GroceryAid, the charity that supports people working across the grocery industry, is making it quicker and easier for grocery workers to find the help they need with a new approach designed around their real-life situations. The launch begins with a newly redesigned website aimed at speeding up and simplifying the process for people to recognise their situation and access the right support.
While GroceryAid's support remains unchanged, research involving 809 grocery workers has reshaped how that provision is communicated and presented. The charity's large-scale research identified 23 distinct needs, with six standing out as the highest priorities: being able to afford day-to-day life, feeling understood, managing responsibilities, looking after wellbeing, getting support quickly, and covering sudden, unexpected costs.
New navigation based on real-life experiences
These priority needs have shaped a new, more intuitive way for grocery workers to navigate GroceryAid's support. Moving away from the previous financial, emotional and practical categories, support is now organised around three common experiences grocery workers might face.
Under "I'm facing difficulties right now," help is available for anyone who needs assistance quickly, including fast relief from money problems, worries about housing, illness, disability or caring responsibilities, relationship difficulties, domestic abuse and immediate mental health support.
Under "I want to get back on track," support is aimed at those looking to regain control and plan, covering managing money, feeling more secure at home, improving mental health and wellbeing, adjusting to life after losing someone, support for neurodivergence, and help if gambling is affecting their life.
Under "I'm supporting others at work," resources are provided for managers looking after themselves and their teams, covering serious incidents at work, money pressures in business, bereavement and understanding their legal responsibilities.
Plain language and next steps
Simple, everyday language is central to the new approach, making clear exactly what support to expect before clicking through. GroceryAid said it recognises that people facing stress and worry want clear direction, while plain language also makes support easier to find for grocery workers whose first language is not English.
Kieran Hemsworth, chief executive of GroceryAid, said: "Grocery colleagues have told us what matters most to them, and we've listened. When someone is worried about money, their health or their family, they shouldn't have to work out which category their problem falls into before they can get help."
Hemsworth added: "By organising our support around real-life situations and using accessible, everyday language, we're making it quicker and easier for every grocery worker to find the right help, first time. This is an important next step for GroceryAid as we continue to put the people we support at the heart of everything we do."
The launch brings GroceryAid's new welfare approach to life and marks the next step in the charity's evolution, following its rebrand last year. Starting with the website, the new messaging will extend across all GroceryAid materials in the coming months, creating a clearer and more consistent experience for grocery workers wherever they encounter its support.
Hemsworth concluded: "Every service grocery workers relied on before is still available, but now it's simpler to reach. We'd encourage businesses across the industry to share the website with their teams, so everyone knows where to turn to get the help they've earned."
The updated website now brings Barcode Festival and D&I in Grocery under one roof, giving grocery workers, businesses and supporters a single home for GroceryAid's support, events and fundraising.
