Foundation History

The Greggs Foundation is the corporate charity of Greggs plc. Greggs has always been a charitable company. Before the Foundation was established as a grant making trust, Greggs had established a strong reputation in the community, providing a range of social activities such as pie and peas suppers for older people in the Newcastle area.

In 1987 the charitable activities of the Gregg family and Greggs plc were formalised and The Gregg Charitable Trust was registered with the charity commission. In 1989 The Gregg Charitable Trust received £50,000 from Greggs plc and a number of donations from Gregg family members, including a gift of 215,000 shares from Ian Gregg to be held as an endowment. These generous donations allowed the first grants to be made to a range of deserving charitable causes. The generosity of Greggs and the Gregg family continues to this day, with the Foundation receiving significant donations each year to support people in need.

The original endowment has since grown considerably. The success and growth of Greggs plc over two decades has impacted significantly on invested funds which are now valued in excess of £10million and generate significant income to support grant making in the North East of England.

In 2009 the Gregg Charitable Trust, or Greggs Trust as it became known re-structured to accommodate all of Greggs plc charitable activities. As part of the re-structure the charity was re-named Greggs Foundation. Hope, the Greggs Foundation mascot was introduced later that year. She was designed with the help of Olivia Smith of Hawthorn Primary School and Millie Butcher of Pennine Way Primary School.