Primula Cheese contributes to over £6 million shared with good causes in 2022  

Every delicious squeeze of Primula supports good causes as we’re the cheese with a difference. We’re owned by Kavli Trust, and every year we donate millions of pounds to good causes. We find and fund projects that positively impact people’s lives in our community.  

We’ve proudly been donating all our profits to good causes for sixty years. In 2022, we shared over £6 million with good causes. We’re reflecting on a year where communities have faced immense challenges. But by choosing Primula Cheese, you’re helping to provide hope to communities throughout the UK and worldwide. Read the highlights below!

Primula begins 2022 with a bang

In January 2022, the Primula team surprised three local charities, Changing Lives, Bede Community Primary School and St Aiden’s Cottage. The charities all believed they were attending to present their case to receive funding. Instead, we surprised the three causes with donations totalling over £100,000!

Changing Lives were overwhelmed to receive a cheque of £65,000. They are dedicated to helping people experiencing hardships such as homelessness, sexual exploitation and poverty to rebuild their lives. The money donated has supported the charity to fund services and equipment for the people they work with. This includes exercise equipment, mindfulness and therapeutic activities and arts and crafts groups.

It was a great day of giving and it was great to be a part of it! Head over to our blog for the full story of the event.

Celebrating 60 years of donating all profits to good causes

In April, we celebrated 60 years of donating over £100 million to good causes. For the event, we invited the public to nominate local charities to receive a share of £45,000. Several charities including 4Louis, The Bradley Lowery Foundation, The Charlie Gard Foundation, Homeless Street Angels, and The Clothing Bank were selected to receive backing. 

We selected Succes4all because we wanted to support their incredible work with often disadvantaged children. We chose them because they improve children’s mental health and help communities to thrive. 

The Charlie Gard Foundation also received funding as the leading UK charity supporting children, adults and their families affected by mitochondrial disease. We awarded them £5,000 to support their pioneering research and the vital care they provide to families affected by the disease. 

Another highlight of the year for us and what a way to celebrate! See our Primula Spreads Easter joy news post for further details.

Kavli Trust funded causes supporting young peoples mental health and climate solutions

In recent years, Kavli Trust has increased its focus on projects to strengthen child and adolescent mental health as well as climate and environmental solutions in the UK and around the world. During 2022, we’ve allocated more than £3 million to UK-based good causes supporting research projects into youth mental health and charities supporting climate and environmental solutions, such as Cedarwood Trust, Bind and FareShare.  

Mental Health research

The effect of parent intervention on child and adolescent mental health is one of the research gaps Kavli Trust identified. The University of Oxford will be collaborating with The Norwegian Centre for Child Behavioural Development (NUBU) to carry out research and aim to fill this gap from 2023 to 2027. 

Research conducted at the University of Manchester strives to answer similar research gaps. The aim is to improve emotion regulation in teenagers, promote mental health awareness and regulation in schools and reduce the impacts of bullying, cyberbullying and loneliness in under-18s. Earlier this year, Kavli awarded approximately £786,560 to researchers at the University of Manchester for a study that will examine the effects of school-based life skills programme, “Passport – Skills for Life”. 

Kavli Trust is also funding SASH (Supporting Adolescents with Self-Harm), a three-year research trial aimed at testing a promising new intervention for young people who self-harm. The project is led by researchers at City, University of London, in collaboration with Queen Mary University of London, University College London, and the McPin Foundation. 

Climate Solutions

Cedarwood Trust is a charity that prevented people from going hungry during the Covid-19 pandemic by using up tonnes of donated food to create free, healthy meals for those who needed them. In the summer, we gave Cedarwood Trust a £171,000 donation to support their fight against waste and elevating food poverty. The funding will be used to create an environmentally friendly kitchen which will provide thousands of meals to vulnerable people. 

Surplus food will continue to be made into meals in the new eco-friendly industrial kitchen to support the Trust’s existing customers whilst tackling the environmental impact the food industry has on the planet. Incredibly, studies suggest that 30-40% of all food grown is not eaten, so we look forward to seeing the positive impact of reducing food waste on both our local community and the environment. Read the full story of our donation here.

Children North East

Recently we awarded Children North East with £170,000 to battle the impact of child poverty in our region. The charity will work with sixty schools across the North East, to introduce Poverty Proofing, the School Day programme. The programme will work with pupils, families and staff to identify ways that children are missing out at school due to money and come up with solutions.

 Leigh Elliot, Chief Executive at Children North East, said, “Kavli Trust’s generous support for our Poverty Proofing© work has made it possible to help schools create a school day in which every child can take part fully, regardless of their financial background. The funding could not come at a more important time as more families see their finances stretched by the rising cost-of-living.”

A triumphant end to 2022

Sharing Christmas Spirit

We wrapped up the year by sharing over £100,000 with three charities nominated by the Primula team. Feeding Families received £83,000 to fund their incredible work, which offers support and security to those experiencing food poverty. The expected rise in living costs will likely exacerbate the need for community organisations such as this, and we hope this funding will support them as they continue to deliver services at such a vital time. 

Juliet Sanders, CEO of Feeding Families, added, “Feeding Families is delighted to have the support of Primula. The demand for our services is rising worryingly this year and we are sure we haven’t seen the peak yet so it’s amazing when people see the need and get in early to help. This will make a massive difference to the families we help.” 

Bright Red are a charity improving the lives and treatment of those with Blood Cancer in the North East. They received a vital £22,000 investment. Our donation also included a minivan which will make it possible for Bright Red to provide on location services. This includes play therapy, complementary therapies and well being sessions for individuals and families affected by blood cancer. 

We’re humbled by the work of these incredible charities and good causes because they support communities most in need. This has been a challenging year for many and we are so grateful to be able to spread some happiness. Thank you for your support and love of Primula, which has positively impacted so many communities this year. We look forward to spreading more joy with every squeeze in 2023.  

Check out our recipes for more ways to spread joy with Primula Cheese. Head over to Kavli news for more information on our organisation’s support of good causes around the world.