Charity bolsters team

INDUSTRY charity GroceryAid has welcomed three new trustees to its board.

Dawood Pervez, managing director of Bestway, Mark McKenzie, group sales director at Nestle UK & Ireland, and Rhian Bartlett, director of fresh foods at Sainsbury’s have all signed up to support the charity.

GroceryAid is overseen by 16 trustees who are responsible for legal and statutory compliance, as well as developing and growing the charity.

Pervez commented on his new trustee role: “Having been a member of GroceryAid’s presidents fundraising committee I have seen first-hand the innovation to drive income growth from events like our Barcode Festival.

“We are still at the beginning of an ongoing journey and I look forward to helping develop these further.”

Bartlett added: “GroceryAid plays such an important part in the welfare of many grocery colleagues and I am delighted to be joining the charity.

“I look forward to being able to contribute to sustaining their growth at a time of great challenge for the industry.”

The new trustees join at a crucial time for GroceryAid as the charity looks to support retail industry colleagues, from the shop floor to the warehouse, who may have suffered due to the coronavirus crisis.

Earlier this year GroceryAid launched a Covid-19 fund offering enhanced mental health support, bereavement grants and crisis grants.

The charity has also launched a fund to support specialist foodservice wholesalers who have fallen on hard times in 2020.