Tesco makes amends after charity worker 'turned away' from Sheffield store

Tesco has been praised for its response after a charity worker complained about being ‘turned away’ from a Sheffield supermarket.
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Baby Basics, which supplies essential supplies for poor and vulnerable parents across the city, has seen a 450 per cent spike in demand since the coronavirus lockdown began and now helps more than 100 families a week,

But when its CEO Kat Ross visited the Tesco superstore off Infirmary Road in Upperthorpe on Thursday to buy urgently needed nappies and asked to skip the long queue she says she was given short shrift.

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These nappies were donated to Baby Basics in Sheffield by Tesco, which apologised for not letting the charity skip the queue to buy essentials for struggling familiesThese nappies were donated to Baby Basics in Sheffield by Tesco, which apologised for not letting the charity skip the queue to buy essentials for struggling families
These nappies were donated to Baby Basics in Sheffield by Tesco, which apologised for not letting the charity skip the queue to buy essentials for struggling families
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“There was a massive queue around the car park so I showed a member of staff my ID and explained the situation but he didn’t even let me finish my sentence before turning me away,” she said.

She was thankfully able to buy the necessary supplies from a nearby Aldi store, where she says staff bent over backwards to help.

And within 20 minutes of tweeting about her experience at Tesco, she says the store manager called to apologise and donated more nappies which he personally delivered.

“Luckily there was a happy ending and his amazing response more than made up for what happened but it was really frustrating at the time,” said Ms Ross.

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“There’s a frustration with supermarkets because it’s great that they’ve introduced special opening times for NHS workers and vulnerable people but there are other key workers and charities like us who are finding it hard to buy the essential supplies we need, yet we’re not allowed in at those times.”

She added that restrictions on items like nappies meant the charity often had to visit several supermarkets to meet the demand from families.

A spokeswoman for Tesco said: “We’re sorry the customer was disappointed with their experience in our Sheffield store. We’re pleased that this issue was rectified and that we could support Baby Basics with their work by donating essential supplies.

“We’re looking at what more we can do to support charities and other key workers when shopping in our stores.”

Baby Basics, which is based on Glossop Road, is in desperate need of donations.

For details of how to help, visit: www.facebook.com/babybasicssheffield.

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