Four friends who founded a food delivery network to feed thousands of NHS staff have been recognised by the Prime Minister for their efforts.

Sarah Laster, Katie Icklow, David Benveniste and Jackie Commissar founded Facebook page You Donate, We Deliver, which brought together 80 volunteer delivery drivers, 10 professional chefs and hundreds of members of the community.

At its peak, the network fed over 2,100 NHS workers a day across London.

The group has now received a Points of Light award from Boris Johnson, who said he was “lost in admiration” for their “fantastic success”.

“Such stories of service to others inspire my belief that we will not only beat this virus together but emerge a stronger, more generous and more sharing society,” said the Prime Minister, at the start of Volunteers’ Week.

The Points of Light scheme recognises one outstanding volunteer or volunteering group each day for making a change within their community.

You Donate, We Deliver, which is this week winding down as demand has slowed, has sent over 79,000 meals to hospitals and care homes; more than 12,250 sandwiches to ambulance crews, plus 100 meals each week to the homeless. To date they have raised over £100,000 from donations.

In a joint statement, the four said the response and the support they had received was “truly humbling and overwhelming”.

They continued: “[W]e would like to use this opportunity not only to thank the Prime Minister for acknowledging our initiative with the Points of Light Award, but to also publicly thank each and every person who has committed their support and involvement to ‘You Donate, We Deliver’ over the past few months.”