A WREXHAM chippy that has been at the heart of the community for 45 years is there for those NHS heroes who are working so hard to save lives and keep us safe.

Andy Koumas, of Everland Fish Bar in Market Street, has been providing free chippy teas for hospital and ambulance staff to keep them going during long shifts in these most difficult of times.

Andy says he is only too happy to help when he gets a call from the Maelor Hospital.

He said: "I have been in Wrexham for 45 years now, I have three children that have grown up here, and the people of Wrexham have been very good to me so I want to do something for the people of Wrexham.

"These people are working to keep us safe. If not for them the situation in the country would be a lot worse and we would have lost more people. So I want them to know that we are also there for them."

Staff at the Maelor have been praising Andy and his team for their generosity and tasty chips.

The Leader:

The chip shop is closed to the public for now but is still open for online orders and contactless delivery

On Everland's Facebook page, Sarah-Louise Anglesea said: "Would like to say a massive thank you for the fish and chips you donated to the critical care unit today. We really appreciate it and they were amazing!"

Lisa Bostock tweeted: "The lovely kind people at Everland fish bar Wrexham have donated fish, chips and more to staff at Critical Care unit. This was gorgeous and such a lovely thought as being in PPE for 2 hours and missing the hot food in the canteen.

"This was an amazing boost."

Responding to the feedback, Andy added: "It’s a privilege to support our NHS heroes. A bit of free food is the least we could do for all the hard work they are doing for our community. Hope they enjoyed their fish and chips."

The chip shop us currently closed to the public but is still taking orders and offering a contactless delivery service through delivery partners Just-Eat, Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Zoom.

Andy has been serving chips to the people of Wrexham since his family arrived from Cyprus in 1975. He has had shops in Borras and the town centre.

And it is not only frontline staff that Andy and the Everland Fish Bar team have been helping.

This Friday, he will be frying up 45 sausage and chip suppers after being contacted by Wrexham Rotary Club who are working in the community with Wrexham Homeless, People helping People.

He refused to take any payment for the meals, which will be distributed by the group's volunteers.

Wrexham Rotary support the group by raising money to pay for the weekly meal and liaising with business, like Everland and the No 22 community cafe, who prepare the meals.

Founder of the homeless support group, Dee Davies said that, although a lot of the group's activities and clubs have had to be suspended during the corornavirus crisis, volunteers were still working hard to provide clothing, food and support.

She said that with everyone focussed on the coronavirus pandemic it was easy to forget there are rough sleepers who depend on support.

Dee said: "The meals are very important. It will probably be the only meal they have that day, so if we weren't able to do this people would be going hungry."