Pop To The Shop launches nationwide amid coronavirus lockdown

Social ventures incubator, CanDo, has launched Pop To The Shop, a not-for-profit website that connects those in self-isolation who need essential food and medicine with people who are able to shop for them.

“Just a few weeks ago, I was trying to get some shopping to my 79-year-old mother in West Sussex, which was so difficult that in the end I had to pay a mini cab firm to do a shop for her. I realised from the news reports that so many other people were in the same boat, struggling to get essential supplies,” George Bevis, Founder, CanDo, said in a LinkedIn post.

“As a nation everyone is pulling together; the supermarkets are trying to deliver to as many people as possible, and the NHS Volunteer Responder scheme aims to reach those people with specific medical needs – but even these efforts can’t reach everyone.”

“The crisis has brought people together and there are people up and down the country who want to help. There had to be a way to galvanise this support. And so the idea of Pop To The Shop was born.”

Bevis, who also founded challenger bank Tide, added that he wanted to create an easy way for people to volunteer to help others, with the scale to cover the whole country. “Using my tech background and support from a team of expert volunteers, we built a platform that can do this.”

CanDo has been testing the service with local volunteers and is now launching it nationally. “We hope to help as many people who need it as possible, so please do consider signing up to become a shopper if you can,” Bevis concluded.