One in five people have a disability, and 80% of these disabilities are considered as invisible or hidden impairments. We therefore recognise the importance of listening to our customers as we continue to pioneer new initiatives and make adjustments in our stores and online, so that all our customers can have the best shopping experience possible. We are proud to have supported Purple Tuesday since its inception in 2018 and this year, we are delighted to be the headline sponsor.

Tim Fallowfield OBE said: “As the Board Sponsor for Disability, Carers and Age at Sainsbury’s, I am proud that we are the official partner of Purple Tuesday 2020. At Sainsbury’s, we have supported Purple Tuesday for the past two years and accessibility to services and products has never been more important for customers than it is now. I would encourage other businesses to get involved in this conversation and think about how they can become more accessible.”

What is Purple Tuesday?
Purple Tuesday was launched two years ago to shine a light on accessible shopping and the barriers faced by disabled customers on a daily basis, while encouraging businesses to take steps towards making shopping a more inclusive experience in the long term. At Sainsbury’s, we are delighted to be the headline sponsor of Purple Tuesday 2020 so that we can work with Purple and the wider industry to make a real difference to our customers.

Mike Adams OBE, CEO of Purple said: “Having Sainsbury’s as the Purple Tuesday official Partner is personal. Throughout Covid-19, I used their local store and the customer experience was excellent every time. Together Purple Tuesday and Sainsbury’s can support businesses of all sizes and across all sectors to promote the importance of improving the disabled customer experience. We are delighted and excited to be working together to maximise the art of the possible.”

What we’re proud of
Making Sainsbury’s accessible to everyone is something we have always been passionate about, and we believe that retailers should be working together to drive real change, now and in the future.

Looking back over the last few years, here are a few initiatives that we are really proud of:

• SignVideo: In November 2016 we created a short internal British Sign Language film to help train our colleagues to be able to communicate with those with a hearing impairment. After the success of this initiative we continued to make training videos and in 2020 we extended our Sign Video service to Sainsbury’s customers, helping those who wish to contact our Argos, Habitat, Tu and Nectar contact centres via British Sign Language.
• Accessible toilets: Accessible toilet facilities play a very important role in helping to ensure that all our customers feel comfortable when shopping with us. Therefore, back in April 2017, we got in touch with a number of charity partners to help us update some of our toilet amenities to make our facilities more inclusive. From implementing hooks for stoma bags, to creating clear signs for individuals with dementia, we appreciate that not every disability is physically obvious and that small changes can make a big difference to these people.
• Sunflower Lanyards: We were the first supermarket to pioneer the Sunflower Lanyard for customers with hidden disabilities. The lanyards are a discrete way for our colleagues to be made aware of those customers who may need a little extra help, particularly those with hidden disabilities. The initiative also allows these customers to feel confident that help is on hand if they need it. We know the Sunflower Lanyards are welcomed by our customers from the hundreds of thousands that we’ve provided so far. In October 2019, we rolled these lanyards our nationwide in all of our Sainsbury’s and Argos stores.
• Supporting over the pandemic: This year we’re doing all we can to help our elderly, disabled and vulnerable customers to get the shopping they need throughout the pandemic by proactively supporting these customers in store and opening many more online booking slots.
• Supporting our colleagues: We want all of our colleagues to fulfil their potential. We have recently launched our EnAble network which supports colleagues with disabilities and health conditions. We have recently refreshed our Workplace adjustment process to ensure colleagues can get adjustments in a timely, simple and cost effective way.
  We won’t stop there though, we’re on a journey and we’ll keep listening to our customers to understand how we can keep improving.
  For more information on Purple Tuesday, visit: https://purpletuesday.org.uk/