Help getting shopping delivered.

[HoppyNurse]

I have got to the point where I don’t know what to do anymore. I have been identified as highly vulnerable by my GP surgery (letter not received yet but confirmed 3 times on the phone). I have registered twice on the Gov.uk site for vulnerable people using the email address linked to my asda account and have received a text from them. I really need food shopping - I can’t get a delivery slot for love nor money, there no one around that is able to do my shopping for me, they don’t drive so unable to manage 2 households worth of shopping. The governments supplies box would be of little use to me as I’m on a specialist diet from the dietician which includes being dairy, gluten and soya free! I’ve tried ringing asda but they can’t help me on the phone and I really don’t know what else to do. I’m going to have to go out to the shops myself, I have lived out of the freezer for the past 3 weeks - luckily I’ve always batch cooked! My asthma is so unstable at the moment I’ve had to admissions in the past 10 days! Can anyone offer any advice as to how I may be able to resolve this?

[HoppyNurse]

Also to add my consultant had written a letter - not the official one you would expect but a few lines saying that I am high risk and should be shielding.

[looneyno1 in reply to HoppyNurse]

Try speaking to your council as they can either try to accommodate your dietary needs in the food box as much as possible which should help in some way or advise you on what the next steps are.

[HoppyNurse]

The council have said they can’t meet dietary needs and I would have to read the ingredients on the packaging! Very helpful so no bread, milk, pasta, cereal etc etc basically the only things I could get are vegetables, fruit and eggs! It’s even harder to ask someone you don’t know to go shopping for you being that I can only have certain brands of things depending on ingredients etc. I really can’t afford to pay for things that I’m not going to be able to use. I can’t have fructose and a lot of other sugars, I’m not allowed honey - believe it or not that’s in most gluten free breads. I usually make my own sourdough but I can’t even get any GF flour!

[Wheezycat in reply to HoppyNurse]

Here in York there is a volunteer scheme starting up for people who need assistance. Perhaps you could investigate online whether there is one in your area.

[HungryHufflepuff]

I just had a thought 🤔 Can you get a Holland and Barrett online order? I don't know if they deliver in your area or if it's within your budget but maybe they stock the kind of things that would be ok for you? Wishing you all the best.

[Lysistrata Administrator Community Ambassador]

Are there any relevant food allergy/intolerance charities who might be able to advise where or how you can get suitable food? Or even patient groups, if they exist for those with similar requirements?

Apologies if that isn't helpful - I don'tknow how common your particular dietary needs are. It sounds really tough even without the pandemic and asthma

This may be totally useless, sorry!

[Afrohair]

So sorry you are in this position could you ask a kind neighbour or are you on any neighbourhood websites there’s lots of people offering support on these.i wouldn’t want you to risk going out.i have a specialist diet i don’t eat diary soya or gluten and I’ve struggled to get things going out so you may end up going more first week I was isolating was told I must stay in was desperate for food found someone to bring some and ended up paying a fortune for a few bits not everyone has the money either so I understand you wanting to go out

[Polzovatel]

Tesco and Asda release online delivery slots for deliveries in 2-3 weeks time at midnight every night. Also Deliveroo deliver from local shops (Morrisons etc)

[twinkly29]

The NHS volunteer thing - is there a way to contact them? If someone local was assigned to you maybe they could shop for you?

Could you phone GPs and see if they can help with contacts? Here, the GPs have a link to the county council to make sure those who need help receive it.

Or are there any local groups on Facebook you could ask on?

[HoppyNurse in reply to twinkly29]

I worry that my list is so specialist that it will be hard for people to shop for me - it’s hard enough shopping for myslef😂. If they don’t have the brand I use in stock I have to read all the ingredients to make sure. Shopping is tough at the best of times I’ve found asda the best it has the best selection I think I’m going to have to go to a very plain diet of rice, vegetables, salad and fruit! Oh fun😬 maybe I’ll be skinny in 12 weeks, that’s one way of loosing pred weight! 😂

[Anniecath in reply to HoppyNurse]

Hi, I am sorry you're going through this. I had the same problem, but the local shops have come up trumps, I get a veg box delivery with a loaf of sour dough bread as they have a farm shop that sells limited grocery products. Is there a local wholefood shop that does specialist foods ? And the local fisheries are doing deliveries too. I got a whole list of participating shops through the letter box from the local labour MP, and the fish info was from the local Conservative MP. Is there a local Age Concern or similar charity near you ? You shouldn't have to risk going out. Try going online or ringing your local MPs. I can't think of anything else, but wish you luck x

[Troilus]

Try Iceland on line delivery

[HoppyNurse]

Turns out o had a tesco online account that I didn’t know about - obviously quite old! I’ve called them and they’ve confirmed im on the governments list and will get priority delivery slot from tomorrow.

[Lullabelle_18 in reply to HoppyNurse]

Hi just going off topic, but do you know which phone number you called please? I’m on the extremely vulnerable list and have been trying to get hold of Tesco to ask about priority slots but they never answer either of the two numbers I have ☹️

I have worked out that if you stay up past midnight it’s possible to get a delivery/click and collect slot in 3 weeks time if you’re quick enough, but we shouldn’t have to do that.

Many thanks

[HoppyNurse in reply to Lullabelle_18]

Hi, sorry I’ve ont just seen your request. The number I called is 0800 917 7359.hope that helps x

[Lullabelle_18 in reply to HoppyNurse]

Hi, that’s great. Thank you very much x

[DollyDutchGirl in reply to Lullabelle_18]

If all else fails, you could try sending a polite email to;

[e-mail]

explaining your situation. I believe you may find it helpful...

[Lullabelle_18 in reply to DollyDutchGirl]

Hi, that’s fabulous thank you. The only email address I could find was an old one, so I’ll give it a try 😊

[DollyDutchGirl in reply to Lullabelle_18]

Hope it works for you....if not, please come back to me and I’ll try and come up with another for you.

[Lullabelle_18 in reply to DollyDutchGirl]

Fingers crossed 🤞

I have emailed him this afternoon, so we’ll see what happens. Thanks again x

[Lullabelle_18 in reply to DollyDutchGirl]

I’ve had an email back this morning and they’ve set up my account to access priority slots.

So I’m extremely glad that I asked you 😁

[watergazer in reply to HoppyNurse]

Good news for you x

[OBC101]

Have a look on your local authority site as most have linked with charities to form hubs of volunteers who will do your shopping for you.

[Hally1973]

I was having the same problem and the only supermarket to come through was Tesco. Once I registered with Tesco it took about 3 days and then I checked and it said I had a priority slot, Sainsbury’s and Asda have been useless in support. If you haven’t tried Tesco give them a go.

[asthmaticclimber]

My mum has found that tesco releases slots at 12am. Might be worth sitting up and trying to get one? We’ve managed to get a couple that way.

[Whitechinchilla]

Hi HoppyNurse

I believe there is a facility to advise your council of your dietary needs.

I get the delivery and with it is a list stating what foods I am getting

So telephone your council next week. I’m sure they will help you.

I see below you have tried already. Apols.

Try your council again and ask if a volunteer could call to do your shopping for you.

A friend of mine has arranged this and it a is very efficient service.

Hope you get what you need soon.

All the best

Also Tesco are offering first choice on Sunday for deliveries for vulnerable folk

[Hamscoul]

I live in Scotland. My letter said if you need something urgently phone your council.

I am also having difficulty booking a recurring slot for Asda but I did log in to my account and could see I have the correct delivery pass. I will keep trying until I get one. The good thing is once you do get a slot you can make it recurring.

There are a lot of us in the vulnerable category and the supermarkets can only do so much.

I would keep trying to book a slot and in the meantime contact the council.

[GFloss]

Hi HoppyNurse, good to hear you're going to be able to get a delivery from Tesco. We're vegan and have found it best to do a mix of an online supermarket shop and then smaller online shops to track down more specialist options. In some cases, we're ordering directly from manufactuer's own sites (not always more expensive) and in other cases using online health shops. I know your dietary needs are different, yet many of the same shops provide freefrom sections, e.g. try the likes of Realfoods & buywholefoodsonline.co.uk/f... as well as Holland & Barrett. The latter offers a subscription service on certain products allowing you to get a regular delivery if there's a particular item you know you'll need more often. This method is working so well for us - although we're going for some different options, we haven't been short of food so far. Good luck!

[Clairebear35]

If it helps once I registered online with direct gov I had a phone call from my local council to see the best way to help and then a week or so later I started getting emails from different supermarkets saying they are opening up priority slots for me as my details were passed onto them from the government scheme, if I didn’t have an account with any of them to set one up.

[Camomile]

I managed to book a slot with Asda on Saturday night after 10pm. I had tried lots before. I scrolled to the 'later' dates and and there were a few slots for the last day. I clicked on one slot and then had to complete the process of booking the order by 1.20 a.m. or the slot would go. Hope you get the food you need.

[herefordtwitch]

Sorry to hear of your problem . Mywife and I own a village convenience store and we deliver free with no minimum order to anyone who needs it. About 40 last week. Most of the similar storekeepers we k ow do the same so try phoning your local corner shop? Everyone you hear on the media harps on about long waits for supermarkets but there are about 50000 of us little shops andmist are waiting to help you