NHS birthday: The brands and businesses supporting healthcare workers
Across the country, NHS staff and key workers have been lauded for their heroic efforts during the coronavirus pandemic.
Every week since the 25 March, the nation has come together to clap for frontline staff and key workers, in a bid to show their appreciation for the national health service.
The final and biggest clap for carers will take place on Sunday 5 July, to mark the NHS' 72nd birthday.
Alongside this show of gratitude from the public, many brands and businesses have also stepped up to support NHS workers during the crisis.
There are lots of companies offering a token of gratitude to help ease some of the extreme difficulties these people have been facing by continuing to work on the frontline day in, day out.
From supermarkets offering dedicated opening hours to help key workers to discounted taxi rides and mental health support, we've found the brands doing their bit to support the NHS.
You can trust our independent roundups. We may earn commission from some of the retailers, but we never allow this to influence selections. This revenue helps us to fund journalism across The Independent.
Addison Lee
If you usually rely on public transport to get you to and from work, you can minimise the risk of coming into contact with other people by booking a taxi ride with Addison Lee, which is currently offering 25 per cent off rides for NHS workers.
It has also set up a GoFundMe page which it began by donating an initial £50,000 to give NHS workers within London free rides too and from work. Before it was paused in late April, the fund had raised more than £169,000 and given 9,000 free rides to NHS heroes across London.
Dettol
The cleaning brand has donated 150,000 care packages to NHS staff to help keep their homes as clean as possible. The antibacterial product had a huge surge in sales in recent months and had been very hard to get hold of in shops and supermarkets.
The packages were first distributed in April to certain NHS hospitals in Nottingham, Hull and Chesterfield, where Dettol was invented. More items have been distributed to other hospitals across the country since.
Bloom & Wild
Letterbox flower delivery service Bloom & Wild is offering a generous 15 per cent off its flowers if you're an NHS worker, or work in social care, the emergency services or armed forces.
You can also nominate a key worker to win free flowers, and 10 people will be chosen each week from the nominations.
Halfords
To ensure key workers can make essential journeys safely, Halfords is offering a free motoring check for NHS staff and emergency workers. The 10 point car check includes tyre inflation, screenwash, oil level check, headlights and brake lights.
Alongside this, it is also offering free bike checks too for cyclists, and 10 per cent off any tyres. The retailer has helped over 50,000 NHS frontline workers so far.
Not only is it helpful to keep your mode of transport running smoothly, it’s also worth taking advantage of so a breakdown doesn’t affect your ability to get to and from work safely.
Headspace
Mindfulness app Headspace, is offering free access to its premium service for NHS workers until the end of December 2020, as long as you sign up with an NHS email address.
IndyBest found it to be the best choice for anyone who is new to practising mindfulness, with its guided meditations for everything from stress to sleep, along with easy to follow breathing and movement exercises.
Heather Wellbeing
Amid trying times, NHS practitioner health service, Heather Wellbeing, is connecting NHS staff with its network of more than 200 qualified psychotherapists to provide free online therapy. Its aim is to provide around 21,000 hours of therapy, worth an estimated £1.7m.
Sessions can be booked between 4am-11pm and staff can have six sessions for free. The sessions can take place over WhatsApp, Skype or over the phone call and can be booked here.
John Lewis & Partners
The department store has been donating items including pillows, phone chargers, eye masks and hand creams to local hospitals to ensure more comfortable break times for NHS staff.
Alongside this, it has launched a £1m community support fund with the John Lewis Partnership to donate to local communities and charities including Age UK, FareShare, Trussell Trust, Grocery Aid and Retail Trust.
Just Park
This app was designed to make parking across the country easier by utilising empty parking spaces.
For NHS workers, you can access free parking spaces at homes and businesses around the UK simply by signing up with an NHS work email address.
While the UK government has made car parking free in all UK hospitals, this is absolutely the next best thing in case you can’t find a space.
Microsoft Teams
During the coronavirus outbreak, NHS and key workers can use Microsoft Teams, a chat platform, for free.
It’s to encourage key workers such as GP’s and therapists to use instant messaging and audio and video calls to give advice and provide updates for patients.
It’s encouraging NHS organisations to apply directly to Microsoft to access it and help them roll it out across employees.
Read more
NHS workers praised for continuing cancer care during pandemic
Face masks: Where to buy transparent coverings
Where to buy face coverings for kids as lockdown eases
Face mask buying guide: Everything you need to know as lockdown eases
