Our local Waitrose is going to have 7.30-8.30 am shopping dedicated to the elderly and vulnerable.
First problem, who has carers at that time of the morning!!
Not much good either if you don’t have transport.
The principle of herding a lot of elderly and disabled people together seems to be a recipe for spreading the virus?
Surely a better idea would be to have some online shopping slots dedicated only for elderly and vulnerable, and those who are self isolating?
I’m sure lots of people booking slots in advance are just the lazy and greedy who want to get first picking of everything.
Our local Tesco could manage to do the elderly and disabled first idea today, apparently the queue for shopping went out the car park and down the road, 250 yards from the car park entrance.
Otherwise, get Social Services to issue some kind of pass for shoppers?
Already , in several areas , locals have taken over the supplying of vulnerable persons through several schemes … in some , local branches
of the supporting charities are working together to fill the gap left by the local authorities.
( Locally , volunteer hospital transport drivers have joined in getting supplies to the needy. )
Some shops / supermarkets now have similar schemes to how they supply the local food banks.
Best to check your own area for such groups through an internet search … ( Area ) Coronavirus Support Groups … Facebook another major source.
AGE UK will also provide details of any groups coming to their attention.
Surely a better idea would be to have some online shopping slots dedicated only for elderly and vulnerable, and those who are self isolating?
but remember BB that a lot of elderly people don’t have a computer and so can’t access online shopping - they need to be able to get their essentials too. At least by the supermarkets putting aside that first hour or two in the morning the shelves should all be freshly stocked so that the elderly should be able to get all they need quickly without having to compete with those idiots who are only intent on taking care of “number one”.
A number of supermarkets have said (in the emails they are sending to their online shoppers) that they are prioritising their delivery slots for the elderly and those who are self isolating.
(Personally I don’t ‘do’ online shopping but that’s through choice !)
I don’t think that Bill was advocating that the elderly should be getting their food from food banks (unless they need to of course) but was highlighting that there are now many schemes in place in different communities whereby local residents are volunteering to collect shopping for those unable to get out. Two of my own neighbours have already said that if I have problems to let them know and they will get shopping for me
It’s safer for the elderly to do their shopping online, if they can’t do it themselves then a volunteer could help them by doing it with their own tablet or similar.
Almost all the majors now have a 3 / 4 / 5 week wait for a delivery slot.
Changes afoot to prioritize the elderly / needy … not aware of any changes to the charges / minimum orders for home delivery ?
Only yesterday , Ocado suspended their online delivery service due to excess demand.
One reason why the local communities are creating mini task forces to surmount practice problems like shopping.
All major players now have the earlier hour opening for the elderly … locally , it’s been sparsely used as pensioners in this area are of the low income variety ,
no free public transport before 9.30 am does not help.
Hardly joined up thinking / planning ?
In addition , no guarantee of necessities being available at that time of the day … constant deliveries through out the day being the new norm.
Potatoes … on my fourth visit on Tuesday , first at 8.10 am , purchased 2 kgs. of whites at 9.25 pm from ASDA.
I made an unscheduled trip to Tesco this afternoon, I was running low on nicotine supplies and had planned to go tomorrow, along with a trip to the library, but I got a text message to say that a prescription was ready for my wife so I called in on the way home from my walk.
There were still no toilet rolls, and today there was no meat in the fridges either. They did have cakes.
Sainsburys locally also opened early this morning for the elderly. According to the local news on google, there was traffic queueing for a long way back from the actual store, I’ll bet that was popular at the start of the rush hour!.
A quote from one old lady there:- M*** P*****, 81, added: “I don’t really know why I’m here to be honest - I am just joining in with everyone else I suppose. I’m going to buy some soup but I’ve already got some at home.”
Ayjay, apparently the queue for Tesco in NM this morning went out of the car park to the roundabout on the main road! I bought a lovely freshly cooked loaf in Morrison’s about 2pm. I need some more eggs tomorrow to make an Easter Cake, and some bread flour before Good Friday for the hot cross buns which are a family tradition. According to my neighbour the shop in NM that you take your own containers to is well stocked.
My caree’s used to have shopping services but it was stopped and were encouraged to do online ordering, some neighbours helped if the caree’s didn’t have internet.
All worked fine.
Now dependent on online ordering, but no slots, are going to the local shops but they have been cleared, bread, milk etc.
Yes Supermarkets are doing elderly/disabled priority but the disabled transport has been cut.
Do the councils really realise or care what is happening, the paid carers are not allowed to get shopping for clients, many don’t have family to help.
It’s a real struggle.
Hopefully it will all get back to normal next week or the week after, there is only so much you can stockpile.
hi we are getting messages from tesco about they are trying to support the people that are worse off ,but how do they know unless you contact online shops and tell them you have to self isolate , we have tried to do online shop but waiting 3 to 4 weeks for delivery , the only option i had was to go and get some food my self and then strip of and shower when i came back in or else we would run out of food
Am I the only one who notes that supermarkets are allowing elderly and disabled to shop at about the least popular, desirable time when no one else would typically want to, all in the name of community service?
My local area Facebook page has published details of local volunteer groups prepared to get groceries and prescriptions to those unable to get out.
I had an email from West Midlands transport. We can use bus passes before 9.30 during this crisis. To be honest we could pay £1 if needed to go out early anyway. Perhaps others will follow suit. Personally I am not using the bus at the moment, but I realise that others have no choice.
It is possibly the most stressful aspect of looking after my Wife and Mum. Ensuring I have food and cleaning materials. Govt seems reluctant to address the issue, pleading with people to do the right thing is not working
I did have an online delivery this week and last - but lots of items missing. This week we had 11 subs and 14 items not available. I usually do an online shop weekly - but have had to visit various shops in the hope of getting items. With everyone having to shop more often, the shops will be the most likely place to pick up the virus.
Over Easter I cannot get a slot and S will not cope with busy shops and will panic about empty shelves. I can’t leave him alone to shop either. I am going to have to try and find someone to help us either that we know or someone voluntary. He is gluten intolerant and I can’t find his bread flour either. I agree Norman, obtaining basic household and food items - is very stressful.
Melly
I’ve just looked on line, and seems you can get some gluten free flour from some companies. I’ve no idea on the regular price of it so may prove very expensive?
Your stress levels are hitting the roof! ((( Hugs)))
I’ll attempt to do my usual shop on Sunday afternoon and see how it goes, it’s Sainsburys this week and I hope they have more in stock than Tesco did yesterday. I did call in to our local Farm shop today, it was much busier than usual but I did buy two lots of sausages, minced beef and some braising steak, not much chicken available, just some packs of legs.
I was talking to my son on the phone last night, he is predicting a petrol/diesel shortage in the not too distant future.
He does tend towards the doom and gloom side of things, but he does work at producing the stuff and this was how he explained it to me.
The crude oil that comes off the large tankers is processed in a Fractionating Column, all of the fuel used for anything will be made from this they are just drawn off at different stages of the process. The first fuel to come off, i.e. the fuel that needs the least treatment is the aeroplane fuel.
No-one is flying anywhere, so no-one needs aircraft fuel to be made, there’s a limit to how much can be stored on the refinery and if they don’t make aircraft fuel then they won’t be making any other fuel that comes off the FC after the Aircraft fuel.
