Restaurant Associates, the executive dining division of Compass Group, has formed an exclusive food and nutrition partnership with London and Bristol based charity, Kids Company.
The new partnership will see Restaurant Associates become Kids Company’s community food and nutrition champion, drawing on industry expertise, contacts and insights to mobilise a support network that together will enhance the quality of food services that Kids Company currently provides.
As part of this support network, Restaurants Associates will provide Kids Company with training in Health & Safety, nutrition and finance. It has also committed to providing various work experience and apprenticeship opportunities for young adults from Kids Company’s urban academy in Bermondsey – an accredited education and life skills centre for over 220 16 to 23 year olds.
The continued support of Kids Company forms a big part Restaurant Associates’ Corporate Responsibility strategy, which aims to support and make a real difference to the local community.
For the past two years Restaurant Associates has enabled over 4,000 children and their families to enjoy a festive feast on Christmas Day by donating an array of ingredients to Kids Company. Restaurant Associates also supplied and hand-packed over 2,500 additional meals in the form of food hampers that reach over 7,500 people during the festive period.
Andy Harris, Managing Director of Restaurant Associates, commented, “I’m really proud of our partnership with Kids Company and I’m thrilled that we’re able to build on the foundations of the support we’ve provided over the past two years. By utilising our skills, resources, industry knowledge and contacts, we are able to play our part in supporting the thousands of children Kids Company help each year.”
Camila Batmanghelidjh (pictured), founder and director of Kids Company, added, “Kids Company feeds 3,000 vulnerable children a week, with the majority of them depending on us for their main meal. Without the support of friends like Restaurant Associates we just couldn't meet their needs.
'As Kids Company’s exclusive community food and nutrition champion, Restaurant Associates has committed to lead from the front, using their skills, resources and passion for quality to help us provide nutritious meals and cherish society’s most disadvantaged and vulnerable children who would otherwise go hungry.”
Kids Company provides practical, emotional and educational support to vulnerable inner-city children. Its services reach 36,000 children across London and Bristol, including intensive support to over 18,000 of the most deprived and at risk whose parents are unable to care for them due to their own practical and emotional challenges.