Business leaders from around the UK help to tackle local social issues

Child poverty is a growing problem of national concern. Last week, Greggs' Chief Executive Ken McMeikan led a delegation of business leaders from around the UK to witness the positive impact businesses can have on communities through breakfast club schemes.

Business leaders enjoy a Wake and Shake session at Carr Hill Primary School  

The Breakfast Clubs work because they are a simple model...Sharing our experience with prominent business leaders is an opportunity to spread the message about the positive action businesses can take to support their local communities further

The visit is part of The Prince's Seeing is Believing programme, which brings senior leaders together to witness   first hand the key social issues facing Britain today. 

Delegates included representatives from HSBC, Morrisons, UBS, Etihad Airways, Royal Bank of Scotland, KPMG, Beachcroft LLP,  Ridgeons  and regional businesses from the North East including Wardhadaway, Your Homes Newcastle and Gateshead College. 

The delegates visited Fell Dyke Primary School and Carr Hill Primary School, both in Gateshead, to meet pupils, parents and volunteers and hear how the Greggs Breakfast Clubs have helped make a difference in schools.  Delegates also heard from Dr Greta Defeyter of Northumbria University whose research has found that the Greggs Breakfast Clubs help children with attendance and punctuality, attentiveness and mood and nutrition, giving them a better start to their school day. 

Research undertaken by Barnardos indicates that as many as 1 in 9 schoolchildren regularly misses breakfast for economic reasons.  Greggs supports 168 primary school Breakfast Clubs nationwide – donating £250,000 each year to the Greggs Foundation to provide free, nutritious breakfasts to over 7,000 children in areas of social deprivation.

Greggs' Chief Executive Ken McMeikan, Regional Ambassador for HRH Prince of Wales and Business in the Community, said:

“It is deeply worrying that 2.6 million children in the UK are classed as living in poverty.  The Breakfast Clubs work because they are a simple model using volunteers from the school community supported by Greggs to provide a free, nutritious breakfast for the schoolchildren each morning.

Sharing our experience with prominent business leaders is an opportunity to spread the message about the positive action businesses can take to support their local communities further, particularly children living in poverty.”

Regional Director of Business in the Community, Karen Wilkinson-Bell, said “The Greggs Breakfast Clubs came about as a result of a Seeing is Believing visit over ten years ago.  Through their commitment to addressing social needs in the UK, Greggs have grown from one Breakfast Club to now feeding over 7,000 children each school day.  I am confident that by seeing what Greggs are doing, businesses will recognise and be inspired to identify ways in which they can make a positive impact on their local communities.”

The Seeing is Believing visit is part of a series of visits from Business in the Community, under the banner of ‘Transforming Business, Transforming Communities.’  The findings from these visits will be reported back to the Prime Minister and HRH Prince of Wales at a special event later in the year.

Visit http://www.greggsfoundation.org.uk to find out more about the Breakfast Club programme.