Shop with Confidence

Shop with Confidence was a scheme developed jointly by by Breckland District Council, South Norfolk District Council and Broadland District Council. It was launched at the end of May 2020 as the Covid-19 lockdown was starting to be eased. The scheme aimed to give people confidence that they can safely shop in their local towns and villages and help businesses get back on their feet.

Each town in the districts had its own plan developed. Possible Measures included: hand sanitiser stations, social distancing signage, extra seating and planters, extra bicycle parking facilities, temporary changes to parking, and temporary traffic restrictions.

One of the original foot-pedal-operated hand sanitiser stations in Thetford, located outside the Riverside complex.

Thetford saw the installation of eight foot-operated hand sanitiser stations (part funded by the European Regional Development Fund), and some parking spaces being removed to provide more queuing space outside Roys and along Well Street. The parking spaces were restored as the lockdown was eased in the summer of 2020. In early 2021, the original sanitiser stations (which turned out to be not particularly durable) were replaced with a smaller number of stations of a more sturdy construction.

The locations of the hand sanitiser stations can be see on the map below.

References

• Council 'confidence' campaign to inspire high street bounce back, Breckland Council Press Release, 19th May 2020.
• Campaign to give shoppers confidence to return to Norfolk high streets, ITV News, 1st June 2020.
• Market towns given a 'Confidence' boost, Breckland Council Press Release, 6th June 2020.
• Liking the new hand sanitizer posts around the town centre, Facebook Post, 9th June 2020.
• Here’s what market towns are doing to keep shoppers safe, Thetford & Brandon Times, 11th June 2020.