A NORTH Belfast take-away has delivered hundreds of pizzas to healthcare staff at three local hospitals after closing amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Pizza Works on the Antrim Road pulled down its shutters on Monday night after making "the decision to close, to help fight the virus and prevent its spread".
But with stock left over, owners Eoin and Clara Scollay said they wanted to give back to people working on the frontline during the medical crisis.
Mr Scollay said they posted a message on social media looking for places where the food could go and were "bombarded" with suggestions.
"It wasn't an easy decision to close, but we know it was the right decision," he said.
"As a take-away, we have been told we can stay open, but with social distancing, we know it just wouldn't be safe for us to stay open.
"We weren't prepared to bring the virus back into our homes if we got it.
"We always have a lot of stuff prepped, our dough is done in advance so we had plenty of it when we were closing on Monday night. It was all going to go to waste if we didn't use it up.
"So we put out a message on Facebook asking for ideas of where the pizzas should go and we were bombarded with suggestions."
Mr Scollay said they prioritised front-line NHS staff for the take-away deliveries.
"We delivered 200 pizzas to the City Hospital, Mater and RVH," he said.
"There were departments we would never have thought of, like the labs where there were 300 people, but yet they are doing such valuable work at this time.
"We delivered to the intensive care at the Mater, which has obviously become the coronavirus hub as well as the children's ICU at the Royal. We went to the Allen ward at the Royal where our son spent time last year and the midwives at the Mater too.
"Everyone was so grateful and one woman in the labs told us they were working double shifts and the delivery had given them a real boost."
Mr Scollay added that they will "100 per cent be re-opening" when the Covid-19 pandemic is over, but that they were delighted to "give something back to those who are on the frontline fighting it".
