The Victoria Centre Supports Purple Tuesday Accessible Shopping Days

Purple Tuesday at The Victoria Centre

The Victoria Centre is addressing a significant issue which launched this Tuesday and will continue every following Tuesday, ensuring the centre is an accessible environment for all!

The management team, in association with Ambassadors from the centre’s charity tenants ‘Friends and Places’ which provides support and friendship groups for those with additional needs and were also joined by Ambassadors from Project 49 – all came together this week to launch the scheme and share the importance and raise awareness of it with customers in the centre.

What’s it all about?

With nearly one in every five people in the UK having a disability or impairment, and over half of households have a connection to someone with a disability. Purple Tuesday is an international call to action, focused on changing the customer experience for disabled people. It involves organisations of all sizes and from all sectors taking decisive, practical actions to meet the needs of disabled customers.

The Purple Tuesday initiative was created to recognise the importance and needs of disabled consumers and promote inclusive shopping.

The Victoria Centre, along with other retailers across the UK, play an important role within local communities for carers and disabled consumers and creating a welcoming space is particularly significant. As part of its commitment to address this significant issue, from this week, The Victoria Centre is participating in Purple Tuesday and from then on every single week– established to embed inclusive shopping and recognise the importance and needs of all consumers.

Dennis Baldry, Centre Manager said ‘The scheme aims to help people with disabilities to feel confident and calm whilst visiting The Victoria through offering a range of specialised services. Even small changes can have a huge impact on a consumer’s shopping experience such as taking a lead in helping people with Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) to have a far more enjoyable shopping experience by turning off the piped music in the centre’s atrium and also turning off the hand dryers in the toilets.’ Dennis adds: ‘As an inclusive shopping centre, we are constantly looking for ways to create a more accessible environment for shoppers. That’s why everyone at The Victoria is fully behind the campaign. Our welcome team will be identifiable by their purple badges and will be available to assist shoppers with any specific needs or requests that they might have.’

Other services will include special assistance while shopping inside stores, providing a guide to help shoppers and carers around the centre, or simply providing a temporary safe haven to sit in a quiet location.

Purple Tuesday is being coordinated by disability organisation Purple, with the endorsement of the Department for Work and Pensions.

Learn more about Purple Tuesday. If you require any more information, please get in touch with Natalie Solomons.

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