A message from CEO Roger Burnley

We’re donating £5 million to FareShare and the Trussell Trust

Dear Customer,

These are the most extraordinary of times and whilst it has only been a few short days since I last wrote to you – so much has happened in that time. Every day I become more keenly aware of our responsibility to help feed the nation – both by keeping our shelves stocked and deliveries moving – and I am incredibly grateful to my colleagues in our shops and depots for their efforts. We also have the ability to support our communities by providing employment to those whose jobs have been impacted by this crisis, and by supporting our charity partners to help the most vulnerable in our communities.

We know that foodbanks are in need more than ever in these unprecedented times, which is why we will be donating £5 million to our partners FareShare and the Trussell Trust to help the country’s most vulnerable people through COVID-19.

The extensive package of measures will provide over 4 million meals to families in food poverty impacted by Coronavirus as well as giving more than 3,000 charities the ability to access free food over the next 3 months as they fight to tackle the impacts of Coronavirus in their communities. The donation will help the two food distribution charities as they experience a huge increase in demand over the coming months, as more vulnerable people turn to food banks for help through COVID-19.

The funding will also continue the work of the Fight Hunger Create Change partnership between Asda and the two charities by helping tackle the root causes of poverty through supporting 800,000 people over the next year with debt and financial advice.

We also want to support our colleagues and our customers as much as we possibly can. As of today, we will be moving our stores to 8am-8pm opening hours, meaning our colleagues have some time to re-stock the shelves of their stores and thoroughly clean for our customers to be able to shop. As a final point, we would also urge our customers, where possible, to use cashless payment options to reduce contact with our colleagues and help prevent further spread of the virus.

We know that our amazing NHS staff are working harder than ever, which is why, as of next week, we have decided to prioritise their access to our stores every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8-9am in our larger stores.

I would again like to personally thank you for your ongoing support and patience during an uncertain time. Our communities are at the heart of what we do, so I would urge all of you to continue to shop responsibly and look after your fellow customers in our stores, respecting those who need to shop between 8am-9am, and if you can – by donating to your local food bank.

And finally, I would like again thank our colleagues for their tireless efforts in our stores and depots. We’re in this together – and together we will get through this extraordinary time.

Take care,

Roger