Woolworths has always subscribed to being a responsible and valuable corporate citizen in South Africa. In 2003, our Corporate Social Investment (CSI) was formalized in line with global best practice with the formation of the Woolworths Trust. This legal entity is managed by a Board of Trustees who oversees our activities in line with our CSI Policy. The Woolworths CSI strategy is aligned both to our core business strategy and to the stated national development priorities of South Africa. Our involvement in the community is a further expression of Woolworths Inclusive Justice Initiative, aimed at realising our bold transformation vision of “Inspiring Inclusive Growth for all of our People”

We strive to make a meaningful difference to the social development agenda of our country by supporting projects and programmes that improve food security and uplift education. We are committed to have an impact on #zerohunger2030.

We focus on offering funding for carefully chosen projects. Amongst others, we provide much-needed financial support to partners such as:

The National Education Collaboration Trust

A partnership initiative involving government, business, labour and civil society aimed at helping deeply rural, under-developed schools overcome massive challenges and improve their learning outcomes.

The Living Soils Community Learning Farm

The Living Soils Community Learning Farm is a pilot project to grow nutrient-rich food, in partnership with Woolworths, Spier Wine Farm and the Sustainability Institute. It was launched in March 2019 and involves training and development to empower emerging, young women farmers with the skills to tackle food insecurity and to ensure local youth employment.

FoodForwardSA

We’re working with FoodForwardSA to help increase accessibility of food, effectively distributing food through charity networks, and donating over 1.1 million meals.

We are also able to help hundreds of local small-scale farmers, young entrepreneurs and community food gardeners increase the yields of their gardens and small holdings. We do this by supporting several organisations across the country.

The Trust also oversees the donation of hundreds of millions of rands worth of surplus food to thousands of charities around the country annually.

We respond to national or regionally declared disasters, with our long-term disaster relief partner Gift of the Givers, and play a role in providing support to both victims and disaster relief workers.

We provide support and encourage the involvement of Woolworths colleagues in their communities through initiatives such as Matching Funds and Mandela Day. It is through the efforts of colleagues that the Trust can extend its reach and make more of the difference to others.

None of this would be possible without the support of our customers and suppliers. We are grateful to all the MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet supporters who chose the Trust as their beneficiary, and to the many Woolworths suppliers and employees who take part in fundraising activities like the Triathlon.

To read more about our commitment to Zerohunger click  here www.woolworths.co.za/zerohunger