Activity across the Society as we respond to the crisis

I want to update you on some of the activity that is going on across the Society at the present time as each of our businesses responds to the coronavirus crisis.

Firstly in relation to Personal Protective Equipment we have had more stock coming through, including gloves, sanitisers and face masks, and this is now being sent to all sites. We are still having to compete with priority users like the NHS so please bear with us but I can assure you that we are doing everything we can to get you the protection you need. Screens are being installed across all sites with roll out expected to be completed next week.

In our food stores we are doing everything we can to keep the shelves full and to fill the gaps in our supply from Co-op Group. To do this we have been working with a wide range of our local food suppliers such as the family butchers Aldens  and the wholesale food supplier Brake. This activity will be significantly scaled up over the next week.

To help the children of NHS and other critical workers we have kept open a third of our nurseries and we have launched a new fund to pay their nursery fees for the duration of the outbreak with an initial donation of £25,000.  To help the most vulnerable in our local communities we have launched a home shopping delivery service for those in self-isolation. We have already proactively contacted more than 52,000 people and if you know of anyone who would benefit from this service please talk to your local food store. 

Today we have launched a Foodbank Fund, again with an initial £25,000 donation, so our 40 food bank partners which have a longstanding relationship with us can stock up on the essentials. We are also calling on members, customers and the wider community to give what they can to food banks so they can continue to put food on the table for the most vulnerable throughout this crisis.

In travel we have been dealing with hundreds of calls through our Virtual Call Centre, all of which have been dealt with at home thanks to great support from our IT colleagues who are working hard behind the scenes to support us all. Colleagues in HR have also been working around the clock, again from home, recruiting many new temporary staff to fill the vacancies. In the last few days alone we have added over 200 new colleagues to our ranks.

I also want to say that I know many of you are having to juggle lots of different roles either working from home or when you get home. Next week sees the start of the official school Easter holidays and I know many parents have already spent the last couple of weeks thinking of ways to entertain their kids. So I’m delighted to say that our Create and Cook competition has been relaunched so children can participate from home (visit our website www.createandcook.co.uk – find your county page and follow the steps 1-4 on how to enter). 

Finally I just wanted to say how impressed I’ve been with the innovation, creativity and drive that all colleagues are displaying in the current crisis and in particular the new ways that you have come up with of bringing services to people. On behalf of the Executive Team and the Board thank you once again for everything that you are doing.