Regional news publishers Newsquest has launched a campaign with retailers to offer free delivery of essential supplies as well as newspapers to vulnerable members of the community.

The campaign encourages retailers to join in, ensuring essentials such as bread and milk can be delivered to the homes of the elderly and other vulnerable members of the community during the Covid-19 crisis.

And the publisher has invited other regional media companies to follow suit.

The publisher has also issued safety guidelines for delivery boys and girls.

Newsquest North’s Managing Director, who also runs newspaper sales for all of Newsquest commented, ”We’re not yet having any significant issues in getting printed newspapers delivered to our customers and we’ve just launched a pensioners’ free delivery service that’s designed to ensure older folks can continue to enjoy our products alongside deliveries of other daily essentials like bread and milk. 

“The aim of the scheme is to provide retailers with positive publicity free of charge and in return the retailers look after the pensioners in their area.

“We’re very happy for other publishers to join Newsquest in promoting this scheme and can provide copies of the artwork files if they just want to adapt it for their use, rather than reinventing the wheel.

“We’re advising our own delivery kids to continue deliveries and we consider them to be key media workers and therefore able to continue their work.  We’ve issued our delivery staff with guidelines about distancing and hand washing.”

The Society of Editors supports this initiative and has lobbied the government to ensure that news agents and other news outlets were kept open should further restrictions be introduced on general movement to combat the Covid-19 virus crisis.