Waitrose joins forces with local health service to support roll out of covid-19 vaccination programme

Tuesday 5 January 2021

Waitrose has joined forces with Bracknell and Ascot health services to help protect local residents from Covid-19 by supporting the roll-out of the largest national vaccination programme ever undertaken by the NHS. 

For the next six months, Waitrose has donated the use of its Sports and Leisure Centre at its head office in Willoughby Road, Bracknell, for the service roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccine in the local community. The leisure centre is usually used by Waitrose Partners but has been closed since the start of the pandemic.

Fiona Slevin Brown, Executive Managing Director for Bracknell Forest and Covid-19 vaccinator, said: “On behalf of my colleagues in the NHS, I would like to personally thank Waitrose for their kind donation which has allowed us to kick-start the roll-out of our Covid-19 vaccination programme in the community.”

Andrew Murphy, Executive Director for Operations at the John Lewis Partnership said: “The John Lewis Partnership was founded on kindness and equality for all and this is just a small example of us helping the national effort against Covid-19. While this directly helps people in Bracknell and Ascot, we are also developing plans to offer vaccine support to communities across the country by providing space in our temporarily closed John Lewis shops.”

About the John Lewis Partnership

The John Lewis Partnership owns and operates two of Britain's best-loved retail brands - John Lewis & Partners and Waitrose & Partners. Started as a radical idea nearly a century ago, the Partnership is the largest employee-owned business in the UK and amongst the largest in the world, with over 78,000 employees who are all Partners in the business. For all intents and purposes, the Partnership is a social enterprise; the profits made are reinvested into the business - for customers and Partners. John Lewis & Partners operates 42 shops plus one outlet across the UK as well as johnlewis.com. Waitrose & Partners has 332 shops in England, Scotland, Wales and the Channel Islands, including 59 convenience branches, and another 27 shops at Welcome Break locations. Waitrose & Partners exports products to more than 50 countries worldwide and has 13 shops which operate under licence in the UAE. The retailer's omnichannel business includes the online grocery service, Waitrose.com, as well as specialist online shops including waitrosecellar.com for wine and waitroseflorist.com for plants and flowers.