Bread of heaven from big-hearted bakers
A children’s hospice has thanked big-hearted bakers who made a special consignment of bread to help them keep going.
The Village Bakery delivered a special batch of honey and spelt bread to Hope House in Morda, near Oswestry, which also provides a service for families in North East Wales.
Among the other recipients of the 800gm sliced loaves were the The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital, in Gobowen, near Oswestry, Nightingale House Hospice in Wrexham and staff at the Pendine Park care organisation which has eight care homes in Wrexham and Caernarfon.
The family owned bakery is planning two more drops next week and the week after.
The kind gesture from the Wrexham based company comes at a time when they have had to ramp up bread production by 200 per cent to cope with demand from the supermarkets and the independent stores they supply.
Heath Arnfield, the hospitality manager at Hope House, which also runs the Tŷ Gobaith Hospice in the Conwy Valley, said: “I think the very fact that the Village Bakery is thinking of hospices and good causes at is fantastic.
“As a country there’s proof all over the place that we’re pulling together in these difficult times.
“We told the staff and the children that a special consignment was coming and everybody was over the moon with that, and the fact that they’re being thought about at this moment in time.”
It was a sentiment endorsed by Peter Jackson, the catering manager at Nightingale House.
He said: “The Village Bakery are long term supporters of Nightingale House and I think the gesture is fabulous.
“Everybody is working very hard here and we’re all doing different jobs that we have to and the hospice is full at the moment, so it’s business as usual.
“We need as much support as we can because fundraising is obviously very difficult in this climate.
“We’re doing what we can but a lot of the events that we’d organised have had to be postponed or cancelled.”
Pendine Park proprietor Mario Kreft MBE was also deeply touched by the gesture.
He said: “This is a typically kind gesture from the Village Bakery who are a community-based company with a really big heart. It’s bread of heaven.
“It’s all the more welcome because this kindness is also a recognition of the vital role social care staff are playing amid the coronavirus crisis in safeguarding the most vulnerable people in society.”
Village Bakery managing director Robin Jones explained the idea had come from members of staff a request from a nurse at the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital.
He said: “We’re making three weekly deliveries of 2,500 loaves in total.
“One of our ingredient suppliers said they were willing to work with us, so they’ve given us some ingredients and we’re going to provide all the labour and the staff are going to do it and make it and then we’re going to deliver it.
“I’ve seen videos online and news about people not being able to shop, including those who work in social care and the NHS, so I thought if we do a little bit it’s going to help.
“These people deserve support and they’re all going to be snowed under in the weeks to come.
“This is a way for all the staff at the Village Bakery to say thank you to everybody who is on the frontline during this pandemic.”