Telford shopping centre holding 'quiet hour' every Saturday to support people with autism

Telford Centre will be holding a quiet hour every Saturday between 9am and 10am from July 3.

The quiet hour was introduced at the shopping centre in 2018 and ran on a monthly basis to help support an autism-friendly shopping experience.

However, due to increased demand, it will be extended to every Saturday to help provide more opportunities for shoppers who prefer a quieter environment to visit the centre.

Music and other noise in the mall environment will be reduced, along with in-store tannoy announcements and other controllable noise where possible.

Light levels on the mall will also be reduced.

Telford Centre works closely with the Autism Hub to help ensure an autism-friendly environment, which includes having autism champions as part of the customer service team.

Autism champions are team members who have received training specifically to support customers affected by autism.

Katie Broome, marketing manager at Telford Centre, said: “We are very pleased to extend the quiet hour to every Saturday.

"We know this is something that customers have been asking for and how important this quiet time is.

"Feedback from the community has been very positive and we’d like to extend our thanks once again to the Autism Hub for all of their continued support in working with us to help deliver a more relaxed environment which supports our customer needs."