I would like to say a huge congratulations to John Brownhill from Food 4 Heroes, for winning the Openreach Community Awards!

John set up Food 4 Heroes last March, in response to the heart-breaking stories of NHS workers risking their lives on the frontline. By the end of the first lockdown, John and his outstanding team of volunteers had raised £407,000 and delivered 230,000 meals to 43 hospitals across the country. Food 4 Heroes have since joined forces with foodbanks, delivering over 235 meals a week to families in need, and Weetabix, cooking over 1,000 Christmas dinners to families in the constituency.

Openreach launched the Community Connectors Awards in 2020 to recognise individuals and groups for their work supporting local residents and vulnerable neighbours during lockdown. More than 130 nominations from MPs across the UK were judged by the panel including Openreach engineers and former Culture Secretary, Baroness Nicky Morgan of Cotes.

I am extremely proud of John, having selflessly dedicated the last year to helping alleviate some of the hardships faced by this community (and the whole country), and I am very pleased that he is receiving recognition for his hard work by winning this prestigious award. I wish him the best of luck in the future as he continues to expand Food 4 Heroes.