations from local and national tech firms across the UK to donate by supporting #ShiftLift or by straight donations to fund supporting local caterers and the keyworkers at hospitals across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Donations can be across the UK or specific to local hospitals close to company offices or which have a particular importance. It is also on the lookout for more caterers across the region to work with us to ensure this can see us through the next few and undoubtedly challenging weeks.
#ShiftLift #TogetherWeAreStronger
For more information on getting involved, please visit www.bytesforheroes.com.

Note to editors: The hospitals receiving vouchers include: The Royal Marsden, London; The Christie, Manchester; Newcastle upon Tyne Hospital and Royal Liverpool University Hospital.

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ABOUT BYTES FOR HEROES
Bytes for Heroes is a charity initiative launched in April 2020 with a mission to engage the tech community in feeding over 1,000,000 national heroes focused on NHS and other healthcare workers.
Bytes for Heroes is the brainchild of Peter Rossi, co-founder of InfoSaaS, and it connects tech companies that want to have a direct impact on the front line with catering companies, ready to serve hearty meals to NHS heroes at their local hospitals. Bytes for Heroes was inspired by a project at Bristol Southmead hospital in partnership with The Jolly Hog Group handing out over hot meals to front line staff which was running out of funding.
It is bringing together two completely different industries; catering companies, that have the capability to provide food to our hard working NHS workers but are unable to due to lack of funding and technology companies, that want to help the NHS in a direct and tangible way, but don’t have an outlet to do so.
UK technology companies and individuals and teams in tech donate to Bytes for Heroes who will manage the logistics of getting Britain’s over-worked heroes fed.
For more information on getting involved, please visit www.bytesforheroes.com.

Get social with Bytes for Heroes
Hashtag: #ShiftLift
Twitter: @bytesforheroes
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/bytesforheroes
Facebook: facebook.com/bytesforheroes
Instagram: @bytesforheroes

Media contact:
Rose Ross
Head of PR Liaison
07976 154 597
press@bytesforheroes.com