Gold medal winning Paralympian officially gets trading underway at Aldi's first supermarket in Whittlesey

ParalympicsGB high jump hero Jonathan Broom-Edwards has officially opened Whittlesey’s new Aldi store.

The gold medallist cut the ribbon to mark the start of trading at the supermarket in Eastrea Road supported by pupils from New Road Primary School, in Whittlesey.

It is the first Aldi store to open in Whittlesey and will be run by manager Michelle Wilson with a team of 30 colleagues.

During his time at the store, Jonathan gave away complimentary bags of fresh fruit and vegetables from Aldi’s Super 6 range to the first 30 customers in the queue.

He later delivered an assembly for pupils at New Road Primary School as part of the supermarket’s initiative, Get Set to Eat Fresh.

And to celebrate the partnership between Aldi and ParalympicsGB, the gold medallist from Tokyo 2020 focused on the benefits of eating healthy food and the importance of exercise and believing in yourself.

He also talked to pupils about his experience of competing as a Paralympian and shared his challenging training regime.

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

Jonathan announced the winner during the assembly and the pupil was presented with their £20 voucher.

Store manager Michelle Wilson said: “It’s been a wonderful morning here at the opening of Aldi Whittlesey.

"It was lovely to welcome our new customers into the 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 New Road Primary School through our partnership with ParalympicsGB.”

Jonathan said: “I’ve had a fantastic time opening the new Aldi store this morning.

"It was an honour to officially open the store and welcome customers inside.

“It was great to speak to the children about the importance of eating healthily and hopefully I’ve also managed to inspire them to keep active and try different sports.”

The store wants charities and food banks to register with Neighbourly, a community engagement platform linking businesses to charitable organisations.

Charities that register by emailing [email protected] can collect surplus food and perishable products seven days a week.