Royal Voluntary Service
Volunteers who collect and drop off shopping, free, in a lot of the country. They match you with someone regular rather than a different person each week.
Home / Help for older shoppers
Aldi shopping help for older people
Aldi does not deliver, but there is a lot of help out there for anyone who finds getting to the shop hard, and a good deal of it is free.
Start with the free help
Volunteer shopping schemes run in most of the country and cost nothing. They are quietly one of the best things going, and they are used far less than they could be.
They do take a little while to arrange, so it is worth asking sooner rather than when you have run out of milk.
Who to ask
Start here
Taskerama
A friendly UK site where you put up the shop you want doing and local people offer to go and do it. The whole cost is on screen before you agree to anything, which makes it easy to say yes.
- The full price is there from the start. Nothing gets added at the end.
- Your money is held safely and only released once your shopping has arrived.
- If anything goes wrong, money comes back to your card rather than as credit.
- Change your mind and there is nothing to pay.
- You can message anyone who offers before you pick.
Other ways
Age UK
Local Age UK branches run shopping help and befriending, and they know what else is going on in your area.
Your council
Most councils keep a list of shopping and befriending schemes nearby. Ask for adult social care or the community team.
Somebody local you pay
If you would rather not wait for a volunteer place, paying a local person is quick and you can book the same person again.
Things worth asking for
The same person each time
Most schemes will try. It makes everything easier when somebody already knows you take the blue milk.
Bags brought inside
Perfectly normal to ask, and almost everyone will. Say so when you arrange it rather than on the day.
A phone call rather than an app
Volunteer schemes run on the phone. You do not need a smartphone for any of this.
A regular slot
A standing Tuesday morning shop is far easier for everybody than asking fresh each week.