Last night our Evelyn Community Store was featured on BBC news after it was revealed that retailers Tesco and Waitrose had teamed up to donate a brand new van to its volunteers.
During the segment, Lewisham mayoresses Dawn Atkinson, Natasha Ricketts and Christina Norman, along with Evelyn TRA Chair, Keith Walton, spoke about the increased need for the store since the beginning of the pandemic and the importance of helping to provide for the local community.
“This vehicle is going to make personal deliveries to people who are vulnerable and can’t get out, much easier,” said Keith. While Natasha added: “To somebody watching it might be just a van, but to us it means reaching so many more people.”
Speaking about what prompted the decision to donate the van to store, Jason Tarry, Chief Commercial Officer at Tesco, said: “The way that you distribute the food is brilliant but actually what you do to keep an eye on everybody in the community through your shop is incredible.”
James Bailey, Executive Director at Waitrose, said: “Meeting you guys was really inspirational and from everyone at Waitrose and everyone at Tesco we just wanted to try and find a way of showing our appreciation.”
You can find out more about the Evelyn Community Store and how it operates here.
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