What our Community Champions and colleagues are doing to help local communities and charities 

<p>At Asda, we've always been committed to supporting our communities locally and nationally. Over the past six weeks, providing that support has been even more important than ever. As vulnerable people face new challenges under lockdown, our Community Champions and colleagues have been working hard to ensure they are getting the help and support they need. Read on to find out more about our community work. </p><h2>supporting NHS AND CARE WORKERS </h2><p>In order to support the vital work being carried out by NHS staff and care workers during this period, we have set up <a href="https://www.asda.com/feeding-the-nation" target="_blank">priority shopping hours</a> for them across our larger stores &ndash; every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, from 8am to 9am. They can also come in store exclusively on Sundays between 9am and 10am to browse for the essentials they need. You can find the <a href="https://storelocator.asda.com/" target="_blank">opening hours for your local store here</a>. </p><h2>PROVIDING FOR CARE HOMES</h2><p>At the beginning of May, we pledged to provide <a href="https://corporate.asda.com/20200504/were-committed-to-supporting-care-homes-through-the-coronavirus-pandemic" target="_blank">priority delivery slots</a> to 3,500 care homes for the next six months, in addition to the 130,000 extremely vulnerable individuals we were already supporting with regular deliveries. We have also committed to donating 250,000 medical-grade face masks to protect care workers and residents. </p><p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="asda_care_homes__square" class="ci-image ci-square" src="https://ui3.assets-asda.com/dm/asda_care_homes__square_GL?scl=1"></p><h2>continuing to help our local communities</h2><p>For over 20 years, we have been proudly supporting the local communities around our stores, with more than 380 <a href="https://www.asda.com/creating-change-for-better/better-communities/communitychampions" target="_blank">in-store Community Champions</a> working tirelessly with charities, projects and initiatives that make a real difference to people's lives. This can involve anything from helping community groups apply for funding grants through the <a href="https://www.asdafoundation.org/" target="_blank">Asda Foundation</a>, to volunteering at supper clubs for vulnerable people in order to combat loneliness. Although our local community work might have changed in various ways under lockdown, we understand how important the power of community is right now and we're still working as hard as ever to support those fantastic community organisations.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><img alt class="ci-image ci-square" src="https://ui3.assets-asda.com/dm/asda_cc_conf_london_0031__square_GL?scl=1"></p><h2>Fighting hunger </h2><p>We've made it our mission to help tackle food poverty in the UK. Since February 2018, we've been working in partnership with FareShare and The Trussell Trust on our <a href="https://www.asda.com/creating-change-for-better/better-communities/fight-hunger" target="_blank">Fight Hunger Create Change initiative</a> which aims to help some of the 14 million people in the UK living below the poverty line who may struggle to access regular meals. </p><p>Over the past two years, we've donated £23 million to these two charities, enabling them to develop their infrastructure and services so that they can collect, transport and store more fresh food in their food banks. Alongside this, our donations also fund key educational services, such as debt counselling and benefits advice, offering support and guidance to those in need and helping to tackle the root causes of food poverty. </p><p>Under the current circumstances, food banks are facing more demand than ever, which is why we have donated a further 5 million to help the country's most vulnerable people through COVID-19. This new and extensive package of measures will provide over 4 million meals to families in poverty impacted by Coronavirus, as well as giving more than 3000 charities the ability to access free food over the next three months as they fight to tackle the impact of Coronavirus in their communities. <a href="https://www.asda.com/creating-change-for-better/better-communities/fight-hunger/5million-donation" target="_blank">Read more about this here. </a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="charities" class="ci-image ci-original" src="https://ui3.assets-asda.com/dm/charities_GL?scl=1"></p><h2>fundraising for children in need</h2><p>Despite the challenges of the past few months, we are still as committed as ever to supporting our charity partners throughout this period. We've been working alongside BBC Children in Need for many years. Since 2017, our donations &ndash; collected via the great fundraising efforts of our amazing colleagues &ndash; have been used to fund a project called the <a href="https://www.asda.com/children-in-need/" target="_blank">Power of Play</a>. Set up to help children and young people who are facing a range of disadvantages, this initiative lets them access safe opportunities to play. Through the Power of Play campaign, we fund work that allows 20,000 young people to play more, exercise more, and develop their skills and imagination. <a href="https://www.asda.com/creating-change-for-better/better-communities/children-in-need" target="_blank">Find out more here. </a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="bbc-children-in-need-pudsey__square" class="ci-image ci-square" src="https://ui3.assets-asda.com/dm/bbc-children-in-need-pudsey__square_GL?scl=1"></p><p> </p><h2>CHAMPIONING Breast cancer charities</h2><p>Another big fundraising focus for us is, of course, our <a href="https://www.asda.com/creating-change-for-better/better-communities/tickled-pink" target="_blank">Tickled Pink charity campaign</a>. Running for 24 years so far, our partnership with the research and care charity <a href="https://breastcancernow.org/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMImurXxO-h6QIVFO3tCh3TqADiEAAYASAAEgI9X_D_BwE" target="_blank">Breast Cancer Now </a>has raised over £68 million to help to fund world-class research and life-changing care, while <a href="https://www.asda.com/good-living/article/breast-cancer-awareness-month-four-people-share-their-stories" target="_blank">providing support</a> for everyone affected by breast or chest cancer. This year, we have also collaborated with the breast cancer awareness charity <a href="https://coppafeel.org/" target="_blank">CoppaFeel!</a> to help further prioritise awareness of the importance of regular breast checks and the signs and symptoms to look out for. We are working to champion CoppaFeels!&rsquo;s message that, whatever your age or gender, getting to know your body and chest could save your life.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="breasts__square" class="ci-image ci-square" src="https://ui3.assets-asda.com/dm/breasts__square_GL?scl=1"></p><p> </p><h2>HOW YOU CAN HELP</h2><p>We want to do all we can to help those in need &ndash; and together with our customers, we can do even more. If you would like to help, an easy way is to look out for the donation trolleys by our checkouts. If you are able to drop off an extra item or two when you're next in store, we'll make sure they are donated to your local food bank. <a href="https://www.asda.com/creating-change-for-better/better-communities/fight-hunger/how-to-help" target="_blank">You can find out what to donate here. </a></p><p>If you're looking to donate financially or volunteer your time with one of our charity partners, the links below will show you how to get involved.</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.asda.com/creating-change-for-better/better-communities/fight-hunger/how-to-help" target="_blank">Support FareShare or The Trussel Trust </a></li><li><a href="https://www.donate.bbcchildreninneed.co.uk/" target="_blank">Donate to Children in Need</a></li><li><a href="https://breastcancernow.org/donate?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIkamB6PCh6QIV0u7tCh0uqgDjEAAYASABEgJQl_D_BwE" target="_blank">Donate</a> or <a href="https://breastcancernow.org/get-involved/volunteer-us?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIkamB6PCh6QIV0u7tCh0uqgDjEAAYASADEgLLNPD_BwE" target="_blank">volunteer </a>with Breast Cancer Care </li><li><a href="https://coppafeel.org/get-involved/" target="_blank">Fundraise or volunteer for CoppaFeel! </a></li></ul><p>Whatever you can give or do will make a big difference.</p>

How we're continuing to support our communities during coronavirus

By Asda Good Living,7th May 2020

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