Lakeland shoppers back South Cumbrian charities

Charity groups who support young people and older people across South Cumbria are amongst those benefiting from the generosity of shoppers at kitchenware retailer Lakeland.

The Windermere-based business, which has 58 shops and mail order customers all over the country, launched myLakeland in 2019. Club members get exclusive savings and offers and each time they shop, a few pence go to charity.

Some is donated to national organisations such as Shelter, the Trussell Trust and Woodland Trust but local charities benefit too through the myLakeland Community Fund, administered by Cumbria Community Foundation.

Steve Knights, chief executive of Lakeland, said: “Here at Lakeland, we're proud of doing our bit to support local and national causes. As a business, we regularly make contributions of both money and Lakeland products to organisations across the country, we also have our carrier bag fund which we donate the money generated from our 10p carrier bag charge to an environmental cause each year.

“Back in 2019 we launched our myLakeland loyalty club that gives members not only a huge range of savings but also every time customers make a purchase with us, we’ll add some pennies to our myLakeland charity pot. This charity pot supports both local and national causes, benefiting a range of charities close to our Lake District base with the help of the Cumbria Community Foundation. We are really proud to give this money to help charities carry on with their amazing work in the community.”

Sixteen groups in South Cumbria have benefited from a share of £150,000 since the fund was established in 2022.

They include the Kent Estuary Youth Project (KEY), which is receiving £30,000 over three years to cover running costs.

Trustee Hilary Fordham said: “The funding helps pay for our two full-time youth workers and a part-time admin assistant, and towards venues and equipment.”

KEY provides youth clubs, holiday activities and summer residentials for youngsters aged 11-19 in three villages: Milnthorpe, Arnside and Storth. It engaged with 200 young people last year.

Hilary added: “We’re a small charity. Without this funding we’d have to make difficult decisions about letting somebody go. Funders that support core running costs are few and far between, so we’re very grateful.”

South Lakeland Action on Climate Change has received £20,000 for its Waste into Wellbeing project, which takes food from supermarkets, shops and eateries that would otherwise be wasted to turn into nourishing meals.

These are provided on a pay-what-you-can basis or redistributed to residents in need through the Kendal Community Food Larder and Kendal People’s Café.

Stacy Hurley, development manager for Waste into Wellbeing, said: “We operate from multiple venues and have been looking for a permanent base, which we’ve secured at the old United Reformed Church in Highgate, Kendal.

“There’s a sports hall on that site that Waste into Wellbeing is taking on. The myLakeland grant will enable us to install a state-of-the-art catering kitchen. It will also house our community cooking project.”

Angela White – a former surgeon from Kendal, also known as ‘The Running Granny’ – set up Going for Old, a social enterprise to promote action for healthy ageing throughout all stages of life.

Going for Old has received £3,671 from the myLakeland Community Fund to deliver health and wellbeing workshops for the over-50s.

Angela said: “These are aimed at people who are not currently typically physically active but who are looking to make changes to their health.

“An important part of the initiative is to provide ongoing support via social media and website to motivate people along their journey.

“We have previously piloted a few workshops but would not have been able to scale it up to reach more people without this grant.”

Annalee Holliday, Head of Grants Practice & Programmes at Cumbria Community Foundation, said: "We're delighted to be supporting Lakeland, a home grown multi-million pound family business that is passionate in supporting some of the lesser-known local voluntary groups working in areas where their retail shops are based. The team at Lakeland are involved in reviewing funding requests and making the decisions of which ones to support, which creates a collective understanding of local issues."

In 2024, Lakeland is celebrating its 60th year of innovation and to celebrate this milestone they are going to be making an additional donation to Cumbria Community Foundation.

To find out more about the myLakeland Community Fund, visit: https://www.cumbriafoundation.org/fund/mylakeland-community-fund/