Children
Helping to change lives and tackle poverty
The foundation has donated over £6million to children’s charities and you can read about some of our projects below. Even before the pandemic 4.3 million children were living in poverty in the UK and that figure is rising rapidly. We are committed to doing all we can to help those children, working towards a brighter future for them with our charity partners.
What are we doing to help?
Investing early in naming emotions and encouraging everyone to talk about them really will help the next generation to thrive!
Royal Foundation Business Taskforce - Emoji Poster
Raising awareness of the vital importance of the first 0-5 years in all children through Emoji Posters in store
Iceland is proud to be a member of the Business Taskforce for Early Childhood, an initiative led by The Princess of Wales through the Royal Foundation. The Business Taskforce was created to play an essential role in The Princess of Wales’ work to transform the way in which society prioritises and supports children and the ecosystems around them in their earliest years.
As part of this taskforce one of our commitments is to explore innovative and creative ways of raising awareness of the vital importance of the first 0-5 years in all children.
We are doing this by providing learning, awareness and support in all 1,000 Iceland and The Food Warehouse stores by featuring emoji posters at a child friendly height. Learning about and naming emotions is a very important part of a child’s development and underpins mental health in later years. The emoji poster is a fun way to introduce emotions to children and will encourage parents and carers talk to children about emotions in a very simple way.
It will also act as a practical tool to help customers with young children and to create a space of understanding and support in stores, reaching 5 million customers every week.
As part of the poster we also feature details of Action For Children’s ‘Parent Talk’ helpline.
Comedian, Jason Manford visited some of the families who are beneficiaries of the charity, surprising them with deliveries of food and toys in our Action for Children ‘Secret Santa van’ and hearing some of the challenges they face first hand.
“Since 2020, Iceland Foods Charitable Foundation has donated over £1 million to support Action for Children. With 4.2 million children in the UK currently living in poverty, and many more families suffering as
we get deeper into the cost-of-living crisis, Iceland Foods Charitable Foundation’s support has been absolutely vital. Every penny raised has helped support vulnerable children and families through the Crisis
Fund, supporting hard-hit families who would otherwise struggle to pay the bills and put food on the table. Thank you Iceland Foods Charitable Foundation your support is making an incredible difference in children
and young people’s lives and having an impact that will last a lifetime.”Locks Farmer
Managing Director, Fundraising, Communications & Policy
Action for Children
Action for Children
Our partnership with Action for Children started in 2020
and we have raised over £1 million to support vulnerable
children, young people and families across the UK to have a safe and happy childhood.
In 2020 and 2021 we made every single one of our colleagues a Secret Santa giving children in need essentials during the festive period.
In 2022 we continued our support by nominating Action for Children as our charity partner for 2022. Through our amazing store colleagues we were able to add vital funds to the Iceland Winter Crisis fund. The fund helped Action for Children services, with emergency financial assistance to meet the cost of daily essentials, such as food, utility bills, baby items, clothing, cleaning products and home learning resources. This support helped to relieve the stress and ensure more vulnerable families could provide their families with nutritious meals at a crucial time.
Our support of Action for Children has meant that an additional 6,448 families across the UK received vital grants, supporting a total of 16,174 vulnerable children and young
people since 2021
We were proud to have been short-listed in the category 'Challenge Event of the Year' at the Business Charity Awards 2023.
Boycott Your Bed
On Friday 7th October 2022: IFCF Trustees Richard Walker
and Paul Dhaliwal and team members from Iceland’s
headquarters took part in Action for Children’s ‘Boycott
your Bed’ campaign at Zip World, North Wales
Richard, Paul and colleagues braved the dark (and heights!) by sleeping out in a 180-year-old rock cavern, measuring twice the size of St Paul’s Cathedral. Paul and Richard were suspended on a zipline, while colleagues slept out on giant trampoline-like nets hanging from the rock face.
Children and young people supported by local Action for Children services were invited to be a part of the event during the day before the sleepout. A small group of children, parents and carers excitedly joined Richard and Paul on the ‘Titan’ zipline, while a session on Zip World’s ‘Bounce Below’ trampolines was enjoyed by a larger group.
The Iceland Foods Boycott your Bed event raised £40,000, ensuring IFCF’s total donations to Action for Children reached the £1 million target.
Our support helped many projects including new technology equipment, vital research work and essential toys for distraction therapy.
__________________________________________It is an honour to be partnered with the Iceland Foods Charitable Foundation as we share a purpose – we both exist to improve the lives of families. Through their incredible support of our Imagine Appeal, raising over £3m, they have advanced our pioneering medical work as well as brought a more vibrant environment for our young patients and their families. Working with such generous people gives us hope for a healthier future for all.
Fiona Ashcroft, CEO, Alder Hey Children’s Charity
Alder Hey Children’s Hospital
Over the years IFCF have donated more than £3million to Alder Hey in Liverpool, a specialist hospital where they treat 900 children every single day.
Our support helped many projects including new technology equipment, vital research work and essential toys for distraction therapy.
In 2017 Iceland continued its support by donating five pence from each sale of the Hungry Heroes range to Alder Hey Children’s Charity, to provide vital support for Alder Hey’s unique ward chef service in its hospital ‘Alder Hey in the Park’.
For kids, for better...
In 2015/16 the focus of the Foundation was on “For kids, for better” and IFCF raised money for three great children’s charities: the Children’s Food Trust, NYAS (National Youth Advocacy Service) and When You Wish Upon A Star.
Children's Food Trust
The Children's Food Trust existed to give specialist advice to anyone who provided food for children.
Our support was focused on teaching children in foster care and residential homes the importance of nutritious food and helping them to develop cooking skills.
National Youth Advocacy Service
NYAS is a UK Charity offering information, advice, advocacy and legal representation to children, young people and vulnerable adults.
Our support was focused on their National Helpline, enabling NYAS to expand the team taking calls and extend its opening hours.
When You Wish Upon a Star
This is a national charity dedicated to granting wishes for children with life threatening or terminal illness.
Iceland funded a Winter Wonderland break for 50 families at Center Parcs before Christmas 2015.
