Sainsbury’s announces £5 million investment towards community support plan as nation prepares for second lockdown

Sainsbury’s announces £5 million investment towards community support plan as nation prepares for second lockdown

04 November 2020

From 1st-14th December, colleagues and customers can help by donating in store and online, or by donating food and other essential products, which the retailer will match pound for pound, making donations go twice as far.
  • Supermarket ramps up ‘Brighten a Million Christmases’ initiative this year to help feed the nation
  • Funds will go to over 1,150 local charity partnerships with a commitment of up to £4 million
  • Further £1 million fund will be created for local charities and good causes
  • To recognise the outstanding efforts of its frontline colleagues and managers, Sainsbury’s will be making a second 10% ‘thank you’ payment* in time for Christmas

As the nation gears up for a second lockdown later this week and with many people struggling to feed themselves and their families, Sainsbury’s has today announced a £5 million fund to ensure that no one goes hungry this Christmas. Additionally, to recognise the amazing effort of its frontline colleagues and managers across the UK who have gone above and beyond this year, Sainsbury’s will be making a second ‘thank you’ payment of 10% of four weeks’ pay*, in time for Christmas.

Sainsbury’s is inviting customers to donate food and other essential products or cash in store and online and will match every donation, doubling every customer’s contribution. As part of its effort to feed the nation, the retailer will donate up to £4 million to local charities and communities, as well as Comic Relief and Fareshare, between 1-14th December and together with the help from its customers could raise up to and beyond £8 million for charity. In addition to the £4 million guaranteed donation, Sainsbury’s and Argos are creating a £1 million pot for stores to contribute to local charities and good causes.

Sainsbury’s will work with its charity networks across the UK who are seeing increasing pressure to help feed families facing food poverty up and down the country.

Between 1-14th December, customers are invited to give if they can in store and online by:

  1. Donating at tills in-store by rounding up their bill on manned checkouts or by adding £1, £2, £5 or £10 donations to their basket on self-service checkouts
  2. Those shopping for groceries online can donate by adding a donation of £1, £2, £5 or £10 to their online delivery
  3. Customers can also donate their Nectar card points to Comic Relief through the Nectar app or website to the value of £2.50, £5 or £10

From 14th-24th December, Sainsbury’s will work closely with its networks to ensure the funds raised reach its local partners in time to help to feed its communities for Christmas.

Simon Roberts, CEO of Sainsbury’s, said: “This year has presented unexpected challenges for many of our colleagues and customers and we are committed to doing everything we can to help feed the nation and make sure that no family goes hungry over the festive season. We are proud to work with our food donation partners all year round to provide vital support to the communities we serve, but they need our help now more than ever.

“We invite our customers and colleagues to give what they can and we will match all donations, doubling the value of every customer contribution. We are donating £5 million to support thousands of good causes, providing millions of meals as we aim to brighten a million Christmases.

“This is also a challenging time for our colleagues who are serving our customers day in, day out on the front line. In recognition of all of the fantastic work those frontline colleagues and managers have done and continue to do, they will be awarded a thank you payment in time for Christmas. I hope this goes some way to showing our gratitude for all of their hard work and commitment.”

The community investment builds on Sainsbury’s year long programme of support, as well as its efforts to feed the nation during the pandemic, which has already seen a £3 million donation towards FareShare earlier in the year.

Elderly, disabled and vulnerable customers as well as NHS and social care workers are still able to skip the queues outside Sainsbury’s stores, while elderly and vulnerable customers continue to have priority access to online orders.

 

ENDS

About Sainsbury’s

 Helping our customers get the most out of life has been at the heart of what we do since 1869 and we achieve this by offering our customers easy, affordable access to the things they need, like healthy food, quality clothes, stylish homewares, the latest technology and more ways to manage their money. We strive to do all of this sustainably, so we can help our customers live well for less today and tomorrow.

We are a leading multi brand, multi-channel retailer, with a growing online and digital business, fast, convenient delivery capability and a structurally advantaged store estate of over 1,400 Sainsbury’s supermarkets and convenience stores and almost 900 Argos stores in stand-alone and supermarket locations. The Habitat brand is available in 16 locations and online.

We employ 172,000 colleagues who are integral to our success, now and in the future.

 

About Comic Relief

 Comic Relief raises money to support people living incredibly tough lives. Through humour and stories of hope, we’ve shown that people can make a massive difference. We fund hundreds of amazing organisations who are working on the ground to support the most vulnerable people and communities in society including many of those hardest hit by the coronavirus crisis. This includes vulnerable children and young people, people who are homeless or who have been forced to flee their homes, women and families at risk of domestic abuse and those struggling with existing or new mental health problems.

For information about Comic Relief and the work it carries out, please visit www.comicrelief.com

Comic Relief, which is the operating name of Charity Projects, registered charity 326568 (England/Wales); SC039730 (Scotland)