A kind-hearted eight-year-old boy who wanted to ‘do something nice’ for the NHS at the start of the pandemic, has started the new year as he means to go on by making his fifth delivery of pizzas to staff at Medway Maritime Hospital.
William Mobey delivered four boxes of the tasty Italian dish to the hospital in Windmill Road, Gillingham, during his school lunchbreak earlier today (Thursday 27 January) for staff to enjoy.
The Year 3 pupil, who attends Academy of Woodlands, in Woodlands Road, Gillingham, made his first delivery back in April last year. He said: “I was learning about Florence Nightingale at school and I was surprised to find out that all the nurses and doctors were still working through the pandemic.
“I asked my mum if we could do something nice for everyone working at the hospital as it’s only 10 minutes away from my house. My favourite food is pizza or macaroni and cheese so I decided to get pizza for everyone at the hospital and mum said we would try to deliver pizzas once a month to different people.”
Mum Holly Daniels, who usually spends between £30 and £50 on about three or four pizzas at a time, picks William up from school so he can deliver the pizzas to the hospital during his lunchbreak.
There have been times when he has been able to hand the food to staff in person but when visiting restrictions are put in place by Medway NHS Foundation Trust to help keep patients and staff safe from COVID-19, the pizzas are collected by Medway Hospital Charity’s Fundraising Officer Cheryl Jones who delivers the food on William’s behalf and takes a photo to send to him afterwards.
William, who lives in Gillingham and wants to be a voice actor or a policeman when he’s older, added: “We get a plain cheese, a meat one, and a vegetarian one so everyone has one they like.
“I’d like to be able to give pizza to everyone at the hospital but my mum says that might take a long time but it doesn’t matter because it’s a nice thing to do.
“I think pizza must be their favourite food like mine, because the staff say they love it and they always look really happy when they get them.”
Holly, who is also mum to Charlotte, aged four, said: “I am super proud of William for coming up with the idea.
“At the beginning of the pandemic I really didn’t tell him a lot of details about what was going on so as not to scare him, but I should have told him much sooner. He’s proven he is just as kind and generous as ever, even when things get a little bit scary.
“He won the Head Teacher’s Award at his school last year for his pizza delivery and received a certificate and a drawing set.
“I would like to say a massive thank you to Medway Hospital Charity’s Fundraising Officer Cheryl Jones for helping orchestrate William’s plan and bringing it to life. If it wasn’t for her, William wouldn’t be able to do what he does.
“We would also like to thank all of the staff working at Medway Maritime Hospital for all of their hard work and dedication and for everything that they do.”
Fundraising Officer Cheryl Jones said: “William’s pizza deliveries have gone down really well with our staff who are all extremely grateful for his generosity.
“It’s an absolute pleasure to deliver the food on William’s behalf and to see the look on the faces of staff members when I arrive with pizza – especially when they’re working a long shift.
“On behalf of everyone at the Trust, I’d like to thank William for his support during the pandemic. He really is a remarkable young man and his family should be very proud of him.”