Can you help me to promote this not for profit project so that it can help as many people as possible? Slow Shopping can help those with both visible and invisible disablities and can bring together many organisations and individuals to support one another. This requires setting up meetings and local conferences, website development and training materials as well as involving retail organisations. Can you help fund this project over the first year so that Slow Shopping can engage with as many partners as possible?
Slow Shopping is a about creating an environment which encourages and supports people who may need more time to do their shopping, compassionate and holistic, it involves training store staff , physical adjustments to the shop including chairs positioned around the store, help points to access support, benches for packing shopping and a welcome desk where customers can ask for help or advice.
The idea came to me while shopping with my mother who had dementia, I felt very alone, trying to manage her needs whilst being able to conform to the expectations of the shops.
Last November 2015, after thinking about this for many months, I took the plunge and asked to pilot the Slow Shopping project in a major supermarket to find out if it was helpful and supportive, I found that it was more successful than I could ever have imagined
Can you help me develop and grow the project so that it reaches more people. I need to develop the website, publish materials and grow a network of client groups and retailers. I want to use great people and great resources and these come at a cost. Can you help to support this project so that it can change the experience of people who need more time?
Through my pilot I have learnt that customers like the idea, use the facilities provided and many have come to the welcome desk to talk to me. The idea has been commercially successful in that footfall has increased in the store and staff engagement has increased.
My vision is that Slow Shopping becomes a wide movement which includes people suffering from social anxiety, those who have suffered a stroke or have language difficulties, those who are illiterate as well as the elderly or those who have dementia, those with visible or invisible challenges.
I need money to develop and publicise and drive the project. I want to build an effective organisation so that the Slow Shopping logo is recognised as a symbol of where people can find a space and time in which to engage in shopping.
Please visit SlowShopping.org.uk for more information.