Anonymous donation funds free curry for NGH heroes

NHS heroes fighting on the frontline of COVID-19 are being treated to a slap-up curry – paid for by the grateful husband of a woman who spent three weeks battling the virus at Northampton General Hospital.

The anonymous man, known only as Mr J, sent a letter to Saffron in Castilian Street, Northampton, thanking the restaurant for its ongoing support of NHS staff throughout the crisis. The letter contained £600 cash and a request to use the money to pay for food to be delivered to doctors and nurses at NGH.

The restaurant, which has previously donated dozens of meals to the hospital and offered a 50% discount to all COVID-19 key workers, has pledged to top up the donation to £1,000, meaning staff can look forward to hundreds of chicken tikka masalas arriving at their workplace in the coming weeks.

The letter stated: “My family and I are so indebted to Northampton General Hospital. My wife was critically ill with coronavirus. She is lucky to come back to her loved ones due to the best care and resilience of all the doctors and nurses.

“Please accept a small token of thanks from my family, a contribution of £600 towards buying more hot meals for the staff at NGH. Thank you to all the Saffron staff that are risking their lives to feed the town. You people are amazing.”

During the pandemic, Saffron has celebrated members of the community who have gone above and beyond to help in the fight against COVID-19. Student parademic Lauren Bray and Morrisons employee Kaylee Dawes both won a year’s worth of curry to thank them for their efforts. The restaurant has also donated produce to the Hope Centre and Northampton Night Shelter, both of whom are running short on supplies.

Managing director Naz Islam said: “We were blown away to receive this donation through the post. It’s an incredible gesture by someone with personal experience of just how devastating this awful virus can be. We are only too happy to repay the gentleman’s trust in us by topping it up to £1,000, meaning we can deliver hundreds of meals to say thank you to the amazing staff at NGH.

“Being a part of the community here in Northampton is massively important for us as a restaurant. This is a town with a huge heart. In the past 20 years we have helped raise almost £50,000 for good causes and we will continue to give back whenever we can.”

Saffron is currently open for deliveries and collections only. It is offering half price meals to all NHS and emergency services staff. Orders must be placed over the phone and are for collection only.

Free, contactless delivery is available on all full-price orders within five miles of the restaurant.

For more information, please call the restaurant on 01604 630800.