Asda has launched its Better Starts campaign, a socially-responsible programme which focuses on tackling hunger, diversity and wellbeing to help children across the UK reach their full potential.
As the UK’s third-largest supermarket chain, Asda plans to support 5 million children over the next five years.
The programme – which has already seen the retailer donating £125,000 to children’s poverty charity Buttle, to help families struggling to buy school uniform – will be focusing on three main areas of support as part of its belief that nothing should “stop kids being kids”.
The three-pronged approach will see Better Starts supporting children and their families by helping to remove hunger as a barrier to learning, boosting wellbeing through participation and connection and promoting diversity – so that children feel seen as well as valued.
To make a significant impact on children’s lives across the UK, Asda will be working closely with charity partners and community champions, as well as brands such as Kellogg’s, while the Asda Foundation will be offering additional financial support.
Liz Evans, managing director of George at Asda, said: “Asda Better Starts is our way to play our part, helping young people to reach their full potential by addressing the barriers that prevent kids getting on in life.
“We already work alongside great charity partners including BBC Children in Need, FareShare, Rethink Food and Diversity Role Models to support thousands of children every year, and we are so proud of our community champions who make a huge impact in their local communities, delivering educational activities in schools and accessing grants available through the Asda Foundation, to provide essential resources to local groups.”
The £125,000 donation to Buttle is the first major move from the Better Starts campaign and will allow the charity to provide school uniforms and other school essentials for 2,000 of the UK’s most vulnerable children.
Buttle UK’s ceo Joseph Howes said he was “delighted” to be working with George at Asda on the campaign, pointing out that: “The cost-of-living crisis is impacting us all, but buying school uniform – something that should be a great equaliser for children – is creating extra stress for those on the lowest incomes.”
