John Lewis Partnership Annual Report and Accounts 2015

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John Lewis Partnership plc Annual Report and Accounts 2015 Waitrose performance (continued)

COMMUNITIES REVIEW

We are committed to making a positive contribution to society and our Partners and customers take more interest than ever in how we respond to the challenges emerging in a changing social landscape.

Building relationships with local communities becomes more important as we continue to grow, open new stores and expand our supply chain. In 2014/15, our investment was focussed on community giving and volunteering in the UK. Much of this was driven by our Partners and customers. We also supported projects to benefit supply chain communities overseas.

Community Matters

Our Community Matters scheme gives our Partners and customers a voice in how we give back. Partners and customers choose three charities each month, which Waitrose customers then vote for with a green token at the end of their shop.

Each month, every Waitrose branch donates £1,000 (£500 in convenience shops) between three local causes. Every three months, Waitrose.com also shares a donation of £25,000 between three national charities voted for by customers.

In total, in 2014/15, Waitrose donated £3.5m to good causes.

For more on Community Matters: www.waitrose.com/home/inspiration.html

Partner volunteering

Waitrose Partners can volunteer their time through a number of initiatives. We have been running our Community Matters Partner volunteering programme since 2012, sharing our time and skills for good causes. In 2014/15, we volunteered over 69,000 hours in the local community.

For the second year running, we also supported Business in the Community’s Give and Gain. More than 1,000 Partners spent their time promoting healthy eating through local organisations.

Inspiring young people with Grow and Sell

Sharing our skills and knowledge is a big part of our community activity.

For example, in 2014 we celebrated the second year of our Grow and Sell programme. This encourages 7–11 year olds in schools to grow their own produce, and sell it outside our shops. Schools are given classroom seed kits and Partners are able to teach children to identify where food comes from, the importance of seasonality and the fragility of producing food. As well as learning about food, children learn entrepreneurial skills. In 2014, we distributed close to 3,500 seed kits to schools – almost treble the number of the previous year. We added pollination to the syllabus, and launched our Grow and Sell app. The children raised up to £120 per class, which was donated back to their schools.

The Waitrose Foundation

As well as supporting communities in the UK, we also support projects overseas. 2015 marks the 10th anniversary of the Waitrose Foundation, an innovative supply chain collaboration that returns a percentage of profits from the sale of Waitrose Foundation produce, including avocados and green beans, to fund locally led sustainable programmes, chosen by the farmers and smallholders who grow them.

The Foundation is integral to Waitrose’s strategy, building thriving local communities to underpin fresh produce supply chains, enabling long-term security of supply. There are over 45 seasonal products sourced from South Africa, Kenya and Ghana. It’s invested over £7m and delivered 450 programmes – from income generation activities to after-school centres.

It’s funded through investment from all supply chain partners – Waitrose, exporters, importers and growers – and employs experts in the sourcing communities to empower local worker committees, ensuring funds are invested wisely. As part of a three year programme, the Foundation is providing accredited agricultural and life skills training to 500 young people in South Africa, currently unemployed or in seasonal employment. This programme is increasing the prospects for young people to access work and better jobs.

For more on the Waitrose Foundation: www.waitrose.com/home/inspiration.html

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