Army

Soldiers Partner With Local Charities To Provide Community Care Packages

CROPPED Military personnel providing community care packages, having partnered with local charities, in Kent 301220 CREDIT Joint Military Command South East

Soldiers from the Haulier Testing Resilience Unit (HTRU) have partnered with charities and local community leaders in Kent to deliver food packages to people in need.

As part of Operation ROSE, the military’s response to supporting coronavirus testing for thousands of truckers in Kent, troops from 36 Engineer Regiment have provided supplies to the HGV drivers since Christmas Eve.

Once it became apparent there was a surplus of food packages, Guy Gardiner, of the Kent Resilience Forum Driver Welfare Cell, decided to partner with local charities to put the resources to good use.

“We have worked hard with local charities to make sure that nothing went to waste,” he said.

“Everything that we received has now been redistributed to food banks and homeless charities across Kent and Sussex.”

Members of 36 Engineer Regiment, working with the Salvation Army and the Coastguard, have helped deliver food packages to parents, the homeless, food banks and even zoos in the area.

Captain Mark Paul, 36 Engineer Regiment, said it was a "great privilege to help out the Salvation Army".

Military personnel partnered with local charities to deliver community care packages in Kent — More than four vans full of goods have been delivered, including cupboard essentials, fruit and vegetables.

"We have been working together closely to deliver food parcels in Kent and Sussex, which has been a vital support to the community especially at this time of year," he said.

"It’s an opportunity I wouldn’t normally get, and I feel a great sense of achievement from being part of it.’

More than four vanloads of goods have been delivered, with supplies including baby wipes, cupboard essentials, and fruit and vegetables.

Corporal Michael Freeman, 36 Engineer Regiment, said it was “humbling” to see the generosity provided in "an hour of need”.

“I find it really satisfying to know I’ve been a part of something that is having such a positive impact on people’s lives,” he said.

One thousand one hundred military personnel remain in Kent having been deployed to test lorry drivers waiting to cross the English Channel to France.

It came after the French government imposed a travel ban to reduce the transmission of a more infectious COVID-19 strain spreading in the UK.

France lifted the ban on December 23, but said those looking to enter from the UK must have received a negative coronavirus test taken less than 72 hours before their journey.

Cover image: Military personnel providing community care packages, after partnering with local charities in Kent (Picture: Joint Military Command South East).