Open letter to all Harlow supermarkets

FIRSTLY, we want to thank you for all that you are doing to keep Harlow’s supermarkets supplied with essential goods during these unprecedented times. We know that your employees are working extremely hard to keep up with demand.

We welcome the steps taken to allow older and more vulnerable people dedicated times to shop, and moves to allow emergency workers priority access to stores at any time of the day. However, there is a large group of people working all hours to tackle the coronavirus outbreak, often in the background, who are in need of your support.

Harlow’s key workers; our NHS staff, our teachers and teaching staff, our council officers, our distributors, our postal workers, our waste operatives, our retail workers, our pharmacy staff, our police officers and security services, our transport workers and emergency services and so many more are going above and beyond to help tackle the coronavirus outbreak and all that it brings. Yet, they are finding it difficult to get the essentials they need.

For that reason, we ask that you extend the support given to emergency workers and allow all key workers priority access to your store in the designated time slots to get the essentials they need.

Furthermore, most public toilets are now closed meaning that, whilst on their rounds, postal workers and waste operatives currently have nowhere to wash their hands. So we ask that you fastrack entry for key workers, such as postal workers and waste operatives, and allow them access to using your hand washing facilities, whilst they are working.

I hope that you are able to offer better access to those who are working incredibly hard, behind the scenes, to keep our essential local services working.

Thank you once again for everything you are doing. Best wishes,

Robert Halfon MP for Harlow
​Andrew Johnson Leader of the Opposition, Harlow Council