TUCK OF THE IRISH
Exiles and owner Crossan aim to supply 100,000 meals to health workers in battle against pandemic
SHUT away in isolation, London Irish owner Mick Crossan could be forgiven for putting himself first.
Major heart surgery 15 months ago has left him vulnerable to infection. By his own reckoning he has to be “extra careful”.
Yet rather than dwell on his own needs he has joined son Edward in helping mobilise the club to feed those on the front line fighting the coronavirus.
Every day this week more than 800 meals are being prepared at Irish’s Hazelwood training base by club chef Bogdan Konecki.
They are then packed up and delivered by Exiles players and backroom staff to 14 NHS hospitals and four palliative care homes around the capital.
While rugby takes a back seat with pay cuts and furloughs the order of the day, London Irish and its main sponsor, Powerday, which bankrolls the operation, are in overdrive.
Irish is a club which, by Crossan’s own admission,
“is always one of those fighting for its life” in professional club rugby. But for now it is doing everything it can to protect the real lives of others.
Crossan (below) added: “All of a sudden people everywhere are beginning to realise there’s more to life than artificial things.
“In normal times my phone doesn’t stop, but that doesn’t matter when my best friend is in North Middlesex Hospital with pneumonia and coronavirus.”
The pledge is to deliver 100,000 meals to doctors, nurses and carers. Even the players’ £3,000 ‘beer fund’ has gone towards the cause.
He said:
“It started with my son saying he
wanted to do something to help – offering to pay for the food if the guys and girls at London Irish would mind helping cook and distribute it.
“He was the driving force but I told him our company would take it on and everyone has just fallen in behind the project and rolled up their sleeves.
“The players and staff at the club have been incredible, not only delivering food but collecting medical supplies for the vulnerable and the elderly.
“Two days after first talking about it we did 170 meals, using food we had bought in for St Patrick’s Day celebrations.
“The following day that was up to 500 and now we’re topping 800, helped by one of my friends weighing in with a ton of potatoes, carrots, parsnips and onions. Our centre, Matty Williams, has been crowned onion king as he is able to peel them for hours without crying! “But this has been a real team effort, all done purely from the heart.”