UK: Olympia hall becomes food bank; Harrogate CC opens as hospital

Olympia London’s National Hall has been converted into a large food storage, production and distribution facility to support vulnerable local residents reliant on donations.

A new Hammersmith and Fulham Foodbank service from the local council authority now will be delivering 1,000 food parcels per week, increasing the organisation’s capacity by 400%.

Volunteers from Hammersmith and Fulham Council (H&F) as well as from the surrounding community are involved in the charity effort.

The local authorities had asked the owners of Olympia London for help to expand their Foodbank effort. The venue management responded by offering its Olympia National building – the sister hall of  Olympia Grand – free of charge to the council.

Nigel Nathan, Managing Director of Olympia London, said: “In these difficult times, we’re delighted to be able to play our small part by offering Olympia London to Hammersmith & Fulham Council and the Foodbank while they provide vital help to thousands of people that need it most in our local community. Their teams are doing a heroic job. And I’m also so grateful to our few staff that are still manning our venue to keep it safe while this important work is carried out.”

Also in the UK, the new NHS Nightingale Hospital Yorkshire and the Humber, built at Harrogate Convention Centre (and reported 3 April in EW ) has declared itself ready to receive Covid-19 patients, 14 April.