Sam shows support for keyworkers by dressing up like Asda colleagues

Twenty-nine-year-old Sam Pierce has been dressing up as different key workers to thank them for everything they've been doing during the pandemic – so colleagues at our Swindon Haydon store were only too happy to help when he wanted to dress in an Asda uniform to show his support for them.

Sam, who has Down's syndrome, has dressed as a firefighter, postman, doctor and chef in posts his mum Leslye shares with family and friends on Facebook.

He wanted to thank our colleagues, including his aunt Mel Walsh and cousin Stephen Goodwright, who both work at the store, so Leslye asked Mel if she could help.

Leslye said: "I asked my sister-in-law Mel if Sam could borrow her Asda shirt to wear and she said to get in touch with Jane Atkin, the community champion, and she'd be able to do one better.

"Jane was brilliant – she got Sam a uniform, with a lanyard and a name badge too. He was absolutely thrilled. He knows Asda, as we shop there, so he knew exactly what it was when I got it out of the bag.

"We can't thank Jane enough for sorting it out for him. He's thoroughly enjoyed being an Asda colleague. His cousin, Stephen, who drives the Asda vans, jokingly commented on my Facebook post, 'I'll pick him up at 4.30 in the morning!'"

"Sam's a very active young man, who loves his sport, but at the moment he can't go to any of his clubs because they are closed, so we started to talk about the people who were helping us and Sam wanted to dress up and say thank you to all the workers who keep us all going.

"Dressing up each week gives us something to talk about and plan. He really looks forward to it."

Jane said: "Sam has supported all key workers throughout the pandemic, which I think is a lovely thing to do, so we were more than happy to supply him with a uniform so he could say thank you to all our colleagues. He looked great."