Asda

Ashton has been reunited with her beloved plush dog Violet thanks to the detective skills of security colleague Gordon from our Dundee Kirkton store.

Ashton, who's autistic, has had Violet since she was a baby and uses her to keep her calm and grounded. She lost her one day when she fell out of her bag as she walked to college. A passer-by found the toy and put her on the wall of our car park before taking a photo and posting it on local Facebook group Dundee Lost and Found. But when her family went to pick Violet up she was no longer there. The family scoured the area with torches and even looked in bins but to no avail ... and that's when Gordon got involved, searching through CCTV tapes until he spotted that Violet had been taken down from the wall by one of our cleaning colleagues who'd spotted her but didn't know who she belonged to.

The store's community champion Sam got in touch with the family and Ashton's grandma Myra and mum Shelly were at the store within minutes to collect Violet. Shelly said: "We are so grateful to Gordon; he's a hero. We were all blown away by the kindness of everyone. It just shows the power of community.

"Ashton was absolutely distraught when she'd lost Violet – she got her for her first Christmas. She takes her everywhere with her and helps her to navigate new situations. Ashton struggles to see the world without Violet beside her. She'd just started a life skills course at college and was taking Violet there when she somehow fell out of her bag. She burst into tears when she got Violet back; she was over the moon."

Our new festive crisp flavour, Roasted Camembert and Garlic, is already a favourite with shoppers! 🎄

Customers on social media are calling it a "gamechanger" and adding them to their Christmas list. Other shoppers are saying, "Had these the other week, very nice and garlicy", "They're pretty good! The Camembert is stronger tasting than you'd expect!" and "These are nice 👍got some yesterday".

We've also brought back our other popular festive flavours of the Extra Special favourites: Beef & Red Wine Gravy and Pigs in Blankets 😋

Pick up a pack for just £1 🛒

Subject to availability in stores and online: https://bit.ly/3BVTgyN

Roasted Camembert & Garlic Crisps spotted at Asda! 🧀

Thank you to everyone who's supporting our Cashpot for Schools initiative which has now raised more than £4 million for primary schools across the UK.

Through the campaign, in partnership with Joe Wicks The Body Coach, we're donating 0.5% of the value of customers’ shopping to a primary school of their choice every time they shop using Asda Rewards. A total of 42 schools already have over £1,000 of funding in their cashpots and over 2,000 have cashpots worth over £500. This cash will go direct to schools for them to spend on whatever they need, so will go on to make a genuine difference.

Community champion Rachel from our Llandudno store has been to Ysgol Bodafon, where teachers, parents and pupils say Cashpot for Schools is making a big difference. Juliet, the school's head of governors, said: "Schools are really feeling the pinch at the moment so we are very appreciative and grateful to Asda for this initiative. It's good to know that Asda and their customers do care about schools like us. It makes us feel valued."

Karly's beaming smile, positive outlook and friendly nature have made her a firm favourite with customers and colleagues alike at our Folkestone store.

Karly has autism and cerebral palsy and says her confidence has soared since she started working at the store 17 years ago. She said: "I always come to work with a smile on my face. I’m happy to see my lovely work colleagues and my regular customers who wait for me to serve them. I'm happy to have a little chat with them and help to pack their bags. I have worked at the Folkestone store since the store opened. I have special needs, but have always had full support from my family and friends. I have conquered a lot of anxieties through their support."

Customer service manager Dawn, who's known Karly for 15 years, said: "Karly is so lovely; she's happy to do anything. She just loves the customers and they like her."

If you've got it, haunt it – where do you rate on the spooky scale? ☕👻🧟‍♂️🕷️🔮⚰️ ​

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Customer service colleague Helen from our Spennymoor store helped to pay for one of our older customer's shopping as he was struggling to pay with his bank cards, didn't know his pin numbers and had very little cash on him.

Store manager Kim, pictured here with Helen, said: "Helen was patient, understanding and exceptionally kind. She counted the change he had and paid for the rest of his shopping out of her own money. The gentleman was confused and upset. Helen's patience put him at ease and meant he could take his shopping too."

Helen, who's worked at the store for 28 years, has now been nominated for an Asda service superstar award for her kind act. She politely declined to be reimbursed.

It's tiiiiime.... 🎄

Shop matching PJs for the full family, online and in-store now from just £8. Shop now: https://bit.ly/48l8idz

When a customer in her eighties told delivery driver Dave that she had a very bad sore throat and didn’t have any medication he went straight back to our Shoeburyness store to get her some.

Sixty-one-year-old Dave said: “I’d taken the lady’s shopping inside for her and she said she didn’t feel too well and was going to ask her neighbour to go to the shop to get some throat sweets and spray. Our store is only five minutes away so I said I’d happily go. The lady is about the same age as my mum so I’d like to think someone would help her in the same way.”

Isla, the store's online trading manager, has nominated Dave for an Asda service superstar award for his kindness. She said: "What Dave did was going above and beyond his driver duties to provide care for the elderly customer who was extremely grateful. We are all very proud of him.”

What does a wise bear always keep in his hat in case of emergencies... Answers below! 👇

Shop ‘fits online from just £9 💙❤️
https://bit.ly/4f9WdKC

Claire from our Hinckley store has always supported our Tickled Pink campaign – and since going through her own breast cancer diagnosis she's even more determined to drive awareness with other people.

Claire, who started working for Asda 37 years ago, was told she had a grade 3 tumour after going for a routine mammogram in 2022. She said: "You can't encourage people enough to check themselves and go for their routine mammogram appointment. I am a self checker and make sure there's no lumps and bumps that shouldn't be there. If you do find anything out of the norm then please get it checked straight away. If you get an appointment letter about going for a mammogram then 100 per cent go. It may be a few moments of discomfort, but it could save your life. These tests are available to us and so important."

Home shopping driver Ronan from our Enniskillen store was out on his rounds when he spotted a regular customer’s dog, Ruá, running loose along a quiet country road a long way from home.

He stopped and, with gentle coaxing, he managed to get red setter Ruá into his van and then made a detour from his route to reunite her with her worried owner, who said she’d been missing for hours.

Ronan, who's worked at the store for four years, said: "When I saw Ruá I knew she was too far from home, and I couldn’t just leave her. It’s all about being a part of the community and looking out for one another, so I was delighted I was there. I’m just glad I was able to help."

Ruá’s owner Anne took to Facebook to thank Ronan saying: “I just want to thank the Asda driver who recognised my red setter Ruá who had done a runner this morning and coaxed her back home. I really appreciate his kindness.”

Christopher, the store's online trading manager, said: “We all love our pets dearly and no doubt the family were distressed at their missing pup. Ronan is always willing to lend a hand, so his kindness comes as no surprise to those who know him well."

Aria was just 16 when her mum Rani was diagnosed with breast cancer. She is sharing her story as part of our Tickled Pink campaign – telling us how she's been inspired by her mum's experience to spread awareness, challenge taboos and change attitudes.

Aria's mum saw a post on Facebook about breast cancer and checking, which encouraged her to check her own chest and subsequently find a lump in her armpit. After initially not wanting to make a fuss, she went to see her GP, was diagnosed with breast cancer and started her treatment soon after. Aria said: "I come from a South Asian background and learned from Mum’s experience that breast cancer is a taboo topic. Any mention of breasts was seen as something wrong, or that you didn't discuss, so although people were supportive it was difficult to share our experience. You'd tell someone to check themselves and they were like, 'what do you mean?'"

But Aria, who's from Glasgow and studying at university in Aberdeen, believes her generation is a lot more open to speaking about these topics, something her mum feels very proud of, knowing that sharing these experiences can help others in a similar position. She has continued to spread awareness of breast cancer by joining her university's CoppaFeel! Uni B**b Team where she has met others with similar experiences and heard breast cancer awareness spoken of positively.

Good luck to our wonderful colleague Jason, who has cerebral palsy, who's taking on a walking challenge around our Derby store throughout October in support of our Tickled Pink campaign.

Jason uses walking aids and each lap of the store takes him about an hour, but he says the support from customers and colleagues is making all the difference in his effort to raise money and awareness for our charity partners Breast Cancer Now and CoppaFeel!. He said: "There's always a crowd of customers and colleagues clapping me and taking photos. Community champions Rosie and Jason follow me around with the collection bucket and help me if I need it. There's always people around to lend a hand. I may occasionally have to stop, catch my breath and have a drink as it is very tiring."

Anyone who'd like to sponsor Jason should visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/jasons-walk-around-the-store-for-tickled-pink?qid=1b0d9576121d8feadcb8a03463c738ea

Security colleague Ben from our Gosport store saved the day when a customer who was out shopping with her granddaughter couldn't pay for her groceries because the payment app on her phone wouldn’t work and she'd left her purse at home.

Ben could see that the lady was getting upset, so paid for the groceries out of his own pocket before she called back later to pay him back. The lady was so grateful that she posted on the Gosport Aware Facebook group to thank him and let other people know how kind Ben is. She posted: "I was shocked and my faith in kindness and humanity has increased immensely. Just shows you that there are some really nice kind people out there." Dozens of customers said well done to Ben, with comments including: "Lovely.... restores your faith in humanity! 👍🏻", Well done that man! True gentleman" and "Lovely thing to do. What a kind person."

Ben said: “I could see the lady was very stressed out and I just wanted to help. When she realised that she’d left her purse at home I could see that she looked really defeated and so I just wanted to step in." The store's community champion Rachel said: "When I saw the customer's comment on Facebook I immediately knew who the customer was referring to. Ben is the type of person that people are drawn to and enjoy being around. It didn’t surprise me that he went above and beyond for the customer. It’s just in his nature to want to help."

When Caroline found a young homeless father close to hypothermia sleeping rough in our Barrhead store's underground car park she did all she could to help him.

She phoned an ambulance, brought him inside the store, wrapped him in a sleeping bag to raise his temperature, as well as making him something to eat and getting him a hot drink. Paramedics checked him over and called his support worker who moved him up to a priority case that day and found accommodation for him in Glasgow. Caroline got him some groceries, clothes and essentials as well as some change for his train journey to his new home. He contacted the store the next day to thank her.

Store manager Amanda said: “The man couldn’t thank Caroline enough. Thanks to her efforts and compassion the social worker prioritised his case and he now had somewhere to stay. A truly selfless act by an asset to our company."

Lindsay and her 18-year-old Billy son were the toast of our Swinton store for saving the day when a customer wanted 100 champagne flutes for an upcoming wedding.

Unfortunately the store didn't have enough in stock so Lindsay and Billy rang around a few local stores to check availability. They found two stores – Trafford Park and Harpurhey – which had 50 in each so they drove to them to collect the glasses on their day off and then delivered them to the wedding reception venue, Pendlebury Social Club. Lindsay said: "The lady had a lot on her plate trying to organise a wedding, so it was nice to be able to help out. Organising a wedding can be stressful and I promised her that we'd sort out the flutes for her and that's what we did. They wanted everyone at the reception to be able to toast the happy couple."

Our Cashpot for Schools initiative has so far raised £3 million for primary schools across the UK – and there's still another eight weeks left to further boost the total.

Community champion Diane from our Rhyl store has been visiting local schools to spread the word, including Ysgol Maes Owen at nearby Kinmel Bay, where headteacher Catrin said: "We think it's such a fantastic idea and everyone at the school is so positive about it. It's really bringing the community together and it's just so easy to do. School budgets have been hit so anything that brings in extra funding is brilliant. We plan to spend the money from Cashpot for Schools on books and learning aids plus anything to support wellbeing in the school."

Her views were echoed by John from Hawthorn Tree Primary School in Boston, who said: "We’ve already seen over £500 raised for our school so far, which we are so delighted with. We’re not stopping there; we are encouraging parents and the local community to sign up via our social media to try and raise as much as possible. It would be amazing to hit £1,000 by the end of the campaign! The money we raise will be used to help stock our incredibly new library that we fundraised for last year, as well as helping towards our next project: creating a much-needed community space in school for family learning sessions and other community projects.”