Wythenshawe Town Centre and The Meads, Farnborough support Purple Tuesday

Wythenshawe Town Centre and The Meads, Farnborough will be demonstrating their support of ‘Purple Tuesday’, an international call to action focused on changing the customer experience for disabled people.

On Tuesday 12th November, Wythenshawe Town Centre and The Meads shopping centre, Farnborough, will be participating in Purple Tuesday, an initiative that emphasises the importance of the customer experience for disabled people. Purple Tuesday is the UK’s accessible shopping day, established to recognise the importance and needs of disabled consumers and promote inclusive shopping. Taking place on 12th November 2019 to coincide with the run-up to the peak Christmas period, Purple Tuesday has been created and co-ordinated by the disability organisation; Purple.

To demonstrate their support for Purple Tuesday, both centres will be holding a quiet hour between 9am and 10am on the day wherein retailers will turn off or turn down their music to reduce the noise to help create a calmer atmosphere for autistic shoppers. The Centre staff will also be wearing purple sashes and will decorate the Centre with Purple Tuesday bunting to exhibit their involvement in the initiative.

In Wythenshawe, between the hours of 9:30am and 1:00pm trained staff from the Autistic Society will also be on hand to chat to visitors about living with Autism and how best to care for loved ones living with the condition. The Autistic Society’s volunteers bring passion and expertise to the lives of 100,000 autistic people every single year.

In addition, the Centre team are already trained to deal with a number of disabilities both visible and invisible, Centre staff are trained to provide excellent service to people living with dementia and the Centre is already certified as dementia-friendly. The entire team are also fully First aid, Fire Marshall and defibrillator-trained to allow them to deal with all customers effectively to ensure a safe and enjoyable shopping experience.

All car parks in Wythenshawe Town Centre have the PARK Mark accreditation ensuring they are safe and fully accessible for all. Plus, the town centre continuously holds events to ensure that the shopping experience is a positive one for everyone. Most recently, they held Emergency Services day, where the Police and fire service were on-site offering free help and advice to young and elderly customers. The Centre also hosts a Prayer point every Wednesday where the local church offers free tea, coffee and biscuits to the elderly community.

Daniel Davis, Wythenshawe Town Centre Manager, commented:

“At Wythenshawe Town Centre, we have always made a conscious effort to improve the customer experience for disabled people, which is why it is an honour to be involved with Purple Tuesday this year. As a Centre, we’re committed to continuously improving the customer experience for people with both visible and invisible disabilities.”

Tony Parrot, Centre Manager of The Meads Shopping Centre, commented:

“The Meads is delighted to support Purple Tuesday. This is our first year advocating the scheme and we hope to build on it in the future. We are also pleased to have worked with local charity, Limbcare for the past three years who run the Shop Mobility service here at The Meads.”