Hotel helping homeless gets morale-boosting visit from boxing champion Amir Khan
It’s always a pleasure to bring forward stories about the people and businesses stepping up to the plate during this international health crisis. We were therefore delighted to play a small part in highlighting the surprise visit to the Best Western London Queen’s Hotel in Crystal Palace of former world boxing champion Amir Khan who handed out care parcels to the homeless sheltering there during the Covid-19 crisis.
As reported here in the South London Press, the hotel has been providing care and safe shelter for rough sleepers in conjunction with local authorities for nearly two months, helping them to isolate safely away from the pandemic. Khan heard about the hotel’s initiative and visited personally to deliver 140 care boxes to those temporarily housed at the hotel on behalf of his charity the Amir Khan Foundation and Star People.
Amir Khan: “When I heard about what The Queens hotel was doing I wanted to come personally and show my support to the team and to those seeking shelter there. This pandemic is a battle for all of us, we are in this together and I’m definitely in Best Western’s corner cheering them on for how their hotels have helped Britain fight back against the virus.”
Rob Paterson, chief executive of Best Western Great Britain, said: “When the outbreak started, we made a decision early on that our hotels would try to be part of the national solution to Covid-19. The Queen’s hotel exemplifies that commitment to help, working with local authorities to provide people with a safe place to sleep regardless of their circumstances. Our hotels are proudly part of their local communities and it’s great to see that has been recognised by Amir, the One Family team and the Al Rayan Bank.”
A spokesperson for Southwark Council said: “Southwark Council welcomes the opportunity to accept these charitable donations on behalf of the more vulnerable members of our community. The gift of these parcels is most welcome.”
The Best Western London Queen’s Hotel Crystal Palace is part of LHG (London Hotel Group) a provider of high quality hotels across the capital. It also working with a large South London Hospital to house families of patients (mostly free of charge) whose children are critically ill and have nowhere to stay near to the hospital. This is in partnership with Ronald McDonald Charity.
You can read more on this story in The Mirror HERE
