‘Quiet Hour’ brings a little peace to stores

DISCOUNT store chain Home Bargains is bringing in a “Quiet Hour” to help shoppers with autism.

It said it wanted to create a “quieter and calmer environment” for autistic people in its stores across the country every weekend.

Every Saturday morning, between 9am and 10am, the music inside Home Bargains will be turned off and the instore tannoy system will only be used in an emergency.

Bosses of the chain said the busy nature of their stores could be overwhelming for people with autism.

Home Bargains has almost 500 stores across the UK, including in Llanelli, Carmarthen and four in Swansea.

Joe Morris, operations director at Home Bargains, said: “We have introduced the Quiet Hour to add a peaceful element to retail therapy.

“Home Bargains stores can be busy places, which can be potentially overwhelming for people with autism, especially at this time of year. We have created the quieter and calmer environment to enable all of our customers to have an enjoyable and relax- ing shopping experience.

“We will continually assess where we can support each and every one of our five million weekly shoppers, whatever their situation.”

The National Autistic Society said there were hundreds of thousands of people living with autism in the UK and it believed initiatives like the one introduced by Home Bargains would help people who might normally avoid busy stores due to bright lights and large crowds.

Tom Purser, the society’s head of campaigns, said: “We are very pleased to hear that Home Bargains is introducing a quiet hour into its stores to make shopping a little easier for autistic people and their families.

“We hear from autistic people and their families that shops and other public spaces can be challenging because of bright lights, strong smells and crowds.”

He added: “Our research shows that 64% of autistic people avoid the shops and 28% have been asked to leave a public place for reasons associated with their autism.”