Supporting Our Communities During Covid-19

From Soreen malt loaf and Ginsters pasties going to hospitals and charities supporting those in need, plus delivering in our Leicestershire heartland to the NHS and local community organisations – Cold Chain Federation member Samworth Brothers businesses and colleagues are supporting their communities in many ways during this crisis.

In Leicestershire we have been working in close collaboration with food surplus charity FareShare and our food redistributor partner The Company Shop. Teams in Leicestershire have helped deliver emergency food hampers to vulnerable families plus supported local community organisations in other ways including food drops to Leicestershire hospitals and other key worker locations, such as Leicester Prison and local fire and ambulance stations.  We helped the Mowbray Education Trust in Melton Mowbray deliver important food supplies and co-ordinated a food hamper drop with Blaby Council.

Drivers from our Coldcall and Samworth Brothers Supply Chain business have played a vital role in the effort undertaking dozens of deliveries.  The teams also co-ordinated a massive 16,000 Easter egg donation to Leicester hospitals and other key workers.

Our brands have also been out and about doing their bit. In the South West the Ginsters team are supporting over 33 charities and have donated over 21k pasties and slices to date, both helping to feed frontline teams and charities that support those most in need during the lockdown. These include Devon and Cornwall Food for Action, which is being provided with regular product deliveries, plus the Trussell Trust, Derriford Hospital and the Salvation Army in Devon and Cornwall as well as other South West charities.  On a more national level Ginsters regional offices are also supporting charities such as Haig Housing in Warrington, which provides housing assistance to ex-Service people, and Miranda House in Humberside, which supports patients with mental health conditions, plus good causes in other regions. The Ginsters team has also loaned fridges to the Cornwall Food4Heroes project, four NHS sites and a local Cornwall food bank, so they can store and distribute chilled products

This week Soreen launched an initiative with Checkout Smart so NHS workers and other key workers can redeem thousands of Soreen snacks for free. Other Soreen donations have been to Hotel Football, open to key workers at Old Trafford, and hospitals such as Salford Royal, Nightingale London and Cheltenham and charities such as “The Bread and Butter Thing’ in Manchester

Elsewhere we have supplied surplus raw materials to Compassion London, a group of chefs and volunteers making healthy and nutritious meals for NHS, support workers and vulnerable people.

Support has been given in other ways. A development chef at one of our Leicester sites hosted a Zoom cookery teach-in for youngsters supported by our long-term partner, Leicestershire Cares.

Samworth Brothers Head of Responsible Business said “Over our long history Samworth Brothers has always taken pride in being a responsible business that makes a positive contribution to society.  In usual times our businesses are active in supporting our local and wider communities, so in many cases we are working with existing and long-standing partners, as well as new partners, to help make things happen.”