Teachers want in on Sainsbury's dedicated shopping hour

UK teachers are calling on Sainsbury’s to include them in its coronavirus-related dedicated shopping hour initiative, which currently covers the elderly, vulnerable and NHS and social care workers.

Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, all the retailer’s supermarkets will dedicate 8am - 9am to serving the aforementioned people. Customers are being asked to follow social distancing guidelines and pay by card where possible.

Earlier this week, Boris Johnson announced plans to close all schools in the UK to halt the spread of the coronavirus. They will be shut until further notice for all pupils except children of key workers and the most vulnerable. This is a sizeable number of kids and so many teachers will remain on the frontline over the coming months.

Many of them have taken to social media to ask for Sainsbury’s help during these challenging times. “Think the dedicated shopping hour is wonderful. Please consider adding teachers too,” said primary school teacher @emmaccatt.

“We are still working next week providing care and support for key worker's & vulnerable children. It's been horrific trying to get food/supplies due to working hours (especially in London) & this would really help.”

“Yes please! Many of us are at work before 8 am so whilst 8am opening is great for some, it’s not for us. Many will be covering childcare until 6pm too so perhaps a slot 6pm- 7pm for NHS & critical workers when many of us are on the way home?” added @thepetitioner.

Sainsbury’s did not respond to our request for comment.

Click and Collect

From Monday, Sainsbury’s will operate an expanded Click and Collect service, as part of its drive to stop coronavirus stockpiling.

“We are significantly increasing the number of collection sites across the country over the coming days in preparation for this,” CEO MIke Coupe said in a statement posted on Twitter.

“Customers can place their order online as usual and pick it up from a collection point in the store car park. We believe this will also work for people who are self-isolating,” he added.

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