Care home halts family visits

WITH the panic buyers filling up their trolleys and the shelves left looking pretty bare, many of us faced a rather unfruitful trip to the supermarkets during the height of the pandemic.

Left turning to local stores and farm shops, it certainly helped us to realise the benefits of shopping local.

Wanting to not only provide its customers with top quality homegrown produce as well as support local independent producers, SPAR Birkdale had been stocking local produce long before the pandemic.

August marks the 55th anniversary of SPAR Birkdale and a year since the store underwent significant refurbishment with the addition of a local butchery counter, refreshed fruit and vegetable offering and a large deli.

Owned by James Hall & Co, SPAR UK’s wholesaler for north England, one thing has become clear during this challenging year: the value of working with local, independent producers.

Like many, Birkdale SPAR implemented changes in-store during this pandemic, in line with government guidelines, to keep customers and staff safe.

Telling us about these changes,

Jonny Wareing, store manager at

SPAR Birkdale, said: “We have been working flat out and staff have coped wonderfully, rising to the challenge and proud to play their part.

“There have been many changes instore including social distancing tape and signage, perspex screens, and a limit of customers at any one time.

“We have re-designed rotas to ensure that staff can regularly wash their hands and clean high traffic areas such as card machines and fridge doors, and there is a never-ending supply of hand sanitiser to keep staff safe and calm.

“Our local fruit and vegetables have been incredibly popular, as has the deli and in-store butchery concession, Graham Eyes - another Southport family business which offers high quality products from local farms.”

Jonny also told how his customers have adapted well to the changes: “Customers have been really understanding of the new measures and we have received some lovely presents and cards from local people.

“Thank you to those who have left food and toiletries in our food bank collection point or donated spare change to the Marie Curie collection tin, and thank you to all SPAR customers for continuing to support us and for their patience and understanding during these unprecedented times.”

Graham Eyes founded his business in 1982, opening his first shop on Rufford Road in Southport, at the age of 21.

In 2016, Graham partnered with James Hall & Co, which has led to

Graham Eyes butchery concessions within SPAR stores, offering SPAR customers the chance to purchase quality meat from a local supplier.

Building a reputation for providing high quality cuts of meat, homemade sausages and catering services, the business has continued to go from strength to strength.

The butcher’s counter, along with the introduction of fresh fruit and vegetables, was a new addition to Birkdale SPAR following refurbishment.

Wilf Whittle, fresh trading manager at James Hall & Co said: “Before the pandemic, we had refreshed our fruit and vegetable offering to champion north west growers and this relationship has proved invaluable. “Covid-19 presented us with a perfect storm, panic buying and supply chain disruptions, but local suppliers have gone above and beyond to support us and we couldn’t be more grateful. “We work with farms in Southport, Formby, Hesketh Bank, Tarleton and Mere Brow, providing a steady stream of fantastic local produce, delivered straight from the farm itself.

“Working with local suppliers gives us full traceability, reduces carbon emissions and means that we are supporting local, independent farms, something that is really important to us as a Lancashire family business.

“We can’t name them all but we’d like to say a huge thank you to Gore Hall, T&E Forshaws, JNH Hornby, Huntapac, Dobsons Potatoes, Malbro Farms, Westshore Chillies, and JJ Thompsons.”

JNH Hornby is a fourth generation, brassica farm with 120 acres of marshland in Hesketh Bank. The team are proud advocates of British farming.

Kate Hornby said: “Farmers have to endure lots of difficult periods throughout the growing season and the buyers at SPAR appreciate this and understand the challenges we face.

“By buying British, you are buying local produce that is super fresh and often in the shop the day after harvesting; our products are grown by local people with a real passion for offering quality British produce.”

Gore Hall farm in West Lancashire has been farmed by seven generations of the Cropper family, supplying high quality fresh salads. With 500 acres of outdoor land and some 10 acres of computer controlled glasshouses, Gore Hall provides delicious, fresh crops.

Richard Cropper said: “Working with local suppliers is better for the environment, helps to support independent, family businesses, and boosts our local economy. Our partnership with James Hall & Co allows our products to be distributed quickly and efficiently.”

SPAR Birkdale can be found at 21-23 Liverpool Road.

A SOUTHPORT nursing home has stopped family visits amid concerns of a “second wave” of Covid-19.

Relatives of residents at Birkdale Park Nursing Home received an email confirming that visiting sessions have been stopped, effective immediately.

Greater Manchester, East Lancashire and parts of West Yorkshire are already subject to further lockdown restrictions.

While Southport is, for now at least, unaffected by these changes, the proximity of regions showing increased cases has caused concern for many in the town.

Jonathan Cunningham, care manager for Birkdale Park, said that the lockdown in parts of northern England and a shortage of testing swabs contributed to the decision.

In his email to families, he said the home had been waiting more than four weeks for testing kits.

Part of the email reads: “We have been waiting for swabs from the Government for the last four weeks since they withdrew the 200 swabs we had patiently waited for. This means I have no means of testing our residents nor staff.

“We therefore remain in the same situation we were at the start of the pandemic not knowing if the virus is in our home or not.

“In addition, the widening of the Greater Manchester restrictions is deeply concerning. I’m not prepared to see this virus ‘sneak in’ while we have no testing mechanism in place and while possible community contagion increases.”

Mr Cunningham said he would await the swabs and continue to monitor the “R rate” in the community before assessing when to reopen the home to visitors.

The decision to close, he said, was made with a “heavy heart” but “in the interests and safety of residents and staff”.

Window visits and Skype calls will continue, and clinical visits, such as for those who need dialysis, will still go ahead during this time.