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Braille signage to be unveiled at Sainsbury's Woolton this Friday, 16 September
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Store first UK Supermarket to use additional braille signage to benefit blind or partially sighted customers
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Idea for the signage came from Sainsbury's Woolton Store Manager Bethan Wilson
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Members from the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), Wavetree School for the Blind and Bradbury Fields Blind Association will be in attendance at 10am
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Photographers are invited to attend at 10am this Friday
A Sainsbury's store in Liverpool will become the first UK supermarket to use braille signage to benefit its blind and partially sighted customers. The signage will be unveiled at the Woolton store, situated on James Road, this Friday (16 September) at 10am.
The idea for braille signage came from Sainsbury's Woolton Store Manager Bethan Wilson. With local organisations including Bradbury Fields Blind Association, who provide services for blind and partially sighted people, and Wavetry School for the Blind, Bethan wanted to help provide a better service for the store's blind customers.
Bethan said: "Our area is renowned for having a range of facilities to support blind and partially sighted people in the community and many shop at our store. We're passionate about working with our community and we carry out a lot of fundraising work with Mencap. We wanted to give our blind and partially sighted customers a better shopping experience. We hope this new service does just that".
After sending her request onto Sainsbury's Chief Executive Justin King, Customer Experience Manager Clare Ellis worked with Bethan, RNIB and local blind organisations including Bradbury Fields, to come up with a signage design that would benefit customers the most.
Clare said: "Our extensive research has helped us to create signage which we know will make it easier for the store's blind and partially sighted customers. The new signage will have a braille panel at the bottom to help customers with finding different sections in aisles. This really shows that we are delivering a great customer experience to all our customers and offering a more inclusive environment to the local community".
On Friday, Fazilet Hadi, Group Director Inclusive Society at RNIB, will be presenting the Woolton store with 'Exemplar Service' recognition for the work they have done with blind and partially sighted customers. On the day, members from Bradbury Fields Blind Association and Sammy-Jo Melrose, a pupil from Wavetree School for the Blind and her teacher Joe Espley, along with members from RNIB, will help to unveil the signage at the store.
Fazilet Hadi added: "We've worked closely with the store on this project and we'd like to thank colleagues at Sainsbury's Woolton for their commitment and dedication in supporting blind and partially sighted people in the community. We know this will help improve the shopping experience for them and we're looking forward to working with Sainsbury's on helping to make the everyday lives better for those people with sight loss".
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Notes to editors:
The Sainsbury's Woolton store address is: 1 Sainsburys Centre, James Road, LIVERPOOL, L25 5QA
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Sainsbury's stores are at the very heart of the communities they serve. It is not only important to provide great service and quality products, it's also vital to make a positive difference to communities and to be a good neighbour.
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This begins with the positive economic impact Sainsbury's stores have in generating local wealth, by providing employment, using local suppliers and contractors, and regenerating local surroundings.
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Last year Sainsbury's stores and their customers helped more than 850 charities and organisations across the UK through fundraising and volunteering and gave more than £1.5 million of support to local communities.