Bride and groom donate wedding feast to 400 NHS staff after their reception got cancelled due to coronavirus
Just two days before weddings were prohibited in an effort to contain the coronavirus, a bride and groom decided to donate their hog roast to over 400 NHS staff.
Fiona and Adam Gordon, from Hull, tied the knot last Saturday - but their reception had to be called off due to the pandemic.
The couple decided to allow the catering company they were using for their big day, Galloping Gourmet, to donate the food, via charity Hull4Heroes, to workers at two hospitals over two days.
They had originally planned to have a big celebration after their church service - which they decided to still have with just two witnesses present - but their venue pulled out at the last-minute.
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Fiona, 31, who had been planning her big day with partner HGV driver Adam, 30, for over a year said the food would have gone to “waste”.
She explained: "We were catering for 120 day guests, and as the venue pulled out at the last minute the catering firm had bought it all in.
"We were having a roast beef dinner, canapés and a hog roast in the evening.
"That would have been a lot to go to waste.
Read more: Unlucky bride whose honeymoon and hen do were ruined has now had wedding cancelled by coronavirus
"When Tony Norris from the catering company called us up to ask to donate we didn't give it a second thought."
The pair had paid £250 for their own beef, but the £2,500 they paid to Galloping Gourmet still remains in credit - since the charity have footed the bill for the big feed - so they can cater the wedding party at a later date.
Norris, a Royal Navy veteran who owns Galloping Gourmet and is a Hull4Heroes volunteer, packed up his horse box trailer and served food to NHS staff to say thank you for all their hard work during the pandemic.
Charity founder Paul Matson said they felt "choked up" as they served hog roast sandwiches to hungry NHS staff outside Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital in Hull, East Yorkshire, at the weekend.
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He said: "Everyone was delighted, even the head of the hospital came out and thanked us, so we made everyone happy and that's exactly what we wanted to do.
"As we started and we saw the queue forming I think we were all a bit choked up. It was a really nice way for us to do something.
"A few even put tears in our eyes just saying, 'Look, this is absolutely wonderful, thank you so much'.
Fiona added: "The reaction we have had for doing this is absolutely amazing, but of course the real heroes here are the charity workers.
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"We're just happy to help bring a bit of light in the middle of all this. It is times such as these when you realise what's important.
"The fact that we managed to help in some way because of this is a silver lining.
"The main thing for me and Adam is that we got married and we are together.
"We really wanted to get married on the 21st March as I lost my mum six years ago and that is her birthday.
"Our wedding was very low key, but we got dressed for the occasion and had my brother and mother-in-law as witnesses.
"We then went home, changed out of our clothes and had some champagne and cake."
