Greggs Foundation

The Foundation funds food insecurity interventions, including breakfast clubs and community kitchens that provide daily meals for primary school children facing deprivation. It also supports poverty relief through core funding for grassroots hubs addressing hunger, financial hardship, and essential needs such as food parcels, appliances, beds, and energy support for families in crisis. Priority activities include alleviating social isolation through befriending schemes, mentoring, and peer support groups for older people, disabled individuals, and voluntary carers. Health and wellbeing are enhanced via wraparound services and outreach, while family support programmes help prevent breakdown for carers of disabled children or those with complex needs. Geographically, the Foundation focuses on the most deprived communities near Greggs stores, especially across the North East of England, with mapped areas in Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, Durham, Teesside, Sunderland, and Stockton-on-Tees, as well as Leeds, Bradford, Glasgow, and Edinburgh.

The Foundation funds organisations only. Eligible bodies include registered charities, charitable incorporated organisations, community interest companies, social enterprises, and community groups. It looks for grassroots, community-led organisations rooted in the areas they serve, particularly those in the most deprived communities near Greggs stores. Lived-experience leadership is valued. There is no religious restriction. Applicants should serve the priority beneficiary groups set out above within the geographic areas listed, with a strong emphasis on the North East of England.

The Foundation’s giving is focused on grassroots, community-led work, so it generally does not fund national organisations, overseas projects, or animal charities. Similarly, uniformed groups and school curricular activities fall outside its scope, as do major capital works. Its focus remains on direct, local support for people and communities rather than large-scale infrastructure.

The Foundation favours core funding over project-specific grants, covering costs such as utilities, salaries, and administration. It welcomes unsolicited applications and prioritises grassroots organisations with lived-experience leadership and expertise in food provision. Its approach supports infrastructure and sustained connectedness, helping local services remain stable in the face of rising needs.