GroceryAid provides over £6million in support of staff
RETAIL support charity GroceryAid has reported a rise in demand for its services, with spending over £6million according to the firm’s latest Impact Report.
For the year running April 2023 to March 2024, GroceryAid has reported a increase of 93% in demand for emotional, practical and financial support when compared to the previous year.
This has seen the retail support charity spend over £6million in delivering support, with more than 78,000 incidents recorded during the 2023/24 year.
The specialist charity has said this has been fuelled by a myriad of challenges that colleagues in the retail sector have been facing for years now, including the cost-of-living crisis as well as as the continued impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Kieran Hemsworth, chief executive of GroceryAid, said: “As a charity, we have been supporting people since 1857 but over the last few years, the need for our services has increased.
“We recognise how essential grocery workers are, but they say they often feel stressed. We’re here to give them the support they deserve and in 2023/24 we supported more colleagues than ever before through innovative programmes and strategic partnerships.”
This support during the year saw a 22% increase in the number of people who phoned GroceryAid’s free and confidential Helpline – 08088 021 122 – which offers those in need emotional and practical support.
Further to this, the charity said it awarded 57% more financial grant in 2023/24 than in the year before which included almost 6,000 grants to families to help pay for school essentials including uniforms and equipment.
The firm said it also saw a 44% increase in grants to support those trying to leave domestic abuse situations.
As such, the charity has emphasised the important work that it does in supporting retail colleagues across the whole of the UK and help ensure that support reaches those in dire need of it.
In a bid to help this support, the GroceryAid Scotland team has been working towards its annual music festival Checkout Scotland, which is set to return 5 September for the third year running.
The fundraiser will be returning to the Barras Art & Design venue in Glasgow, with the promise of some top-class acts taking to the stage. In previous years, Checkout Scotland had headliners including B*witched, Example and Sophie Ellis-Bextor.
Hemsworth said: “Building on our 23/24 impact, we continue to be here for grocery workers when and how they need us – whether that’s financial, emotional or practical support.
“There are about 2.6million workers in grocery, so we still have a long way to go to reach more people who are struggling. To do this, we need businesses to spread the word about GroceryAid and continue to support us so that we can match the increase in demand.”
