Pizza collection service starts up in Glasgow

A PIZZA chain has launched a car collection service for Glaswegians.

With Scottish Government advice currently affecting in-store collections, Domino’s has rolled out the service at its Govan and Knightswood stores.

The collection service uses location-sharing to track a customer’s journey from sofa to store.

Clive West, Domino’s group digital director, said: “We’re doing everything we can to keep our customers and colleagues safe, because we know our pizza continues to bring a bit of happiness during these uncertain times.

“Many of our customers opt for collection when ordering with us and given the recent changes in Government advice, we’ve worked quickly and are delighted to have added in- car collection to our Clydebank, Govan and Knightswood stores in Glasgow.

“Simply order online or via the app and let us brave the cold to deliver you piping-hot pizza to your car.”

OVER the past year we have all had cause to celebrate the efforts of health workers and care staff. Others have also gone above and beyond to ensure that we can still live as normal a life as possible despite all the restrictions that have been placed upon us. Tens of thousands of people have turned up at work, day in and day out, while many of us hardly leave the house from one week to the next. Those Covid heroes include shop staff, council cleansing staff, police and emergency services; it’s a fairly long list.

Crucial to the Covid response has been the third sector. These charities and community groups have been crucial to the delivery of services and support to the most vulnerable in our society. Without their efforts many would have gone hungry. Advice agencies and law centres have helped thousands avoid financial hardship or crippling debt. It is the third sector which has reached out to the most isolated and delivered the promises made by the Scottish Government and Glasgow City Council (GCC).

All the more disappointing, therefore, that there is a growing feeling within voluntary groups and charities here in Glasgow that they are undervalued and disrespected.

Two rounds of funding decisions by GCC have served to heighten that perception. In autumn last year, the introduction of the Communities Fund saw many long-standing organisations lose their funding. The advice sector was particularly badly hit, and the city administration was forced into a partial climb down in the face of public outrage. In the past week, the majority of local groups who applied to be part of the Holiday Food Programme were rejected for funding.

The problem for the current SNP administration is that they spent years in opposition courting the third sector and making all sorts of promises to them. They deliberately raised expectations and promised a new era of additional resources and greater partnership working. The reality for many organisations has been the exact opposite. Funding has been cut and the most common complaint councillors hear from community groups and charities is on the woeful lack of communication.

There is mounting concern in the third sector that crucial decisions affecting their very existence are being made behind closed doors. The criteria for funding decisions are opaque and lack any semblance of transparency. Community groups feel that they have had little or no opportunity to influence the decision-making process. Communication, such as it is, tends to be late and perfunctory.

In a time when community, voluntary and charitable efforts are so crucial, it is worrying in the extreme that trust in the council is being eroded and undermined by the actions of this current administration.

Before things get any worse, we desperately need a fresh start for the third sector. The fact that they are key partners in delivering services and support to our community has to be acknowledged in deeds, not just brave words. As a priority, the council needs to be open and transparent in its decisionmaking. When organisations lose out in funding rounds they need to know why. They need to know what is expected of them and be actively involved in agreeing the priorities and targets.

This is not rocket science; it’s basic respect. We cannot afford to lose the trust of these organisations or the vital, often voluntary, work that they do.