A pub in Richmond town centre which acted as a safety net for the poor, homeless, vulnerable and those facing financial hardship during lockdown is in the running for an award for its heroics.

Volunteers gave 1,000 hours of their time to help the Angel and Crown cook 5,000 meals and give out 7,000 bottles of water and 285 items of clothing.

The pub in Church Court produced a video montage, which you can watch above, looking back on its efforts.

It has now been rewarded for its community-spirited deeds.

The pub said: "We have been fortunate enough to be nominated for the #hospitalitylockdownheroawards for our efforts feeding our communities most vulnerable during the lockdown.

"Please click the link and vote for us so that our #richmondcommunity gets the recognition we deserve for coming together to help one another in the toughest of times â¤ï¸."

Hospitality Lockdown Hero Awards

The Angel and Crown is shortlisted in the Best Community Initiative award which honours a campaign that has gone the extra mile to support their community during lockdown.

The winner will be announced in a virtual awards ceremony on Tuesday, September 22 and you can vote for them here.

Their billing on the awards' site

Angel & Crown provided free meals, tea/ coffee, clothing, sleeping bags, toiletries and in collaboration with local charity, SPEAR, organised accommodation for the homeless and most vulnerable of its Richmond Community during Lockdown. This operated as a grab and go service maintaining all social distancing measures.

At first, Nick Botting (landlord) subsidised the cost of this service but as demand grew, him and a number of volunteers raised money via Paypal to continue providing essentials to those who were struggling to provide for themselves. Nick and his team raised just under £7000 through the generosity of the pubs local community and with this provided 32 sleeping bags, 4895 meals, 7000 bottles of water, 6000 cups of tea/ coffee and many selfless individuals even with the risk of catching the virus themselves volunteered just over 1000 man hours.

This service ran 7 days a week and at its peak was serving 70 people per day who had come from all over London in need of help. This service became a focal point of lockdown for the local community; something good for people to be involved with. Whether it was messages of support, financial contributions, clothing or donations of food and drink. Local coffee shops donated anything they could, restaurants offered any stock they had, and charities SPEAR and the Felix Project assisted them in providing support for anyone who needed it.

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