Sainsbury’s piloting sunflower lanyard for customers

Supermarket Sainsbury’s has announced an extension to its pilot of using sunflower lanyards for customers with hidden disabilities.

The trial, which has been taking place in Sainsbury’s Barnstaple, will now be rolled out to more stores this month.

The initiative offers shoppers the option to pick up a lanyard, which has been purposely designed to act as a discreet sign for store colleagues to recognise if they may need to provide a customer with disabilities such as hearing loss with extra support. This includes opening a new checkout lane, assisting with finding shopping items and allowing more time at checkouts.

Lanyards will be available to collect for free and are for each customer to keep so they can wear it every time they come into store.

Sainsbury’s is the first supermarket to test the initiative, following Gatwick Airport’s successful launch, in which over 10,000 lanyards have been collected to date. (Pictured right)

By using the same sunflower lanyards as Gatwick Airport, Sainsbury’s hopes to encourage other retailers to follow suit, meaning customers have the option to wear their lanyard in shops across the UK, in the knowledge that store colleagues will recognise what it stands for.

For further information and details of stores trialling the lanyards visit Sainsbury’s website.

Want to know more?

• Useful information about the sunflower lanyard (travel and supermarkets) from the RNIB.
• Useful information about the sunflower lanyard and travelling.
• Order useful communication products from the Hearing Link online shop.