:blur(40))
)
An update on our partnership with Rethink Food: One year on
Against today’s backdrop of the cost-of-living crisis and the growing number of households with children experiencing food insecurity in the UK, educating children on food security has become increasingly important.
That’s why, last year, the Greggs Foundation partnered with food education charity Rethink Food to launch a programme aimed at educating children on the importance of making sustainable and healthy choices.
Over the past year, using our existing network of Greggs Breakfast Club schools, which has grown to 840 schools nationwide, the programme has been rolled out to over 29,000 children in 290 schools. And this is just the start: by 2025, we are projected to have 600 schools signed up, reaching up to 50,000 school children across the UK.
The partnership has been a key part of our contribution to the Greggs Pledge commitment to build stronger, healthier communities. It has also added real value to the schools in our Breakfast Clubs programme, providing free breakfast for primary schools, as well as issuing £1 million in grants to families suffering with financial hardship every year.
We couldn’t be prouder of the impact we have had in just one year of launching the ‘Agents of Change’ programme with Rethink Food. It’s been a great addition to our growing Breakfast Club programme, which we saw early on as being increasingly important in addressing wider issues of hunger and poverty in the UK. The programme has been a great way to add further value to our Breakfast Club network, which supports struggling communities across the UK. We look forward to supporting even more children and schools through our ongoing partnership with Rethink.Tracy Lynch, Foundation Manager
By providing an accessible and engaging online learning platform focused specifically on food education, the programme has been able to help shape the way many children view food, healthy eating and sustainability.
A notable example of this has been Darlington-based Redhall Primary School, a participant of the Greggs Breakfast Club for over ten years and one of the first schools to sign up to the programme for its Year 2 class.
The class has received 450 hours of education, offering valuable learning and engagement opportunities. A particular highlight for the children was the healthy diets module, which involved creating individual healthy eating plates and discussions around the origins of food.
The programme has also inspired pupils to be more environmentally conscious and apply what they have learnt in the classroom to their daily lives, fostering a greater concern for the planet and their dietary choices.