Charitable Giving

The biggest contribution that Steenbergs can make to social justice and environmental sustainability is through our business activities, and making sure we act in an ethical way day-in, day-out.  Further, we firmly believe that addressing environmental sustainability (the environmental emergency) is, also, one of the key drivers for social justice, and vice versa.  Furthermore, we support charitable activity by the business, our employees and others in our local area.

Strategy

  • To support charitable activity by Steenbergs, our staff and within the local area, taking into account the environmental and social aims of the business.
  • No political or similar donations or activities.

What We Do?

We are far from perfect and cannot address every aspect of every bad in the world.  So, Steenbergs has the target to pay 0.5% of sales to charities.  Most of this relates to payments to Fairtrade, but the balance is paid to charities for causes chosen by employees or suppliers. 

In terms of charities supported, in 2019, we made donations to a colleague who did the Macmillan Cancer Support Mighty Hike on the Northumberland Coast, and our bank manager who ran the London Marathon for Children for Cancer.  Then, in terms of time given, staff do "tin rattling" for Marie Curie at Morrisons and sorting donations at Oxfam - both in Boroughbridge.  Axel and Sophie help with events in the village, seeming to have been put in charge of the tombola for the rest of our lives (20 years already under our balt!).  And we will always consider (and mostly do) give product for raffle prizes.

Our staff have a discount that allows them to buy any products at trade prices.

As ambient dry food products, there is a long shelf, with very little being "old".  For any "old" products, these are offered "free of charge" to staff firstly, then afterwards we give them to the food bank in Ripon.

However, we admit that our charitable giving is very ad hoc, personally driven and largely unplanned, not very corporate at all.

We are currently reviewing this approach, but when we have had more formalised charitable programs through Steenbergs, it has never felt morally right - ever so slightly wrong - so let's wait and see where our thoughts take us.