A BRADFORD primary school has become the 800th breakfast club opened by food-on-the-go retailer Greggs and its charitable foundation.
The Greggs Foundation celebrated the milestone at Baildon Glen Primary School in Baildon, as the school open its doors at the latest breakfast club.
Part of Exceed Academies Trust, the school on Thompson Lane will offer 168 children a free breakfast to help them prepare for the school day ahead.
Breakfast options available to the pupils include toast, fruit and yoghurt and will ensure no child experiences hunger as a barrier to learning in the classroom.
As well as providing a nutritious morning meal, the daily breakfast club offers time for children to chat and engage with school staff before their classes begin.
Siobhan Barford, head of school at Baildon Glen Primary School, said: “We are delighted to be selected as the 800th school to receive funding for our breakfast provision through the Greggs Foundation.
“We are very much looking forward to working in partnership with the Greggs Foundation to make sure all our pupils are ready to learn and have access to a healthy breakfast each morning.”
As the cost-of-living crisis continues to impact children and families throughout the country, the Greggs Foundation offers all schools in its breakfast club network access to a hardship fund.
It can help those in financial crisis with support for food, clothing and energy vouchers and issued more than £1.4m in hardship grants in 2022.
Launched in 1999, the Greggs Foundation breakfast club programme has grown to serve free nutritious breakfasts to around 49,500 children every school day.
Greggs customers can also donate 25p to provide a free breakfast to a child in need when making a purchase in store.
The opening of the 800th Club marks a key moment for the business, with the Greggs Foundation on track to meet its ambition to open 1,000 Breakfast Clubs by 2025.
Roisin Currie, chief executive officer at Greggs, said: “No child should ever start their day without breakfast, which is why we pledged to open 1,000 Breakfast Clubs by 2025. It’s an honour to have opened our 800th Club in Shipley this morning, and to meet the pupils who will benefit from it.
“Our Breakfast Club programme has been running for over 20 years, and we look forward to continuing to support our local communities and meeting our goal to help provide breakfast to 70,000 children every day by the end of 2025."
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