NICKY Roberts had always dreamt of doing a trolley dash. Now her quickfire shopping trip has helped those in need in Fareham and Gosport.

Nicky Roberts with her vicar, the Rev Sally Davenport in Sainsbury’s

Nicky zoomed around Sainsbury’s, collecting more than £500 worth of groceries for the Fareham and Gosport Basics Bank in just five minutes.

She became involved because Grace Roberts, a parishioner at Holy Trinity Church, had visited her friend Bob Poole, who is in his 90s, and gave him a copy of the magazine Take A Break.

Bob completed a word puzzle, entered a competition and won the trolley dash. He passed the prize to Grace, who passed it on to her church, asking that the groceries should go to the basics bank.

The vicar, the Rev Sally Davenport, asked Nicky to do it. She’s always fancied the idea, so jumped at the chance. Knowing that the basics bank needed specific products, she did careful research at her local Sainsbury’s in Fareham.    

Then, one dark Monday morning at 7.15am, Nicky, her husband Garry – the curate of Holy Trinity and St Columba – their children  Caitlin, Joshua and Meghan, along with Grace Roberts, Sally Davenport and Steve and Jayne Dent from the basics bank met at Sainsbury’s.

Staff cleared boxes, trolleys and potential tripping hazards and warned shoppers what was about to happen, and Nicky’s supporters stood at the top of various aisles to shout and encourage her on. 

And in her five minutes, Nicky flew around the store and managed to gather £511 of goods for the basics bank. She was given a cash bonus of £250 which was donated to Holy Trinity’s High Time project to restore the clock and tower and refurbish the west end of the church.

Nicky said: “I had always wanted to do something like this, so when Sally asked me, I jumped at the chance. I did the research with my daughter, as the basics bank can only accept certain things. We worked out where everyone was and a plan for getting around the shop.

“It was really good fun and people were standing at the end of aisles helping me to get the right things. Since doing the trolley dash, I’ve also started volunteering at Fareham and Gosport Basics Bank once a week.”