West Hampstead restaurant cooks for NHS carers

Hām is preparing "healthy, hearty & delicious meals" for doctors and nurses working in the ICU wards at UCLH and The Royal Free. Restaurant founders David Houten and Rose Tuckey have donated £500 towards supplying the first 50 food boxes and are crowdfunding to extend the scheme.

With £6,000 raised so far they said: “We’ve been overwhelmed by the generosity of everyone that has contributed and we hope we can make a small improvement to the daily life of those who are giving so much right now.”

The team at the restaurant in West End Lane are currently serving take-away meals Thursday to Sunday. From January 26 will put their spare capacity one or two days per week to boost the spirits of under pressure NHS staff. They pledge to use donations only to buy ingredients and pay chefs, and hope to increase the number of boxes or extend the scheme to other hospitals.

Head chef Dan Miller (pictured) and sous chef Beni Bischoff will prepare meals for NHS frontline workers (Image: courtesy of Ham restaurant)

"We know from news reports, and personal contacts that the staff on the ICU wards are exhausted, often close to tears and morale is very low. They are working long hours on emergency rotas with colleagues off sick and isolating and rarely have time to eat properly during their shifts. We hope that our food boxes will give them a chance to eat a proper meal and be morale boosting for them to know that people care and are thinking about them," said a spokeswoman.

Contribute to the crowdfunder at https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/cookforcarers?utm_term=nXkwDa39p

Or if you want to sample Ham's renowned seasonal fare then they are doing take-aways throughout lockdown Thursday to Sunday including £60 for a three course meal for two with a bottle of wine.

https://hamrestaurant.slerp.com/order