Tesco provides 2M charity magic breakfasts

Tesco donated more than 2M bowls of cereal to the charity Magic Breakfast clubs during the 2014/15 school year, according to the retailer.

The charity received 2,256,471 bowls of cereal which were given to UK children in a bid to tackle hunger and improve pupils’ concentration, behaviour, attendance, punctuality and educational attainment.

Magic Breakfast provides free, healthy breakfasts to children in the UK who arrive at school too hungry to learn. Eating a nutritious breakfast helps to improve a child’s concentration, behaviour, well-being and educational attainment.  

Magic Breakfast’s founder director Carmel McConnell said the “very generous donation” had boosted the charity’s healthy food offer.

Eliminate child hunger

“We want to eliminate child hunger as a barrier to learning in our classrooms and feel very grateful for Tesco support and for their desire to help us expand,” she said.

“With partnerships like this I believe we can solve this problem for good”.

Magic Breakfast provides free, nutritious breakfasts to more than 460 UK schools where over 35% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, she added.

Magic Breakfast facts

  • In the Autumn term 2015 over 22,000 children will eat a ‘magic’ breakfast each school day
  • 1 in 4 children only have one hot meal a day
  • It costs 22p to provide a child with breakfast
  • Magic Breakfast partner schools received 2,726 boxes of Tesco cereal *
  • 57,246 bowls of cereal *

*In the week commencing September 7 2015

The four types of cereal donated by Tesco – Cornflakes, Rice Snaps, Wheat Biscuits and Malt Wheats – were selected by Magic Breakfast to comply with the government’s School Food Standards and with the charity’s own guidelines for a healthy diet low in sugar and salt.

Big difference

Tesco’s corporate responsibility director Josh Hardie said it was fantastic it could make a big differencea “child’s academic achievement”.

“Magic Breakfast also does fantastic work to promote a healthy diet to children, something we’re absolutely committed to at Tesco,” he said.

“We’re really proud to work closely with them and look forward to donating more cereal throughout this year.”

Meanwhile, the Kellogg Company announced a partnership with food business Tolaram Africa to develop snacks and breakfast foods for the West African market.

The cereal manufacturer also launched a special edition ‘Queen Flakes’ to commemorate the Queen Elizabeth II’s becoming Britain’s longest reigning monarch last week