TWO NHS catering heroes – who helped to keep frontline staff and colleagues going throughout the pandemic – have been honoured with national awards.

Margaret Valenti and Joe Gilbey from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s catering teams have been recognised by the National Hospital Caterers Association for their outstanding work.

Joe, who is Head of Retail Services, won a National Leadership Excellence Award while Margaret won a Special Recognition Award for her efforts.

At the beginning of the pandemic, Joe worked with colleagues to get free hot meals to those staff working on the covid frontline.

He said: “We were pulling out all the stops to support our frontline.

"It’s been good and we’ve had great feedback about the quality of the food and great support from our local vending company.”

Margaret, who works as a business support manager, created a blog to help keep colleagues in touch, particularly colleagues who were no longer able to work in hospital settings.

Eventually, she would write 47 blogs, which have now been turned into a book, providing a unique record of the first nine months of the pandemic.

She said:“It really showed how people were coping, what they were doing during the initial stages of the pandemic, but the crucial thing was it identified the people behind the role and kept people in touch, particularly those who were shielding or couldn’t attend the workplace.

“It’s so nice to be recognised – we’re caterers and what we often get is complaints.”

Billy Hunter, Deputy Director of Facilities, added: “When the pandemic began, our teams responded immediately and effectively, providing support for those at the frontline and their wider colleagues across the health board and beyond.

“I want to congratulate Margaret and Joe for their well-deserved awards.

"Along with their teams, they epitomise everything that is great about the wider NHS Family."