Waitrose & Partners Community Matters
We support good causes. You decide who gets what.
By placing a token in the Community Matters box at your local branch you’re helping your community. Since its launch in 2008, the scheme has donated over £30 million to good causes in store and online
At the end of your shop in branch, you’ll receive a token to place in a box of the good cause you’d most like to support. The more tokens a cause gets, the bigger the donation they receive. Each month every Waitrose & Partners branch donates £1,000 (£500 in Convenience shops) between 3 local good causes that you choose.
Online, Waitrose.com also shares a donation of £25,000 between 3 national causes. After checkout, you will be asked to vote for one of the national causes we are supporting. Each cause will receive a share according to the number of votes - just as we do in our branches.
Our short video explains how you have the power to make a difference, and the easiest way to get involved.
Find out more about our partner volunteering>
National causes we are currently supporting on Waitrose.com
Young Minds
Hospice UK
The Salvation Army
Young Minds
The crisis in children and young people’s mental health is real and it’s urgent!
A staggering 3 children in every classroom are suffering with a diagnosable mental illness such as self-harm, depression or anxiety. Shockingly, suicide is the number one killer of young people in the UK.
With children’s mental health services at breaking point, it is extremely difficult for these children and their families to get the help that they desperately need.
For so many children and young people, no-one will play a bigger part in their mental health journey than their parents or carers. But sometimes it can feel impossible to know how to be there for your children when they are struggling, or to feel confident you are doing the right thing.
The parents and carers that our team speak to are very often desperately worried for their children and during the wait for professional help, we know that children can begin self-harming, become suicidal, and struggle to remain in full-time education, quickly resulting in significant strain on the wider family. Some parents tell us that they have resorted to giving up their job in order to look after their child. For these families, the impact of Parents Helpline extends far beyond the direct impact to the child experiencing poor mental health.
“Dad said that thanks to your call back he has been able to access the help he desperately needed and that he would not have been able to do this without your advice. He described you as being unbelievably excellent.”
Last year our trained advisors supported nearly 12,000 families who need guidance, practical advice or just a listening ear during a difficult time. Your vote will help us to provide this unique service to parents helping them get the support they need.
Hospice UK
Hospice UK champion and support over 200 local hospices across the UK, who care for over 200,000 adults, children and babies every year, and support their families too. We support hospice professionals and champion hospice care nationally, to help hospice care providers deliver the highest quality of care to people with life-limiting or terminal conditions and their families.
Like Sue and Duncan, who felt overwhelmed when they were told six-week-old Skylar had a rare condition called dystonia, which causes uncontrolled muscle cramps and spasms as well as body twisting and tremors. The news was heart-breaking for the family, but hospice care has made the family feel safe and supported again.
“Skylar was in so much distress, crying and screaming all the time,” said mum Sue, “and we knew she was in pain. We were at breaking point. Then Keech Hospice Care was there.”
On their first visit to the Keech they were just blown away. The team changed Skylar’s medication and within a few hours, the transformation was amazing. The hospice has helped them swim as a family and use the hydrotherapy pool to relax Skylar, and given them the opportunity to take trips as a family. “Before, I was scared to go out on my own with Skylar in case something happened. Now, day trips with Keech get us out of the house, the hospice staff are there if Skylar is poorly and all the parents support each other.”
Hospice care is so much more than a building where people go to die, but sadly, on average more than 335 people every day won’t access the compassionate, expert care that hospices across the UK provide.
With the support of Waitrose Community Matters and your vote, we will work to ensure that everyone who needs hospice care, gets it.
The Salvation Army
Maria came to the UK from India with the promise of learning English. But it was a lie. The man who met her in London, supposedly to enrol her in a language course, worked in the slave trade. He drugged her and left her unconscious.
When she woke she found herself alone and locked in a room. She had been sold. This was the start of a long ordeal where Maria was beaten, starved and forced to sleep with men every day.
Maria eventually escaped and was placed in the care of The Salvation Army. At our safe house, the manager Alison and her specialist staff befriended Maria her and helped her recover from her terrible ordeal.
Maria is one of many people who come into the care of The Salvation Army after being exploited as slaves. And with Anti-Slavery Day falling on 18th October, there is no better time to remember the people who are living as slaves here in the UK.
The Salvation Army gives specialist support to all adult victims of modern slavery in England and Wales and their dependents who are referred to them by the Government. The services we provide include sheltering them in a safe house, counselling, access to legal and medical support and advice on housing and employment.
Your donation could support our Victim Care Fund, which helps people with essentials such as clothing for them and their children, maternity and baby items, and basic household items which they will need to set up new homes as they start a new life.
Community Matters results
To see the results and amounts that we have donated to previous charities click here
Contact us
If you are a UK-registered national charity and would like to be considered for our Community Matters Online initiative then please post your applications on headed paper for consideration to:
Waitrose & Partners Community Matters Team
Waitrose & Partners
Doncastle Road
Bracknell
Berkshire
RG12 8YA
Please give a brief outline of the work your charity does along with details of any current projects that you are seeking funding for. This should be no more than one side of A4. The Community Matters Team will then only contact you if your application is successful or if they require further details.
If you are a local charity or not for profit organisation and you would like to be considered for Community Matters in one of our branches, please go to your local branch, complete a nomination form and hand it in at the Welcome Desk. If you are successful the branch Community Matters Champion will be in touch. All applications are held for 6 months.