Asda Queensferry is introducing a dementia and autism-friendly ‘Inclusive Hour’

Asda Queensferry is to introduce an ‘Inclusive Hour’ to help customers with autism and dementia and others who struggle with loud noise.

The store will now turn off displays, tannoy announcements and other noises from 10-11am every Tuesday as the supermarket giant looks to extend a trial to 35 stores across the UK.

Asda’s Inclusive Hour is part of the new Purple Tuesday initiative, an Asda spokesperson said:

“We’ve worked closely with local charities and authorities to see what more we can do to improve the shopping experience and teamed up with the Alzheimer’s Society to provide dementia awareness training to colleagues in the stores.”

Jeremy Hughes, chief executive at the Alzheimer’s Society, said: “We hear too often from people with dementia that once simple things like popping to the shops can become almost impossible as their symptoms worsen, and certain environments can be increasingly difficult to deal with.

“As 850,000 people have dementia across the UK, it’s vital businesses ensure they are taking steps to become dementia friendly and these customers are supported to feel included in their local community.

“It is great to have Asda on board with this and we hope this paves the way for us to work together more closely in the future.”

Over 1,000 Asda staff at those stores participating in the trial have taken part in awareness training to help them understand the needs of customers with dementia and autism.

Asda says it’s community champions have been working closely with local charities and groups and are “inviting them into the stores to take part in the trial, share information with customers and provide feedback on anything else we can do to help.”