Acts of kindness

Supermarkets at their best

CREDIT WHERE credit is due. Yesterday The Yorkshire Post published a letter from 80-year-old Donald Grimshaw, of Keighley, in which he explained his difficulties trying to place an online order with supermarkets because of unprecedented demand for deliveries. He feared that he was going to have to risk his health and visit a supermarket to obtain food.

Now Booths, the familyowned independent food retailer, has launched a next day delivery service to help the elderly and isolated to source key groceries throughout the C-19 crisis. The phone order service will be prioritised for those who, for whatever reason, have no other means of purchasing everyday essential items.

And while the decision will have preceded the publication of the letter, it shows the extent to which the supermarket sector is responding to public opinion and need – just look at how stores here put in place measures to limit overcrowding and ensure that customers comply with two metre social distancing protocols.

It’s also the same with Morrisons which intends to give away £10m worth of goods to food banks across the country during the Covid-19 pandemic after fears that a drop in donations would leave the most vulnerable members of society going hungry.

“For many people who use the food banks that’s their only store – so it is a very important part of society and we will play our part so that nobody is left behind,” said chief executive David Potts.

Just two examples of the altruism which is helping to sustain Yorkshire’s spirits, they are, nevertheless, acts of kindness which deserve to be acknowledged.