The Greggs Foundation has celebrated the launch of its 500th Breakfast Club at Stephenson Memorial Primary School in Wallsend, Newcastle upon Tyne - the home of Greggs.
At the fun-filled event, around 160 school children were served breakfast including toast, cereal and fruit, providing the kids with the most important meal of the day. Dame Julia Cleverdon CBE, Vice President of Business in the Community and former Special Adviser to The Prince's Charities attending the celebrations and kindly cut the ribbon.
The Greggs Breakfast Club Programme was set up in 1999 and has since provided nutritious breakfasts to over 50 million schoolchildren in disadvantaged areas, including 12 million in the North East. The programme currently provides breakfast to 31,500 children across the UK every school day and is proven to make a huge difference to pupils’ attendance levels, behaviour and learning.
The Breakfast Club Programme uses a collaborative approach to achieve long-term benefits in communities. The funding for the set-up costs and ongoing management of Clubs is provided by Greggs Foundation or one of their 87 Breakfast Club partners, and the operation is run by school staff and parent volunteers, who collect fresh bread from their local Greggs shop. The Stephenson Memorial Primary School club is being funded by General Mills.
In a recent survey carried out by National Education Union (NEU) and Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG), 87% of the schools surveyed advised that students from families on a low income saw their academic learning significantly affected. Over half of those surveyed (60%) suggested the extent of poverty in their schools and its effect on low-income students has deteriorated since 2015.
Richard Hutton, Finance Director of Greggs and Trustee of The Greggs Foundation, said, “Eating a balanced and nutritious breakfast is key for schoolchildren to start the day properly and be ready to learn. We’re thrilled to see the difference our Breakfast Club initiative has made to over 50 million pupils and their schools. Thanks to the hard work of The Greggs Foundation team and our schools, volunteers and partners such as General Mills, the Greggs Breakfast Club Programme has gone from strength to strength.”
Kerry Lillico, headteacher at Stephenson School, said, “The whole school is delighted to be running a Breakfast Club with the support of The Greggs Foundation and it is particularly exciting to have been part of this major milestone for Greggs. We have over 160 pupils who attend our daily Breakfast Club to enjoy a variety of cereals, toast, juice and fruit which ensures the best possible start to their learning day.
“We’d like to thank The Greggs Foundation for working with us to provide pupils with a great start to their day, and we’re excited to measure the progress that they make across the curriculum.”