HARD-WORKING staff at East Lothian Community Hospital have received a morale-boosting donation.

Shiva Kumar stopped off at the Haddington hospital on Friday with three crates of food and drinks for staff.

The kind-hearted businessman, who runs Day Today and Haddington Wines and Whiskies on Haddington High Street, told the Courier: “We have customers who are nurses and you constantly see them tired and very busy.

“We also have a customer whose husband passed away, it was not covid-related, and my son, Vikram, is studying medicine.”

Mr Kumar, who turned 50 earlier this week, has already offered his support to Haddington-based Our Community Kitchen, which tackles social isolation by getting people round the dinner table, both through a donation and helping the charity.

The businessman was unsure if staff at the hospital would accept a financial donation and instead decided to offer his help in a different way.

He said: “We went to Costco and got biscuits, mineral water, fruits, apples, bananas and things like that.

“We got oranges, a box of crisps and chocolates – everything that we did not have to touch and we put them all together and came back.

“What prompted us to do this was doctors and healthcare professionals are not getting any breaks.

“We don’t know what breaks they get and if we give something to alleviate the mood and keep them working and keep them motivated and happy, then, we wanted to do this.”

Staff at the hospital were on hand to collect the parcels and Mr Kumar was pleased to say they were “delighted” with the donation.

He added: “Their eyes lit up. They were delighted and the services manager thanked us.”