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ETB Hospitality Centre Steps Up To Feed Healthcare Workers Across The Mid-West

ETB Hospitality Centre – Pictured is Chef Ireland 2020 ‘Chef of the Year’ Will King, Culinary Advisor and Instructor, along with learners Christina Solon and Christopher Griffin from the Professional Cookery QQI Level 5 course, who are part of the volunteer team for the operation.

ETB Hospitality Centre steps up to Feed the Frontline across the Midwest

Staff and volunteer trainees at Limerick’s Hospitality Education and Training Centre are stepping up to ‘Feed the Frontline’ this Easter and in the weeks ahead, as part of the centre’s efforts to support healthcare workers in the fight against the coronavirus. The centre, managed by Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board, launched a new service on Thursday, which will see the production of fresh meals 7 days a week from its production kitchen for healthcare staff, including those on the frontline. These meals will be delivered daily by the centre to multiple HSE locations across the Mid West. The initiative is part of the ETB’s response to the COVID-19 public health emergency as it continues to provide services in the region.

Manager, Bernadette Enright, is co-ordinating the centre’s response operation. She says: “Right from when this crisis began, staff members here were so eager to be able to provide their services to the community. All of them come from hospitality industry SMEs, so they have the specific skills for catering services within healthcare settings like hospitals, residential care, and nursing homes.” She continued: “Operationally we are running a number of shifts from 7 am to close at night, 7 days a week, including weekends and bank holidays, because healthcare workers need to be fed and we see this continuing for several weeks to come. There are 3 teams involved over a 9-day cycle, taking different roster times over 3 days, with a limit of 3 people on a shift to ensure distancing protocols are maintained. So over the 3 days, it’s quite intense work with long hours for the those involved.”


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The operation has also seen significant support from businesses in the region and beyond. Bernadette says: “The support we have gotten has been fantastic. Irema Ireland in Kilmallock supplied the face masks for all our food production and delivery staff. Delivery containers were supplied by Noel O’Connor of Pat O’Connor Butchers, along with plastic crates from Richardson’s Foods and wooden trays from Pat The Baker. Paul Cross Sharpening Services, based in Rathangan, County Kildare, provided uniforms and protective clothing for deliveries. And, Pallas Foods even provided us with Easter eggs for all the food deliveries going out over the Easter weekend!”

Responding to the launch of the new initiative, Bedelia Collins, COVID-19 Co-ordinator of Resources and Service Offers, HSE Mid West Community Healthcare, says the service is very welcome: “Bernadette and her team have been so professional and so easy to work with, which is just what’s needed at the moment. The flexibility that’s been offered with the service is great, especially with the transporting of meals to the different locations in the region. Staff are really touched and very grateful. They are delighted with the quality of food. We started with almost 100 meals on Thursday and expect this to increase significantly in the coming days.”

For further Information contact Bernadette Enright, Manager, Hospitality Education and Training Centre, Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board
Telephone: 085 242 1819 | Email: [email protected]

For more information on Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board, click here

For more stories on Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board, click here

 

Richard is a presenter, producer, songwriter and actor. He was named the Limerick Person of the Year (2011) and won an online award at the Metro Éireann Media and Multicultural Awards (2011) for promoting multi-culturalism online. Richard says that the ilovelimerick.com concept is very much a community driven project that aims to document life in Limerick. So, that in 20 years time people can look back and remember the events that were making the headlines.