A partnership between Warburtons, the UK’s largest bakery brand, and Calico Homes has successfully supported over 160 local Burnley residents with financial education and advice.
The Money Wise Community Guru project, which was part-funded by Warburtons through its national community programme, Families Matter, has equipped 12 volunteers with the right skills to support over 400 local residents. They gave support on a range of financial inclusion issues, such as welfare reform, debt management, benefits advice and access to basic bank accounts.
Each guru was given a toolkit of information to help them provide the best support and advice to each individual they work with. This knowledge has been passed on to the local community through a number of group and one-to-one sessions, including a local conference, support on managing and applying for benefits and debt awareness.
Alicia Foley, Community Involvement Officer at Calico, commented on the project:
“Our Money Wise Community Gurus are an invaluable part of our wider Financial Inclusion strategy. The backing from Warburtons allowed us to make sure that the gurus were equipped with the knowledge to make a real difference to local people struggling with financial issues.”
Brett Warburton, Executive Director at Warburtons, added:
“As a family business, we remain focused on building strong relationships with the communities in which we operate – and Burnley is no exception. Financial inclusion is an important issue that affects many people across the UK. By partnering with organisations like Calico, we can help to make communities feel more secure about their financial awareness.”
The £3,000 donation from Warburtons is part of its national community programme, Families Matter, which focuses on supporting families in local communities across Britain.
In addition to the Money Wise project, Warburtons supports the Burnley community through a number of initiatives:
• Supporting Calico’s new traineeship programme, by offering a work placement in the business starting from the end of April
• Running an employee volunteer mentoring programme to support students in two schools in the Burnley area
• Providing weekly supplies to a local food bank and supplying products for 12 breakfast and afterschool clubs, and 5 other community groups in Burnley – amounting to around 1,000 products per week.
Warburtons’ commitment to the Burnley community is also being reinforced through its plans to build a new, £20 million plant on Billington Road. The plant, which is expected to create 60 new local jobs, will produce Warburtons’ range of Sandwich Alternatives, including its Wraps and Sandwich Thins products.