Batley shop shows its community spirit during coronavirus crisis

Notay’s Convenience Store on the Wilton Estate has been encouraging sensible shopping, has kept essentials on the shelves and offered a free delivery service to their vulnerable and isolated customers.

Surjeet Notay, from Notay’s Convenience Store, said: “We recognised the fact that people are going to be isolated and struggle to get food, and with the panic-buying at the supermarkets, we thought they might not get chance to get their daily requirements.

“So we spread the message on Facebook and got some leaflets printed advertising our free delivery service and that we were trying to get as many items in as we could.

“We normally open from 7am to 9.30pm but we’ve reduced our hours to encourage social distancing. In store we’re only letting four customers in at a time, and we’ve got tape on the floor to indicate the safe distance between customers.

“We’re working with Father Gordon Newton at our local church St John’s The Evangelist, he’s volunteering to deliver parcels that customers have pre-paid for over the phone.

“We’ve just tried to make the best out of a very sad situation.”

Mr Notay said they have delivered to more than a dozen customers so far but anticipates that demand for that service will increase.

“As the supermarkets have been hit with their stock, we’ve been hit too so we’ve been rationing things, which we never thought we’d do, like toilet roll, flour, eggs, milk, pasta.

“We’re just trying to be there for the community.

“We’re very proud that we’ve not inflated our prices, we’ve kept them to what we were charging before the coronavirus hit us, and we’ll continue to do that as much as we can.”

Customers have sent the shop knitted creatures and cakes to thank them for their help and support.

“It’s phenomenal, people are loving it and really appreciating it, that their local shop has stepped up.

“We’ve been trading here for 44 years now so it’s more than just a business, it’s our duty to do what we’re doing.

“We’re human, it’s our duty to be there for our fellow beings. If we don’t do it, who else is going to?

“Community spirit needs to come back, that was lost prior to this, and we’re trying to get that back, and hopefully it stays after the epidemic.”

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