GroceryAid is aiming to “massively increase” the amount of support it provides to people working in the sector, after demand for its services skyrocketed over the past year.
Demand for the charity’s emotional, practical and financial support services increased by 93% between April 2023 and March 2024, according to its latest yearly impact report.
The charity recorded 78,000 incidents to receive help via its services, which include relationship counselling, debt advice, and financial assistance. It spent over £6m supporting grocery workers over the past year, nearly double the £3.2m spent the previous period.
“The increase in demand is mainly driven out of the cost of living crisis,” GroceryAid CEO Kieran Hemsworth told The Grocer.
The charity awarded 57% more in financial grants year on year. Colleagues also accessed the online wellbeing platform more than 1,500 times last year, four times more than in 2022.
Hemsworth added the increase in demand was also down to growing awareness of the charity among people in the sector, as a result of its campaigning efforts. A survey of frontline retail colleagues by the charity suggested 80% of workers had heard of its support services.
“We are accessing more people, which is great, but we want to reach more,” Hemsworth said. “Going after greater awareness is absolutely key for us. But we need help from our supporters to be able to do that.”
The charity runs a programme of 16 fundraising events throughout the year, including the GroceryAid Ball and Barcode festival, which took place at Magazine London on 4 July. Over 4,000 people attended the event, which also included 120 activations from brands.
In order to increase capacity at the event, GroceryAid has moved the venue for next year to Kenwood House in London.
“There are about 2.6 million workers in grocery, so we still have a long way to go to reach more people who are struggling,” Hemsworth continued.
“To do this we need businesses to spread the word about GroceryAid and continue to support us, so we can match the increase in demand.”
The new venue would increase capacity to over 6,000 and allow for hundreds more brand activations, Hemsworth said. Barcode 2025 has been confirmed to take place on 3 July 2025.
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