Pastry manufacturer supports local charities

Pastry producer Addo Food Group has continued to expand its charitable campaigns throughout lockdown, with its colleagues providing more than 17,000 hours of responsible activity throughout March, April, May and June.

The chilled pastry manufacturer, which has six sites across the UK including Palethorpes in Market Drayton, also provided 156 hours of work experience opportunities and its teams donated and raised more than £11,000 for local and national charities - by hosting 42 socially distanced charity events during the lockdown period.

Deborah Bolton, CEO of Addo Food Group said: “Despite these being extraordinary times, we are exceptionally proud that our teams have still managed to support local causes and help those less fortunate.

“Our Poole bakery has been donating generously to its chosen charity, Julia’s House, which provides support to families caring for children with life-limiting conditions. It has also been delivering food parcels to people in the local neighbourhood over the last few months. 

“Our Spalding and Palethorpes bakeries have been donating to their local food banks and in Nottingham, our two sites have been supporting a charity which provides free meals to the homeless and those in need, as well as supporting the Queen’s Medical Centre hospital. At Tottle bakery, we even packed goodie bags for a local residential home to help them enjoy their VE day celebration while in isolation.”

The teams at Addo Food Group have also been running group-wide fundraising efforts to support the NHS Together Charities. The challenges, including the “Pasty Quiz of the Year”, saw the group raise more than £2,500 in aid of the hard-working frontline staff. The team also held a “Miles for Meals” virtual trek challenge, which has so far raised £2,900 for a Nottinghamshire-based homelessness charity.

Deborah said: “As a responsible employer, we believe it is very important to support our local communities. Although the crisis has proved challenging for businesses in any industry, we feel very lucky that food manufacturing was classed as ‘essential work’ – this meant we were able to continue operating and recruiting, helping to support those previously working within other hard-hit sectors with opportunities for work.  

“We would like to thank our fantastic colleagues for their continued hard work in the last few months. By going the extra mile, they have helped us donate thousands of hours and pounds to our local charities and communities.”