Though faced with challenging trading conditions, SSP teams around the world have been doing their bit to offer support for those most in need during this global health crisis. Colleagues across a number of markets have donated surplus food, hand sanitisers, gloves and facemasks to support local hospitals, emergency services and others in need.
In Spain, surplus food, including fresh fruit and vegetables, eggs and yoghurt as well as nearly 135,000 pairs of vinyl gloves were donated to the Red Cross and other small local NGOs. SSP Germany also partnered with the Red Cross to donate a week’s worth of food, following the closure of its outlets in Vienna International Airport, which was then sorted and distributed to vulnerable people and those in need across Austria.
The SSP FRABEL team delivered 2,000 facemasks to the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris to help address the facemask shortage in France. Colleagues in France also worked on a project to donate food to homeless people and others in need in partnership with a range of local charities.
In Greece, SSP donated a number of bread rolls to the charity The Smile of the Child, while in Australia 550 kg of perishable goods and dairy products was donated to Food Bank, an organisation that supplies food to 2,400 charities across Australia.
Colleagues working at Midway Airport in the US donated food to the local community from restaurants that have been temporarily closed. Over five pallets of fruit, vegitables and other perishable foods were handed out in grocery bags.
In Sweden, SSP provided local ambulance crews with 12,000 pairs of disposable gloves and 45 bottles of hand sanitiser, with plans to also donate food in the coming weeks following the temporary closure of a number of its restaurants.
Teams across a number of M&S stores operated by SSP UK & Ireland have also been providing NHS staff and patients with donated items, from Easter eggs for patients at a children’s hospital to juices and snacks for front line workers.
Additionally, in India, K-Hospitality, run by SSP’s joint venture partner, is preparing 20,000 meals daily to support those in need in Mumbai during the crisis.
“I would like to pay tribute to the SSP teams, who even when faced with the challenges of shutting their units, often at very short notice, showed that we can all make a difference,” said Simon Smith, CEO of SSP Group. “I’m very proud to see so many examples of our colleagues reaching out and offering help to those who need it, and I thank them all.”
