Larbert effort literally takes the biscuit when it comes to helping NHS staff

Maurice Robinson, from Larbert, began his campaign after he noticed an online post.

He said: “There was a local community group on Facebook and I saw one post from a nurse saying she had been working long hours and had gone to her tea room and there was nothing left for her to have as a snack.

“I just thought, I can’t provide the NHS with ventilators or protective facemasks, but surely I can do something to make sure they enjoy their tea breaks – surely to goodness we can get a few biscuits for them.”

Teaming up with another Larbert local, Eileen McKenzie, Maurice visited shops in the area to see if they could put baskets aside to allow shoppers to fill them with extra packets of biscuits and other goods for NHS staff.

Maurice said: “I looked after the three shops in the Carronshore area – the Spar, Scotmid and McColls – while Eileen look after the Larbert shops, the Spar, the Station Store and Carronvale Service Station.

“The community and the shops have been great – it’s them who need all the thanks for this.”

The initial effort saw over 100 packets of biscuits collected.

“I contacted Forth valley Royal Hospital and they set up a very strict process to have the biscuits delivered. They are left at the reception area, then taken to be cleaned and distributed.

“We got a message from the original nurse I saw on Facebook and she named four or five wards which had received biscuits, so it is working.”

Working too well, apparently.

“The feedback is they have been totally overwhelmed by the amount of stuff they have received from the community. We have another 150 packets of biscuits that have still to be delivered.

“We are just waiting to hear what the best places are for them to be delivered to. They may go to some of the smaller hospitals in the area.”

Maurice says he plans to continue with the biscuit collections for NHS staff for as long as the coronavirus crisis continues.

“We will be keeping it going for as long as they need us to.”