Blog

So many regulars have now become friends, Simon explained, comparing the cafe to the bar in American comedy. Health, when you enter and everyone knows each other; it is an extension of your home. One such friend she has met over the years is Dr. Paul Reevely, an emergency medical consultant at Bristol Children’s Hospital, across from the cafe.

Dr. Reevely has been a regular customer since it first opened ten years ago and has highlighted all that Penfold’s Kitchen has done for the hospital community. He said Simon was there to support the NHS when Covid hit the UK, launching a delivery service and taking orders to ensure something was available for staff on the front lines of the pandemic.

He said the cafe has become firmly a part of the hospital community, calling Simon the kindest human being he’s ever met. “A few examples of the kind of things he does is that the family opened the cafe on Christmas Day so he could send breakfast to the children’s hospital and the staff working,” Dr. Reevely explained.

“A couple of years ago, he provided 200-300 bacon rolls and coffees for staff working at Christmas and parents who had children in the hospital. Particularly those who are there for the long term, they are sick children, children with cancer, very often they get to know him a lot.”

Dr. Reevely said Simon’s real mark was the relationship he built with parents of very sick children. “The highlight is supporting and providing friendship to those parents who are in the worst moments. It’s one of the places they go.”

He continued: “He’s a bit of a hero to the community, and Paola and the rest of the team. I can’t think of how many thousands of coffees he has delivered to us, some bought but some not. During the nurses’ strike, he will provide trays of cakes and coffees for those on the picket line and take them to those who also keep the hospital running. He does this all the time, he’s a great guy.”

Young doctors and ambulance workers have been on strike in March, and nurses have canceled the latest dates for industrial action to enter talks. NHS staff in England have been offered a five per cent pay increase from April, including nurses and ambulance workers, as well as a one-time payment of at least £1,655; the unions will now consider the salary offer.

Simon and his team are supporting them where they can. He said: “The things I have seen and witnessed, especially through Covid, it is a national disgrace that we do not fund or support politics. The shifts they take and the sacrifices they make with their families.

“We went from applauding (in confinement) to forgetting what they do. The NHS has helped me throughout my life and I am passionate about it. It’s probably the only thing we have left that a lot of countries would love to have and it needs reinvestment.”

He is seeing the strain on the service firsthand, through workers, families and himself as a patient. He is awaiting surgery on his shoulder, which will take place at a private hospital funded by the NHS, which foots the bill at a higher rate.

The solidarity work and support of the café in the city center has touched the lives of so many people in the last ten years. Penfold’s Kitchen hosted a birthday celebration on Friday (March 16) and invited all of their regulars as a way of saying thank you for their support since 2013.

Penfold’s Kitchen, 28 Upper Maudlin St, Bristol BS2 8DJ. Open Monday to Friday (7am-3pm) and weekends (8am-2pm)

Until next time: