Beverly Hardy found the tokens in an envelope addressed to her nan Mabel Homan (pictured) (Picture: Beverly Hardy/Deadline News)

A woman who stumbled across a pair of dusty Sainsbury’s gift tokens from 30 years ago was stunned when the supermarket agreed to honour them.

Beverly Hardy, 64, from Ascot in Berkshire, discovered her late grandmother Mabel Homan’s vouchers whilst clearing out an old suitcase full of photographs last week.

The trunk had been left untouched for decades before she and her 91-year-old father Raymond Homan decided it was time for a clear out.

After sorting through hundreds of photos she found an envelope at the bottom of the case with Mabel’s address and a postage mark dated 7 December 1988




Curious, Beverly asked whether she’d still be able to use the two £5 vouchers, which are worth £26.99 today.

She said: ‘I just put it out there for a bit of history and out of interest. It was a bit of a sarcastic comment and I wasn’t expecting anything.’

Beverly Hardy was clearing out belongings with her father (Picture: Beverly Hardy/Deadline News)

The tokens addressed to Mrs Homan were dated 7 December 1988 (Picture: Beverly Hardy/Deadline News)

Posting a photo of the two red and white tokens side by side she wrote: ‘Hi Sainsbury’s I have been sorting through some things and found these vouchers given to my Nan in 1988, they don’t have an expiry date written on them.

‘Can I take them into the local Sainsbury’s and spend them? Thank you.’

The supermarket’s response read: ‘Thanks Beverly, I’ve arranged for a £10 gift card to be sent to your address to cover the two older vouchers you found.

‘This will arrive within the next 3-5 working days. Thanks for taking the time to get in touch.’

Beverly said she ‘wasn’t expecting anything’ back when she sent Sainsbury’s a photo of the two tokens (Picture: Beverly Hardy/Deadline News)

Social media users praised the supermarket’s response (Picture: Facebook/Deadline News)

The post attracted dozens of comments from surprised social media users praising the reply.

Greg Morgan wrote: ‘I love this story immediately. Fair play to Sainsbury’s for doing this.’

Ian Rae added: ‘They’re in bloody good nick for being over 30 years old. Nice touch by Sainsbury’s.’

The tokens were awarded by the Henry Smith Charity which gave money to a number of parishes throughout the country to be passed on to those less well-off around Christmas time.

Mabel died in 1989 aged 84 after previously suffering a number of strokes.

The UK Gift Card & Voucher Association (UKGCVA) estimated that £300 million was lost on gift vouchers in 2017, with one in 10 of those misplaced or forgotten about.

However, a UKGCVA report from last year revealed more people are spending their gift cards faster than ever before. The most common time period for gift cards is 24-months.

Director general Gail Cohen urged consumers to ‘use it, not lose it’.

Sainsbury’s declined to comment.

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