Words by Smiley Team
In an effort to improve access for all, Asda has trained over 85,000 of its supermarket staff to better work alongside disabled colleagues and serve disabled customers.
They’ve adopted the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Scheme to help staff and customers support people with hidden disabilities wearing lanyards decorated with sunflowers.
Asda is handing out Sunflower lanyards across its 630 stores for staff or customers with hidden disabilities to feel more at ease in their stores.
“Grocery shopping can be an exhausting and stressful experience, even more so if you are disabled,” said Paul White, CEO of The Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Scheme. “Sunflower wearers that visit Asda can feel confident that they will be recognised by staff and will be given extra care, time and patience.”
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To bolster their efforts they’ve introduced a ‘Quieter Hour’ in stores to aid customers with disabilities linked to noise sensitivity. Monday to Thursday, between 2pm and 3pm, the supermarket will operate with reduced noise levels.
Championing the new efforts, the supermarket’s exec sponsor for Disability, Mark Simpson, said: ‘’We are proud to be an inclusive business for our customers and colleagues.
“There are an estimated 14.1 million people with a disability living in the UK, and 80% of disabilities are hidden, so we hope that by introducing quieter times for customers to shop that we will be able to make our stores more welcoming and inclusive for customers with additional needs,” he added.
Meanwhile, to improve accessibility information they’ve updated their Asda Store Locator to include information about changing places, bathroom facilities, braille guns and hearing loops available for customers to use in a number of stores across the country.
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