Co-op recruits children to help spread kindness and stop shocking violence towards store workers in Milton Keynes

Shockingly, incidents of verbal abuse to Central England Co-op's keyworker staff have increased by a massive 167 per cent during the past year of Covid and lockdowns.

Anti-social behaviour in Co-op stores has risen by 39 per cent, while assaults on staff have jumped by 35 per cent, and threats towards staff have increased by 6 per cent.

The retailer also revealed that 312 crimes related directly to Covid-19 have been recorded in stores since the start of the pandemic.

One customer threatening a Co-op worker with a wrench after they were refused the sale of an energy drink, while other colleagues were attacked with knives during attempted incidents of shoplifting.

A colleague was punched in the face after spotting a shoplifter stealing items from a store and another worker suffered a fractured hip after being attacked by a shoplifter. In one of the worst incidents, a colleague was verbally abused, physically attacked and robbed in the car park of a store in an unprovoked attack

There have also been multiple threats by customers to cough on sales assistants and ‘give them Coronavirus’ and further threats of assault because people have had to queue to enter stores, social distance or simply because they do not have a specific product in stock, say Co-op bosses.

The situation is so bad that some stores are even trialling body cameras being worn by staff. If successful, this will be rolled out across all stores.

But first the Co-op is asking youngsters to get creative during lockdown and produce the 'Be Kind' posters.

The campaign is part of ongoing efforts to encourage people to treat shop colleagues with respect and to repeat the Co-op’s long-term message to would-be criminals that ‘it is not worth the risk’ to target them.

Parents will be able to pick up a special poster pack when they next visit a store. Children will then be able to bring it to life and either display in their front window in support of staff or give back to their local store to help create a powerful display.

Store manager Jamie Joyce said: “Our Be Kind campaign is extremely important and highlights the need for all of us to work together to ensure colleagues are treated with kindness and respect as they work around the clock to provide food and essentials for our communities.

“We thought that by designing a special poster pack it would help us spread the message further as well as giving youngsters something fun and free to do during lockdown.”

To help combat this violence and aggression problem, the Co-op has also rolled out a range of different measures including security assistance buttons and using tracking devices in more products to deter would-be thieves.

The retailer has also been working with other major retailers, unions, industry bodies, police and crime commissioners and over 200 MPs to push the government to crackdown further on those who abuse or attack shopworkers via the introduction of tougher penalties such as an automatic prison term.

This security crackdown will be supported by several measures already in place in stores including centrally monitored CCTV system, increased use of security officers and store detectives, stringent cash controls and colleague training on how to deal with situations involving violence or aggression.

Craig Goldie, Loss Prevention Manager, said: “Our teams have gone above and beyond over the last 12 months to ensure our communities have access to vital food and essentials, only to be greeted with shocking incidents like those we have seen in recent months.

“We want to send a clear message to anyone who might be thinking of committing a crime at one of our stores - this behaviour will not be tolerated and targeting our stores is not worth the risk.

“We need everyone to be kind and treat our colleagues with care, compassion and respect as they work around the clock for our communities. We want people to think long and hard about the person wearing our uniform – they will be someone’s much loved family member.

“We want people to ask themselves whether they would like their relatives to be confronted by someone in a violent or aggressive way, especially at this uncertain time – the answer is no, and therefore why should anyone who works in retail have to deal with this kind of behaviour.

“Everyone at Central England Co-op is proud to live and work in our local communities – now we need people to work with us to make sure our stores and the people in them are safe for everyone.”