A National Day of Reflection: Coronavirus one year on

In March, the UK marked one year since the first coronavirus lockdown. The Queen described the period as one of “grief and loss felt by so many”. On the National Day of Reflection, prime minister Boris Johnson followed the Queen by saying that as a country, we were “step by step, jab by jab” on the path to “reclaiming our freedoms” and that he fully expects the government to meet its vaccination goal later this year.

Johnson also spent time in hospital seriously ill with Covid, and went on to say that the events of the last year had taken a “huge toll on us all” and that the year anniversary provided us with time to reflect on a period that was – “one of the most difficult in our country’s history”

At Asda for Business, on March 23rd, we took part in the National Day of Reflection and joined the country by holding a minute’s silence at midday, so that we could support those who’ve lost their loved ones.

The National Day of Reflection also allowed us to reflect on many of the positive things we’ve managed to do over the last 12 months since the coronavirus tragically impacted so many. 

In that time we have:

• Issued over 410,000 volunteer shopping cards
• Helped many schools across the UK issuing Free School Meal Vouchers
• Donated 7,000 Dell laptops to schools and communities that are struggling with digital exclusion
• More than 241,000 kids have eaten for free in our Asda cafes
• Donated more than 250,000 medical-grade face masks to care homes
• Seen more than 10,000 people vaccinated at our in-store vaccination centres in Watford and Cape Hill
• Donated over 5 million meals to local groups through our store donation scheme (in partnership with FareShare)
• Issued more than 450,000 delivery passes to extremely vulnerable customers

We would like to say a huge thank you to our fantastic colleagues who have given so much time and have helped our customers and local communities during the pandemic. You can read about some of the individual stories here.

Perhaps you’d like to say “thank you” to a member of your staff or team for the work they’ve carried out during the pandemic. And if you’ve done your bit to make things that bit better, happier or safer—we thank you, too.