Simone Knight, operator of the Pig & Whistle, on All Saints Green in Norwich, and the Red Lion on Quebec Street in Dereham, has launched a food appeal to help struggling families during the third national lockdown.
 
Members of the community wishing to help out can leave donations to the designated, COVID-secure drop-off points outside both pubs. Simone and her daughter then sort the food and essential items into hampers before dropping them discretely to households in need. Families struggling need only to drop either pub a message on Facebook and Simone will ensure they receive support.
 
This initiative comes after numerous other schemes to support the local community. From the on going Baby Hamper Appeal, where Simone makes up hampers for local maternity wards to help new mothers, to the Christmas Toy Appeal, which saw the whole community come together once more to donate toys for both local children and children’s hospital wards, ensuring that no one went without a gift at Christmas. The two pubs also provided free school meals during the October half term.
 
Simone said: “The last year has been incredibly tough on all of us, but the thought of families going through what we all have with the added worry of wondering where their next meal will come from just fills me with such sadness. As a pub, we are at the centre of our community, and while we can’t open, we’re determined to continue to support the people of Norwich and Dereham, regardless.
 
“Anyone in need of help, just let us know, and whatever we can do to help we will. Even if you just fancy a chat on the phone! We’ll all get through this together and come back stronger as a community in spite of everything that happened in the last year.
 
“For anyone who’d like to donate, we’ve sorted out special dropoff points to ensure you can do so in a safe and socially distanced way. I’d also like to say a huge thank you to everyone who’s supported our initiatives, we couldn’t have done it without you!”
 
To get in touch with Simone or to find more about her ongoing campaigns, please visit the pubs’ Facebook pages.
The Pig & Whistle, Norwich: http://www.facebook.com/pigandwhistlenorwich/
The Red Lion, Dereham: http://www.facebook.com/theredliondereham/
 
The Pig & Whistle, 2-8 All Saints Green, Norwich NR1 3NA
The Red Lion, Quebec Street, Dereham NR19 2DJ
 
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For more information, contact Leisure PR