Since the beginning of the pandemic, businesses in Wimbledon Town Centre have connected with the wider community, to do their bit. This has culminated in supplies for food banks, meals for the NHS, food parcels for the vulnerable and much more.

So we want to thank you – all town centre businesses, whether large, small, high street or office-based, for being part of the local community. Here are some of the things that the Wimbledon community has achieved throughout Covid-19:

• Donating to Dons Local Action Group (DLAG)
  Through Dons Local Action Group businesses including Wilko, New Wimbledon Theatre, Morrisons, Tesco Metro, Leon, Garratt and Gauge, Wahaca, Little Waitrose,  Odeon and The Prince of Wales, donated stock to help those in need, such as via Wimbledon Foodbank. Centre Court Shopping offered morning food parcels for vulnerable people and delivered prescriptions, whilst Elys staff volunteered to give out Easter goodies. There have been countless other cafes, restaurants and food shops who have made significant contributions.
• Feeding the NHS and the Vulnerable
  The Alexandra pub cooked up over 1,000 meals for NHS staff, as well as restaurants such as Aya Lebanese who offered up over 100 delicious falafel wraps. Domestic and General partnered with Salute the NHS group to serve nutritious meals to key frontline NHS workers. Lush gave out bath bombs to NHS workers. The Antoinette Hotel, The Old Frizzle, Wibbas Down, Wahaca and Leon each contributed towards meals for Merton’s Winter Night Shelter, Wimbledon Foodbank and Merton Covid Mutual Aid.

• Repurposing Facilities to Combat Covid-19
  Coty one of the largest global beauty companies, repurposed their factories to produce hand sanitising gel, distributing products free of charge to medical and emergency staff. Firecracker Works, adapted their facilities to manufacture PPE for frontline workers. Leading food packaging manufacturer, RAP turned over its production line to manufacture disposable face shields, and empty office donated space to St Raphael’s Hospice.
• Wimbledon Guild Charity
  Wimbledon High students donated Christmas presents to support children across Merton, with Sainsburys and Waitrose donating products. Domestic and General staff raised over £200 for the town-centre based charity.
• Toy Donation
  The staff at Tesco Metro donated toys to Dons Local Action Group for children across the borough.
• Donating Laptops
  CIPD HQ donated 50 devices to the ‘Keep Kids Connected‘ scheme run by Dons Local Action Group, to assist children and schools to support remote learning.
• The Polka Refurbishment
  
  With limited funding and delays in construction, the Polka needed to raise more, Icon Solutions, a local office-based business stepped in and generously donated £100K towards the update.

For more examples of how businesses in Wimbledon assisted the community through Covid-19, click here.