£300,000 raised for local breakfast clubs
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235 local breakfast clubs will share £300,000 thanks to Lincolnshire Co-op's members, customers and colleagues.
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Hide AdAll eligible participating breakfast clubs have received £475 this October and will continue to receive long-term support through annual contributions for the next three years.
Money was donated to the cause every time a member shopped with their dividend card, customers dropped money in collection boxes, colleagues participated in fundraising events, and Lincolnshire Co-op made a final donation of over £27,000.
Fundraising efforts were combined through the co-operative’s Community Champions scheme, which sees hundreds of thousands of pounds donated to good causes every year.
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Hide AdEmily Syred runs the breakfast club at Utterby Primary Academy in Louth. She says: “The children absolutely love coming to the breakfast club. It supports their physical health, because they’re able to eat a healthy breakfast, but also their emotional and mental health.
“Without the funding, we would not be able to keep the costs as low as we do or provide enough for so many children.”
The impact of breakfast clubs is well documented - a recent National School Breakfast Programme (NSBP) survey revealed 99% of schools noticed a positive impact on readiness to learn at the start of the day.
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Hide Ad95% said that it improved healthy eating habits among pupils, and 94% agreed that it also had positive implications on social skills. (Source: NSBP-final-impact-report.pdf (family-action.org.uk))
Sam Turner, Community Manager at Lincolnshire Co-op, said: "Thank you so much to each and every person that has contributed to this astounding total.
“Together, we’ve made such a significant impact locally, it’s a great demonstration of community
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Hide Adspirit and it’s amazing to see so many people come together for a very worthy cause.”
In 2021, Lincolnshire Co-op’s Community Champions scheme also raised £221,275 for local breakfast clubs, supporting them until the end of the 2023-2024 academic year.
Headteacher at Boston Pioneers Academy, Jo Bland, said: “The number of children attending our breakfast club is increasing from term to term, and with the cost of living, we have seen a dramatic rise in numbers recently.
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Hide Ad“It’s really important to us that our children have a positive start to the day, they’re not going to be able to concentrate unless they’re properly fueled, and the club helps them to settle into the school environment too.
“Many of the children that attend breakfast club do so for free, and for those that pay, the cost is very small. Donations such as Community Champions enable us to keep that cost low and continue to support so many local families.”