Asda supermarkets will play an active role in the local community

You get a sense of just how much people are looking forward to shopping at their new Asda supermarket when you see the huge queues that build up on the morning of the official opening day.

The scenes outside the new Ponders End store in Enfield – in the photo above – are typical.

There were than 800 local people queuing up outside when the doors opened at 10am.

And there was a real sense of excitement inside the store as the ribbon was cut by pupils and teachers from nearby Southbury Primary School and the first customers streamed in.

We’re really keen that each of our new supermarkets plays an active roles in the local community.

We’ve been inviting local schools to take part in our opening ceremonies and we’re looking forward to working in partnership with them and helping support some of their activities throughout the year.

We’ve also been asking people to nominate their local heroes – people who’ve made a real difference to the local community – and invited them along to the opening ceremonies … people like Tai Chi master Arthur Leong, who opened our South Harrow store.

Arthur, 68, has been giving free Tai Chi lessons for local people every morning for the past three years – and his pupils nominated him as local hero for everything he’s done to promote health and fitness in the area.

Arthur said: “I enjoy exercising every day and am glad that all the people who join me each day get so much out of it. It’s great to be able to share this joy with other members of the South Harrow community.”

You can see more pictures from our supermarket openings in the gallery below. Click on a thumbnail to see a larger image and use the Next and Previous arrows to navigate.