Kennedy, 60, who made his fortune in double glazing, has swapped the corporate world of the hospitality box for the Neubria Booster Box, in a bid to help financially-stricken families in the North West feed themselves in a dignified manner.
Taking the name of the wellness and supplement company behind the initiative, which is run by his son Jonny, a former Sale Sharks player, the booster box is a home delivery service of essential foods for those struggling in the coronavirus pandemic.
“Neubria, which is based in Cheshire, has launched this initiative, the Neubria Booster Box, and I am funding it,” Kennedy snr said.
“Rather than sitting back and waiting for everything to level off and resolve itself, we thought let’s take the initiative and go out and buy a load of cans and dried fruit and put them in boxes and send them out directly to families who are going through a tough time right now.
“Food banks are a wonderful initiative and have served a lot of people, and we admire them, but what we’ve found out is that a lot of people are quite proud and don’t like the prospect of getting the coupons and then having to go along to the food bank in person.”
The son of a window cleaner, Kennedy grew up on a council estate in Edinburgh and knows from personal experience how embarrassing asking for hand-outs can be, which is why discretion is so important in his eyes.
“We were brought up in a very humble home, in high rise flats in Edinburgh, and because we had limited income as a family, we qualified for free school dinners.
“You used to queue up with all your mates and they’re all holding a blue ticket and you’ve got a pink ticket because you qualified for free dinners. So we remembered that experience, and thought here’s a way, if a family needs help, genuinely needs help, that they can get it discreetly.
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Denne historien er fra May 10, 2020-utgaven av The Rugby Paper.
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