Aldi Cannock celebrates grand opening with help from Paralympian

The Orbital Retail Park store is the newest Aldi to open in and around Cannock and will be run by store manager Dave Webster, along with a team of 37 colleagues from the local community.

Paralympian Lee Manning gave away complimentary bags of fresh fruit and vegetables from Aldi’s famous Super 6 range to the first 30 customers in the queue.

Lee will also deliver an inspirational virtual assembly for pupils at Bridgtown Primary School as part of the supermarket’s initiative, Get Set to Eat Fresh - which has already inspired over two million school children aged 5-14 years to learn more about the benefits of cooking fresh, healthy food with their families.

To celebrate the official partnership between Aldi and ParalympicsGB, the bronze medallist from Brazil 2016 and Tokyo 2020 will focus on the benefits of eating healthy food and the importance of exercise and believing in yourself.

He will talk to pupils about his experience of competing as a Paralympian and share his challenging training regime.

Aldi Cannock also offered pupils at Bridgtown Primary School the opportunity to win a £20 gift voucher to spend at the new store. The children were tasked with creating a poster to show what healthy eating means to them.

Lee Manning will announce the winner during the assembly and the pupil will be presented with their £20 voucher.

Store manager Dave Webster said: “It’s been a wonderful morning here at the opening of Aldi Cannock. It was lovely to welcome our new customers into store, and I look forward to meeting more of the community in the coming weeks. I’m also thrilled that we’ve been able to support Bridgtown Primary School through our partnership with ParalympicsGB.”

ParalympicsGB star Lee Manning added: “I’ve had a fantastic time opening the new Aldi this morning. It was an honour to officially open the store and welcome customers inside for the first time.

“I am looking forward to speaking with the children at Bridgtown Primary School about the importance of eating healthily and how it can be fun to plan and prepare meals as a family. Hopefully, I will inspire the pupils to keep active and try different sports.”

The new Aldi store offers large chillers and freezers dedicated to fresh, British meat products, a ‘Food to Go’ section at the front of the store, and an exclusive section full of health and beauty products.

Cannock customers can also take a walk down the ‘Aisle of Aldi’, where they will find Specialbuys which are available every Thursday and Sunday.

During opening week, the store will be offering a range of kitchen essentials, including a 6.5-litre slow cooker for £24.99, a 4.5-litre air fryer for £34.99 and a 3-in-1 hand blender for £16.99.

Additionally, the new Aldi store is calling on local charities and food banks in Cannock to register with Neighbourly, a community engagement platform that links businesses to charitable organisations in the local community.

Local charities that register will be able to collect surplus food and perishable products, such as fruit, vegetables and baked goods, seven days a week.

Any charities in the area that would like to partner up with the new Aldi store should email aldi@neighbourly.com.

Applications and more information on all of Aldi’s store positions can be found at aldirecruitment.co.uk/stores.