Costa Coffee raises £10 million for Costa Foundation
- The Costa Foundation has educated over 45,000 children since it was founded in 2007
- The programme strives to improve the lives of people living in coffee growing communities by helping to facilitate a safe and quality education
- Costa on track to meet and exceed its target of raising £15m by 2020
Over 14,000 Costa team members across the UK as well as customers and suppliers, have come together to help Costa Coffee achieve a £10 million fundraising milestone for the Costa Foundation.
The Costa Foundation is an independent charity that aims to relieve poverty in coffee-growing communities. Its mission is to improve the life chances of children by providing them with the opportunity for a quality education. Since its launch in 2007 the Costa Foundation has supported 56 much needed school projects across nine countries – building or extending school buildings and providing essential facilities and equipment including connecting water supplies and supplying computers.
The biggest Costa Foundation project is in La Palma, Colombia, which has suffered decades of civil conflict. The ongoing issues have seen as many as 80% of the community displaced, having left their homes and families to seek temporary shelter in part of the jungle. To assist residents in re-building their lives back in La Palma, the Costa Foundation has built a community school with up to 10 classrooms, which will aim to serve both adults and children and provide local support and stability.
The Costa Foundation also provides funding for extracurricular citizenship lessons in HIV/AIDS awareness, gender equality, environment, sports and public speaking. These lessons have enabled forced marriage to be completely abolished in two communities in Ethiopia where the Costa Foundation operates, helping to challenge the traditional viewpoint that a girl is considered “ready” for marriage once she reaches puberty.
Dominic Paul, Managing Director at Costa, said: “It is amazing to see our passionate team across the UK come together to reach this target with the support of our customers and suppliers. At Costa we strive to be an integral part of the community and the Costa Foundation has a tremendous impact on the lives of people living in coffee growing areas, improving social and economic welfare through education. We are extremely proud that we can contribute £10 million to make a real difference to these communities.”
Fundraising activities include around 140 people hiking Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Mount Snowdon to achieve the iconic Three Peaks Challenge, as well Foundation Fortnight, taking place between 22nd August and 4th September 2016, an annual event where stores across the UK and Ireland participate in fundraising activities showcasing the Costa Foundations work and the importance of the charity.
The Costa Foundation currently funds facilitates and benefits communities in areas including Colombia, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Honduras, Peru, Nicaragua, Vietnam and Uganda.
For further information about the Costa Foundation or to read more case studies, please visit www.costafoundation.com.
For further information please contact:
Isabella Highett, International and Express Press Officer
Mob: +44 7824 081791
Email: isabella.highett@whitbread.com
Or visit www.costafoundation.com
About Costa
Founded in London by Italian brothers Sergio and Bruno Costa in 1971, our quality coffee was the premium choice for boutique hotels and restaurants across the city. Today we continue to roast the original Mocha Italia recipe in Old Paradise Street, London with our 100% Rainforest Alliance certified™ coffee remaining at the core of our quality coffee credentials.
With over 2,000 coffee shops in the UK and more than 1,240 in 31 overseas markets, we are the fastest growing coffee shop business in the UK. We’re proud to be the UK’s favourite coffee shop, having been awarded “Best Branded Coffee Shop Chain in the UK and Ireland” by Allegra Strategies for six years running (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 & December 2015).
Our people are the heart of our business and we employ over 30,000 people worldwide, with a target of 5,000 new jobs in the UK by 2020. Last year, we increased Barista pay by c.10%. Our Pay for progression model was introduced in October 2015, and our training rate of £7.20 was launched well ahead of National Living Wage.
As a popular, mainstream food and beverage brand, we can make a positive contribution towards customer health and wellbeing by investing in safe sourcing, new product development and consumer education. Health and wellbeing remains a strategic business focus area and we will continue to evolve our product offer over the coming years. We are working to reduce added sugar in our drinks by 25% by 2020 and will reduce salt in our sandwich range by a further 5% by 2017.
We care about the communities we operate in with our store teams volunteering over 10,000 hours of their time to lend support to over 900 local community projects.
Looking after coffee growers is extremely important to us, which is why we established The Costa Foundation, a registered charity with the aim to relieve poverty, advance education and the health and environment of coffee-growing communities around the world. So far, The Costa Foundation has funded the building of 56 schools and improved the social and economic welfare of coffee-growing communities. Find out more about the Costa Foundation at: www.costafoundation.com
