A Shropshire financial firm is helping the chain take the strain by throwing its weight behind an innovative cycle delivery scheme.
Q Financial Services is sponsoring work to promote Shropshire Cycle Hub’s free Cycle Delivery Scheme in Wellington which delivers shopping to people’s doors across the town.
A team of volunteers use electric bikes to deliver shopping from town centre stores to customers three days a week – helping boost town centre trade, cut down on traffic and carbon emissions and taking the weight off shoppers who no longer have to struggle with heavy bags.
Shoppers send a text to a special number and the volunteers then ride into action to pick up the shopping and deliver it to the customer’s home.
Q Commercial Finance director Steve Parry – who has lived in Wellington all his life and works at Q’s base in Haygate Road – said he was delighted to be backing the scheme.
“This is an absolutely fantastic service which is staffed entirely by volunteers and is totally free for the people who use it. The cyclists collect people’s shopping from stores taking part in the scheme and then deliver it to their home so they don’t have to worry about carrying it.
“It operates within a three-mile radius of the town centre and is a real boon to the elderly, people with mobility issues or anyone who does not have a car and struggles carrying their bags on the bus or whilst walking.
‘The ethos of doing something which benefits not only the customer but the town and the environment very much reflects our own philosophy at Q. The scheme has the potential to benefit the whole town centre and that is something we are delighted to support.”
Wellington Cycle Delivery Scheme volunteer Paul Kalinauckas said Q’s help could not have come at a better time.
“We have tremendous support from Shropshire Cycle Hub, which has loaned us one of the two bikes we use, and we really want to grow the number of people who use us. We pick up from the independent shops in the town centre and the market so people can come into town and not worry about how they are going to get their shopping home.
“Everyone who has used us so far says what a fantastic job we do and we now want to expand the scheme and attract more people to use it.”
Felllow volunteer Anthony Lowe – deputy mayor of Wellington Town Council – said all volunteers were fully trained and insured.
“This free of charge service provides convenience for Wellington shoppers and supports our distinctive range of small shops and market traders.
“It also reduces unnecessary car or van journeys as people can come into the town by foot or public transport and then get their shopping taken home later,” he said.
Shropshire Cycle Hub, a community charity which improves access to healthy, sustainable transport, administers the scheme, which is currently operating on Thursdays and Fridays from 10.30 am until 2pm and 9.30 am to 12.00 pm on Saturdays.
Delivery can be booked by calling or texting 07398 136120 during operating hours.
Steve added: “The more people who use the scheme, the better it will be for the whole town. My own family has used it and I cannot recommend it enough.”
For more information about Q – which has bases in Wellington and Shrewsbury – visit https://www.qfinancialservices.co.uk/
Image Caption: Steve Parry and Stuart Mackintosh from Q Financial Services with Paul Kalinauckas (left) and Jim Percival from Wellington Cycle Delivery Scheme.