As part of Mental Health Awareness Week (18th-24th May), ACS is reminding retailers about the support available from GroceryAid to help colleagues deal with the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.
GroceryAid is a national charity offering emotional, financial and practical advice and support on a range of issues for all grocery colleagues and their immediate families.
GroceryAid has established a £1.5 million fund which aims to provide help to colleagues in three key ways:
- Mental Health Support - Offering ‘in the moment’ emotional and practical support for colleagues dealing with shock, anxiety and stress through BACP trained counsellors, a Health & Wellbeing portal and Woebot, a friendly AI Robot App.
- Bereavement Financial Assistance - Providing financial assistance for the loss of a loved one through Covid-19. Available to grocery colleagues who lose a partner or the immediate family of a colleague who has passed away as a result of Covid-19 whilst working in our industry.
- Crisis Grants - For grocery colleagues facing unexpected hardship due to Covid-19.
ACS chief executive James Lowman said: “This has been a time of change for us all and the outbreak has impacted our sector and our colleagues in a number of ways. The theme of this year’s awareness week is kindness and now more than ever it is vital that we show kindness towards each other and ourselves.
“We would encourage any colleagues who have been affected by the Covid-19 outbreak to get in touch with GroceryAid to access the help that has been made available.”
Colleagues can also call Grocery Aid’s 24/7 helpline on 08088 021 122
Full details of GroceryAid’s Covid-19 Fund are available here: https://bit.ly/GACovid19Fund
