A FARMER from Silsden has been named a ‘true friend of Airedale’ after supplying the hospital with fresh eggs every week since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Edward Boothman, of Howden Park Farm in Silsden, began taking the eggs to the hospital in March this year, as the coronavirus pandemic really began to hit.

“It was my wife, Roz’s idea to take our surplus eggs to the hospital. We’ve been associated with the Friends of Airedale for many years, and we wanted to do something to help the trust,” he said.

“My original idea was to give them to the hospital restaurant, but they had sufficient supplies. It then seemed a good idea to offer them direct to staff, who at that point were struggling to be able to buy basic foods.”

Jodie Hearnshaw from the Airedale Hospital and Community Charity managed the egg donation on behalf of the hospital.

“Every week when Mr Boothman brought the eggs we would put them in the restaurant and ask people to take them, and leave a donation of their choosing,” she said.

“People were absolutely delighted and commented on how fresh and tasty the eggs were when they used them to cook and bake with. Some weeks they included duck eggs, which were a special treat.”

She added: “Week after week Mr Boothman brought the eggs to us and we were always so pleased to see him. The donations added up to over £200 which was shared between our charity and Friends of Airedale.”

Roz Boothman also designed and created greetings cards which were sold to raise money for the Friends of Airedale.

The duck eggs came courtesy of another local farmer, Howard Metcalfe.

Mr Boothman is well known both in the area and nationally as a one of the country’s foremost suppliers of pullets, and he is also the chairman of the Craven Poultry Keepers Club.

Jodie added: “Mr and Mrs Boothman have been staunch supporters of Airedale and have really made a tangible difference to our staff, providing fresh eggs at a time when people were finding it difficult to get fresh produce. We are extremely grateful, and we count them both as true friends of Airedale.

“ Thank you from all of us here at the hospital.”