Hundreds of bottles of hydration drink delivered to frontline NHS staff at Sussex hospitals

The many hundreds of bottles of iPRO were donated with the help of Brighton and Hove NHS Food Bank, as meals and wellbeing drinks were distributed to the ITU Team at the Princess Royal based in Haywards Heath, the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, and to the Midwife Team at Royal Sussex County Hospital.

Distribution of this donation would not have been possible without the assistance from partners of iPRO; Westways Vending – a family-owned regional vending business since 1999. With the full support of Managing Director, Ian Baker and his team at Westways, multiple deliveries of iPRO Hydrate were successfully delivered across Sussex.

Ian Baker of Westways Vending, commented: “Westways Vending was delighted to be able to support the work of the Brighton and Hove NHS Food Bank. iPRO Hydrate will help to sustain hydration throughout long working days, and our staff were keen to volunteer to make these important and timely deliveries as a sign of respect for our NHS workers.”

Frontline key workers benefitted from a bottle of iPRO, which is CQUIN compliant, and contains vitamins and electrolytes to rehydrate and aid recovery.

The Brighton and Hove NHS Food Bank was set up in March 2020 by local residents, Simon Livermore and Petra Exton, to help provide food & groceries to NHS staff so that they didn’t have to queue in supermarkets at the end of a gruelling shift or to be faced with bare shelves.

From speaking to Nurses in ITU and Midwife teams while organising the drop offs, Brighton and Hove NHS Food Bank were told about how staff were becoming dehydrated from wearing PPE during long, demanding shifts.

Frontline Critical Care staff are wearing PPE constantly, which is very hot and are unable to hydrate whilst wearing it. The combination of nutritious meals and iPRO Hydrate drinks, packed with 100% of a nurse’s daily Vitamin C, therefore proved a natural solution for frontline staff. iPRO National Account Manager, Charlotte Taylor, commented: “Supporting the excellent work that Brighton and Hove NHS Food Bank are doing for frontline workers at this challenging time was a pleasure for everyone at iPRO. We welcome any opportunity to support our NHS services with healthy hydration during this crisis, and we show our gratitude to Petra and Simon for setting up such a worthy organisation.”

Petra Exton from Brighton and Hove NHS Food Bank, commented: “It’s been overwhelming how much love and support there is for the NHS and everyone wants to do their bit here in Brighton.

“The generosity of people donating to our Crowdfunder means we can provide restaurant standard meals four times a day, seven days a week, direct to the Critical Care teams.

“These brave souls are putting themselves at risk and going in to battle every day against Covid-19. One of the Nurses I spoke to in ITU said it’s a real boost receiving the meals and treats and keeps moral up knowing the nation is behind them.

“Being able to provide them with iPRO Hydrate drinks is going to be great as wearing PPE and not being able to drink for long periods of time means it’s very easy to get dehydrated on shift.”

If you would like to donate to the Brighton & Hove NHS Food Bank to help feed the healthcare heroes of Brighton & Hove, please visit the donation page at www.crowdfunder.co.uk/feed-the-nhs-workers-during-covid-19

See also: Sussex charity brings cheer to vulnerable families during the crisis