Purpose in action

Partnering with Neighbourly to make good food more accessible

08 May 2026

Making good food accessible together

Since 2021, Sainsbury’s has distributed over £5 million in community grants to more than 2,300 local charities and good causes through Neighbourly. These grants help support communities across the UK, funding local initiatives that tackle food poverty and help make good food more accessible to those who need it most.

By working closely with Neighbourly, we’re able to ensure support reaches organisations rooted in their communities – organisations that understand local needs and are best placed to make a meaningful difference.

Led by colleagues, driven by local need

Our community grants programme is powered by our colleagues.

Across the UK, our in-store Community Champions, Store Support Centre colleagues, and colleagues in our depots and local fulfilment centres nominate local good causes where support is needed the most – helping ensure funding is directed into organisations that understand their communities best. This locally led approach allows us to respond to real, on the ground needs and ensure support reaches the places where it can make the greatest difference.

Grants support a wide range of initiatives - from topping up food bank supplies to funding community cooking projects and kitchen equipment that help build skills, confidence and long-term food security. As part of our ambition to ensure good food is accessible to everyone, our community grants are designed specifically to tackle food insecurity - supporting organisations that provide essential access to food and helping drive long-term change in communities.

Working with Neighbourly

Neighbourly is an award-winning giving platform that connects businesses with vetted local charities, food banks and community groups across the UK and Ireland. Through Neighbourly, businesses and their colleagues can deliver meaningful support, including financial donations and volunteering, to communities where it is needed most. By matching available resources to local needs, Neighbourly helps ensure support reaches organisations best placed to make a difference.

To date, the Neighbourly platform has helped deliver over £2 billion of social value into local communities, with an ambition to reach £10 billion by 2030. Working in partnership with Neighbourly allows us to connect community grant funding to local causes more effectively at scale.

Our store has proudly supported 3Food4U since they first opened over five years ago. In addition to supporting them by collecting food donations from our generous customers, we were delighted to nominate them to apply for one of our Good food for all of us community grants. They are run entirely by volunteers and provide vital support to people in need in our local community - including more than 2,000 families every week.

Janine Ratican

Community Champion and Customer and Trading Manager, Sainsbury's Debden store

Across the UK, communities are benefitting from Sainsbury’s community grants to make a real difference locally. This film shows how our partnership with Neighbourly is helping charities and good causes turn funding into practical support – from helping organisations with access to good food, to supporting community led initiatives like the Southwick School Community Larder.

One example of the impact of our community grants can be seen at Southwick Primary School in Wiltshire.

A key aim of school life at Southwick is to help children become positive members of their local community and to understand the importance of food waste. With support from a Sainsbury’s community grant, the school provides the ‘Friends of Southwick School Community Larder’.

The larder enables families within the school community who need it most to help themselves to food. Funding from Sainsbury’s has been used to regularly top up the larder, ensuring it remains accessible, well stocked and able to support families facing financial pressures.

Through initiatives like this, community grants help strengthen local support networks while promoting dignity, inclusion and access to good food.

Creating lasting impact in communities

By supporting both immediate needs and longer-term resilience, our community grants programme plays an important role in helping tackle food poverty where it matters most.

It’s one of the ways we’re bringing our purpose to life – working alongside colleagues, partners and communities to ensure good food is accessible to everyone.

For more information on how we address food poverty in our communities visit:

Our approach to addressing food poverty in our communities

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