Vans for Bands (VFB Touring) is offering its entire fleet of luxury sleeper coaches to be used by NHS staff during the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak.
Vehicles normally reserved for clients across the music, television and events industries will be parked outside NHS hospitals anywhere in the UK for the duration of the crisis, offering 24-hour access to doctors, nurses and key staff, all while observing social distancing measures.
The Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, Hillingdon Hospital in Uxbridge and Whittington Health NHS Trust in North London are the first hospitals in the UK to take advantage of the offer. Lewisham Hospital in South London will follow.
VFB Touring is subsidising the project and has launched a JustGiving page. It is hoped the non-profit crowdfunding scheme will help cover the costs of keeping the fleet on site at hospitals.
Explaining the move, Director and co-owner of Vans for Bands Ed Thomson says: “The social gathering restrictions brought about by coronavirus COVID-19 have completely decimated the live music industry, resulting in our entire fleet being off hire and returned to our yard.
“We are very happy to be able to offer our tour vehicles to NHS hospitals anywhere in the UK for the duration of the crisis as a place for doctors, nurses and support staff to take a rest or sleep in at the end of, or during, their extended shifts. We feel it’s only right that we do everything we can to support our NHS.”
