Sainsbury’s adds spice to Drylaw Burns Supper

Just thought I would let you know about the recent event at Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre.

The store provided the ingredients for a Burns Supper that was enjoyed by the North West Support Services Monday Cooking Club, the Jubilee Club and the Youth Club.  They had a great time celebrating the life of our
great bard, Robert Burns.SAM_1272

The photograph shows service users from the centre and some of our colleagues.

Shay, Sainsbury’s

Guide dog pups coming back to Sainsbury’s

Sainsbury’s Guide Dog puppies Jasper and Sandy are now 6 months old and they will be coming in to the store on Monday (4 Feb) at 11.30am to show customers and colleagues how their training is coming along.

Sainsbury’s customers and staff have now raised £15,000 for another Guide Dog puppy and will be starting the process of choosing a name for ‘Puppy 3’ soon!

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Recycle those Christmas cards at Sainsbury’s

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Post-Christmas clean up? Don’t throw your old Christmas cards out with the rest of your household rubbish – recycle them at Sainsbury’s Blackhall!

Sainsbury’s is providing local residents with a solution to make use of their Christmas cards this year. The store has a Christmas card recycling bin in place and residents can bring in their cards until 15 January.

Sainsbury’s is making a donation to the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) based on the volume of cards collected.

Sainsbury’s are trying to do their bit for the environment by helping customers tackle post-Christmas waste and impact on landfill by: 

  • Making a donation to Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) from Christmas card recycling in 500 stores including Blackhall
  • Providing a safe way for customers to dispose of post-Christmas batteries – over 21 million batteries recycled by Sainsbury’s in the past year from in-store collections
  • Offering recycling facilities at over 300 stores including Blackhall  to help customers reduce waste to landfill and support hassle free post-Christmas clear outs – Sainsbury’s has collected over 9 million items of clothing in 11 months!

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Sainsbury’s serves up festive treat for Young at Heart

Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre’s Young at Heart Group enjoyed a complimentary Christmas lunch at Sainsbury’s café on 13 December.  The ladies were joined by Colin, the Centre’s volunteer driver, who did a splendid job picking them up all from their homes and taking them safely back again.

And the lunch was delicious!

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Choirs to sing out at Sainsbury’s!

seasonsgreetingsFancy some seasonal sounds while you do your Christmas shopping? Sainsbury’s Blackhall will ring out with all your festive favourites with visits planned by three different choirs in the run-up to Christmas!

A spokesperson said: “We are delighted to welcome some members of the congregation of our local Church, Blackhall St Columba’s, to our store on Sunday (9 December) at 2pm to sing carols for our customers and colleagues. We are also looking forward to a visit from Stockbridge Primary School choir, who will be singing for us on Wednesday 12 December at 4pm, and the Edinburgh Jubilio Choir on Tuesday 18 December at 6pm.”

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Guide Dog puppies visit Sainsbury’s

They came, they saw and they melted hearts! Sainsbury’s customers and staff have raised funds to train two puppies to become guide dogs, and Jasper and Sandy – now a whole fourteen weeks old – called in to the Craigleith store with their walkers to say hello yesterday.

It was also an opportunity for the gorgeous wee dugs to meet the people who named them – Clermiston Primary pupil Eve McCall and Sainsbury’s Rebecca Law won an in-store competition to name the puppies, and both were at Blackhall to meet their wee friends.

Guide dog puppies to visit Sainsbury’s

Aawww! A wee Guide Dog puppy

Jasper and Sandy, two Guide Dog puppies sponsored by Sainsbury’s Blackhall customers, will be making personal appearances at the local store next Wednesday at 2pm. 

Sainsbury’s customers and staff chose Guide Dogs as their nominated charity for 2011/12 and Jasper and Sandy will be calling in to meet everyone and say thanks! Guests of honour will be Rebecca Law, a member of staff at Sainsbury’s, and Clermiston Primary School pupil Eve McCall – Rebecca and Eve won the store’s ‘Name the Puppies’ competition.

Jasper and Sandy – who is named after Guide Dogs volunteer collector Sandy Miller, a well-known face at Sainsbury’s – don’t have too far to travel to visit the local store. Jasper is being walked for his first year by a Guide Dog puppy walker who lives in Blackhall, while Sandy is learning his trade in Leith.

It costs £10,000 to adopt, name and train two puppies for their first year but through collections at checkouts, by volunteers and through a local ‘Go Walkies’ sponsored event generous staff and customers raised that amount and more – the local store is now well on the way to raising another £5000 to sponsor another puppy in the New Year!

Aawww! Another wee Guide Dog puppy!

Local Sainsburys fined for poor hygiene

Local supermarket Sainsbury’s has been fined £6000 for allowing food chewed on by mice to be placed on sale at a the branch at Craigleith Retail park..

This is the second setback for the store after it was forced to close after damage caused during high winds earlier this year. (Picture: Thomas Brown)

Environmental officers found that rodents had gnawed on the packaging of crisps, rice and nuts at the Craigleith Road store during a visit in February last year.

They made the inspection after receiving an anonymous tip-off claiming hygiene at the branch was extremely unsatisfactory.

On Friday Sainsbury’s admitted two charges of contravening food safety regulations, while two further allegations were dropped by prosecutors, including that mice droppings and trails of mice urine were present on shelves.

The food firm blamed contractors for failing to ensure the revamped store was pest proof.

Depute procurator fiscal Bruce Macrosson told Edinburgh Sheriff Court that environmental health inspectors found a number of products that had been tampered with by the mice.

He said: “On February 10, 2011, following an anonymous complaint of mice activity at the store premises, environmental health officers of Edinburgh City Council attended the premises. The duty manager informed the officers that the company was aware there was mice activity in the store and that they were addressing the issue.

“They found that two bags of Sainsbury’s own brand salted cashew nuts had been gnawed on by mice.

“They also found two packets of rice that had been gnawed on by mice. And they also discovered a multi-pack of Quavers crisps that had been tampered with by the mice.”

The court also heard Sainsbury’s staff then destroyed all food stuffs that could have come into contact with the rodents.

Defence advocate Susan Duff told the court that the company accepted it had committed criminal offences. She said the store had suffered problems since it reopened following a £9 million refurbishment in October 2010.

Mrs Duff said contractors had failed to take adequate steps to make the store pest proof, and had failed to tell Sainsbury’s what they had done. The court heard the firm had spent only £3000 on anti-rodent measures and that inspectors visited the store around the same time Sainsbury’s discovered what was going on.

She added that the company had taken all available measures to make the shop safe for customers to visit.

Mrs Duff said: “The company deeply regrets that the offences were committed. Once it became apparent, the company took immediate action to remedy the situation.

“The £3000 spent on proofing was grossly inadequate. The company acted extremely responsibly once it became aware of the problem. Sainsbury’s decided to destroy the food stuffs that may have been in contact with the mice.

Hitting Sainsbury’s with the £6000 fine, Sheriff Paul Arthurson QC said: “In light of what has been said by the prosecution and the mitigation offered on behalf of Sainsbury’s, I will impose a financial penalty.”