Fuelling learning with Magic Breakfast

BAE Systems is supporting Magic Breakfast to provide healthy school breakfasts to children across the UK who can arrive at school too hungry to learn.

The Company is donating £100,000 to support the charity’s work in combatting hunger, as part of its commitment to support local communities in which it operates and help ensure young people from all backgrounds can achieve their full potential.

Magic Breakfast’s research shows that when a child has a breakfast, they have more energy and can concentrate better in the classroom. The money from BAE Systems will help to provide the equivalent of over 350,000 breakfasts, ensuring that more than 1,800 children get a nutritional start to the school day for a whole year.

Director of Fundraising and Development at Magic Breakfast, Emily Wilkie, said: “Sadly the scale of food insecurity is now soaring and there are more than four million children at risk of arriving to school hungry, providing a significant barrier to their education. We know a hungry child cannot concentrate, putting them at risk of missing vital hours of morning learning.

“This extremely generous donation from BAE Systems will enable us to carry on supporting children and young people in some of the most disadvantaged areas of England and Scotland and help set them up for the day.”

Tania Gandamihardja, Group Human Resource Director at BAE Systems, said: “With more than 50 sites across the UK, we’re committed to investing in the cities, towns, and villages where our people live and work.

“We operate in some of the most disadvantaged areas of the country and as a major employer of young people through our extensive graduate and apprentice programmes, we want to help give children the best chance of success at school and beyond.”

In December, BAE Systems also pledged £160,000 to foodbanks across the UK to help with the increased demand these services are experiencing this winter. In 2021, BAE Systems contributed more than £11m to organisations across the world through charitable sponsorships, donations, employee fundraising and volunteering.

Learn more about Magic Breakfast here. To find out more about the Company’s community investment programme, click here.

About Magic Breakfast: 

Magic Breakfast is a registered charity providing healthy breakfasts to children and young people in the UK who can arrive at school too hungry to learn, and expert support to their schools. The charity works with around 1,000 Primary, Secondary, ASL/Special Educational Needs Schools, and Pupil Referral Units in disadvantaged areas of Scotland and England, offering breakfasts to around 200,000 children to ensure they start their school day with the energy and nutrition they need to be able to make the most of their morning lessons.  Magic Breakfast also campaigns for long-term solutions to end hunger as a barrier to learning.