COVID-19 Shopping Hero's (Morrisons Cheadle Heath)

When the pandemic hit, our supermarkets felt the full force of panic buying, aggressive shoppers, fear of infection and empty shelves.

It was a scary time for all of us, but for many of our elderly clients, venturing out was not an option.

We looked at how we could support our clients; to help them to get their much-needed items and to keep them safe in their own homes.

A few supermarkets started to implement dedicated ‘elderly hour’ shopping times, so we contacted all local supermarkets, to see if we could use our ID badges and shop for them, as getting items like toilet paper, tinned food and pasta was proving impossible.

Jo Lutkevitch & Caroline Hardy from Morrison's in Edgeley listened to our concerns and wanted to offer more support, they asked us to come in for a meeting to discuss how they could help our clients.

We already work very closely with Morrison's in Edgeley, as our weekly friendship group, open to all members of the public, is held in their restaurant every Monday afternoon at 13.45 – 3.15pm. It encourages those who are isolated to come and sit with friendly faces, join in with activities and bond over a hot drink and cake. We have had nearly 800 attendees since its opening in January 2019.

They agreed a free service for us where we emailed our clients shopping lists each day and they employed ‘overnight packers’ specifically to pick our clients shopping lists overnight just after the deliveries arrived. This meant we had items secured before they were put out on the shelves and the store opened.

Lots of our clients took up our offer and used the service regularly. It also provided support to many family members too who were unable to get to support elderly relatives during the crisis.

A Family member of Mr & Mrs Price said: “As a family we are so grateful for the home delivery grocery service that Morrison’s and Home Instead provided for their clients. With my brother and I living long distances away it gave us peace of mind that our parents could access food supplies as they are unable to get to the shops for themselves and were also unable to book regular online deliveries, a situation that caused many sleepless nights for all concerned. Thank you to both groups for going the extra mile to look after those who needed it most - a real example of kindness and compassion.”

For 18 weeks, Morrison's packed nearly 500 individual shopping lists, which were then delivered free of charge by Home Instead Monday – Friday, including bank holidays.

One of our clients Sandra, who was shielding due to health said: “The Morrison's shopping service was a great help. I was discharged from hospital in the first week of lockdown, I live alone and rely on internet shopping in usual times. I emailed my list and my shopping was delivered the following morning, and the items I’d requested were always available and the fresh produce was in good condition. Phil (CAREGiver) was an asset to your team and was always friendly and helpful.”

In total, 54 clients were supported, with shopping totalling nearly £9,000. We cannot Thank Morrison's enough for their continued support and commitment to our clients.

Client Carol “I appreciate the help it's given me so far it's been a godsend. Thank you for providing the service and I shall miss it”

Client Maureen Better late than never, Maureen has described the shopping service as “marvellous” and “wonderful” and “amazing” as well as “really good”

For more information on the services we offer please contact our office on 0161 480 0646 alternatively send us an email stockport@homeinstead.co.uk.

click here for more details or to contact Home Instead (Stockport, Tameside & Manchester Central)