Warburtons Foundation

Source: Warburtons

Lee Pendlebury, driver operations manager at Warburtons, delivering products to Deborah Docherty, headteacher at Bolton’s Church Road Primary School, and her pupils

Bread giant Warburtons has pledged to help communities in need across the UK with the launch of The Warburtons Foundation.

The foundation will seek to help families through continued financial uncertainty with a focus on the three key areas of product donation, education and financial giving, the Bolton-headquartered business said.

The launch of the foundation comes with a commitment to donate one million products by the end of the year, which according to Warburtons will go directly into the hands of families most in need through community hubs including schools and food banks.

The commitment sits alongside a trial with the charity Magic Breakfast in which the manufacturer will be supplying fresh bread to children in 30 schools.

In an effort to tackle the gap in food education, The Warburtons Foundation has developed, a programme in partnership with education specialists, named Bake the Most of Life, to support both primary and secondary schools with curriculum linked, free online resources. The specially crafted lesson plans and interactive content, designed to engage children on healthy eating and food provenance, will be available for all schools to access, with a target of reaching 1.5 million children in the next three years.

The foundation is also looking to fund local charities and community groups across the UK via the bread maker’s financial giving programme. Groups are invited to apply for grants from £400 up to £20,000, with previous support provided to projects including cooking classes for families with disabled children in West Bromwich.

“As a family business, we know how difficult the past two years have been for people across the country,” said Jonathan Warburton, chairman of the company. “We know that right now, in many ways, things aren’t getting any easier. That’s why we have launched The Warburtons Foundation, with an ambitious pledge to donate one million fresh baked products this year to those in need.

“Our industry is dealing with a range of challenges at the moment, from the rising price of wheat to the availability of ingredients, and we are doing all that we can to absorb the impact these are having on our business, to avoid affecting those that enjoy our products every day. We have seen our business weather significant impacts over the past two years, but we’ve come out on the other side and want to continue giving back to our communities,” Warburton added.