This much-welcomed initiative will be coming to Donegal stores this year:

Lidl Ireland have announced that they will begin rolling out Autism Aware Quiet Evenings across all 194 Lidl stores in Ireland and Northern Ireland. 

Every Tuesday between 6pm and 8pm, the store environment will be altered to offer customers a calmer shopping environment. Priority queuing and additional assistance will be made available to customers if necessary.

Image: http://www.abettertomorrow-lidl.ie

The first stores to introduce the evenings from April 2nd, World Autism Day, are in Westmeath, Dublin and Monaghan, while the full roll-out is expected to be completed across all stores in May.

The evenings will involve a number of sensory adjustments being made in each of their stores:

  • Reduced lighting
  • No music or announcements
  • Priority queueing for customers dealing with autism as well as – extra assistance upon request
  • Till scan sounds lowered
  • Autism assistance dogs always welcome

A statement from Lidl said: “We’ve been working with charities, such as Irish Autism Action, to ensure that these evenings fit our customer’s needs.

“We would also like to invite registered Irish autism charities to get in touch on csr@lidl.ie if they would like to promote their work and raise awareness of autism by speaking with Lidl colleagues and customers in stores nationwide during our Autism Aware Quiet Evenings.”