Rushden travel agent swaps booking holidays for helping people get food and essentials

A travel shop manager who has temporarily swapped booking holidays for supporting food stores has spoken about her time ensuring local communities continue to access food and essentials.

Laura Haggar can normally be found in her branch in High Street, Rushden, planning everything from city breaks to trips of a lifetime.

However, she, and the rest of her team from Co-op Central England, are now temporarily working at the retailer’s stores in Irthlingborough, London Road, Kettering, and Raunds to support colleagues going above and beyond to support their local community at this time.

She said: “Having sold holidays for the last 21 years, the thought of being on my feet all day working in a food store was a daunting task.

“I've always been involved with my local food stores but working within one of them has allowed me to appreciate the amazing job that they do.

“We have been welcomed with open arms and made to feel like a part of the team straight away.

“I've been on the till, worked the deliveries and the back stock, been on door control and cleaned.

“Customers have been extremely grateful, pleasant and happy with the security measures instore and being in a local store to my travel shop has also meant some familiar faces have even been in!

“I'm very proud of my team for the hard work that they are putting in and hope that we are making a difference to the community."

While all Travel Shops have temporarily closed, customers are still able to contact a dedicated team of Travel colleagues who are looking after enquiries and bookings via email and phone.

Anyone who needs to speak to a Travel colleague should call their local branch and they will be redirected to our support team to deal with their booking.

People can keep up to date with what is happening in their local community by visiting a dedicated online hub at www.centralengland.coop/updates

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