Desborough restaurant donates 'lunch on us' to key workers

Front line workers in and around the north of the county have been given a free lunch thanks to the generosity of a Desborough restaurant.

Like venues up and down the country, The R Inn Bar and Grill is closed to the public and is only open for deliveries and takeaways.

But not all of their staff have been furloughed and owner Kris Malde decided he wanted to use the time to give something back and thank those who are keeping us safe in the Covid-19 crisis.

Every Friday since the beginning of April they have donated lunch to different groups of key workers, starting with front line staff at Kettering General Hospital.

Mr Malde said: "So far we have given to all of the staff in all of the nursing and residential homes in Desborough, school staff in Corby, staff at St Mary's Hospital, firefighters at Desborough Fire Station and a few more front line staff and key workers. We will continue to do this every Friday.

"I have a great chef and excellent restaurant manager who do all the hard work and cook fresh produce daily.

"I know that businesses in the hospitality industry are all suffering and some may not come out of this at all.

"Although trading, we are not making money at the R Inn as I decided not to furlough all of my staff.

"I was fortunate to be able to keep some on and now we have an opportunity to give back to the people who are working endlessly to save lives and keep us all well. I feel that we can't do enough and this is our little way of saying thank you."

The most recent delivery on Friday saw Desborough firefighters and staff at the Kettering Dialysis Unit enjoy a free fish and chips.

When the pandemic started they also started delivering boxes of fruit and veg at cost price to locals who were unable to get essential items from the shops.