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ROYAL NAVAL RESERVIST DELIVERS AFTERNOON TEAS TO VULNERABLE ON VE DAY 75

A small business in her home town of Bournemouth, Hartley’s Events, had to close their cookery team-building business because of the pandemic. They wanted to find a way to continue to support their local community. They were particularly concerned about the elderly and vulnerable in their local church.  Initially, they offered fruit and veg boxes as a delivery service, to help those unable to book a supermarket slot. With VE Day 75 on the horizon, and the talk of socially-distanced street parties, they came up with the idea of offering ‘bake your own’ cream tea kits.

Kiera helping with deliveries

Kiera, who lives and works in the Midlands, was furloughed from her job and went home to Bournemouth where her parents live.  She has been helping out her friends at Hartley’s Events with deliveries: “It’s nice for me to have something to get out of the house for each morning, and I hope it’s nice for people to have a friendly face deliver them food. I always try to smile and greet people from a safe distance. A smile can go a long way at the moment.”

VE Day 75 street party

A smile goes a long way

Paul Hartley, a baker by trade, got to work developing a recipe so people could bake the perfect scone at home and Kiera helped with advertising the service. “I spent Thursday morning dropping off the scone kits with clotted cream and jam. In the afternoon, I decorated the house with bunting.  On VE Day, I was up bright and early to deliver more boxes.  When I was finished, I came back home for a socially-distant day of festivities, including music from the 1940s, homemade pizza, the 3pm toast, and lots of yummy scones,” said Kiera.

Kiera enjoys the street party with her family

Kiera, who normally juggles her business career with Royal Naval Reservist training and being a keen sailor, hasn’t been idle during lockdown.  In addition to helping out with deliveries, she has been making the most of the time with her family. “Dad and I have started a project to build a summerhouse. Each day we go into the garden and work out how to build walls and windows from the scraps we have lying around. So far we have knocked down two walls, built one, and debated about 28 different types of roof … there is still no roof!” said Kiera.

Cream tea to celebrate VE Day 75

Kiera recently completed her Midshipman Officer training as Royal Naval Reservist at Britannia Royal Naval College, and was awarded the highly prestigious Best Officer Cadet award.  She looks forward to continuing her training when activities resume.

HMS Sherwood is the only Naval Reserve in the East Midlands.  To find out more about becoming a Reservist, click here.