HARIBO UK announce charity partnership to combat loneliness

HARIBO UK and The Together Project launch new partnership to combat loneliness on UN International Day of Happiness.

On 20th March 2025, UN International Day of Happiness, HARIBO UK celebrated by announcing a new charity partnership with the Together Project to help bring more moments of happiness to West Yorkshire.

The charity partnership will bring the Together Project’s Songs & Smiles sessions to our home of West Yorkshire for the first time.

The Songs & Smiles programme is a series of sessions in local care homes, where song and play helps forge friendships between older people, parents and guardians and their little ones. The sessions help to combat loneliness among older people, new parents and carers.

In previous Songs & Smiles programmes around the country, 100% of care homes said that the sessions bring joy to their residents and 73% of parents taking part said they feel less lonely.

In West Yorkshire, official data shows that 8.3% of adults often or always feel lonely, higher than the national average of 7%. The overall mission of the programme is to bring people together and celebrate moments of childlike happiness.

With the support of HARIBO UK, the Together Project is hoping to more than double its Songs & Smiles programme in 2025, with over 2,200 sessions, over 5,500 beneficiaries, and 6 groups in West Yorkshire.

All HARIBO UK colleagues are able to take part in the Together Project initiative, as Haribo employees have been invited to nominate care homes that they have a personal connection with to take part in the Songs & Smiles sessions.

Celebrating the launch of the partnership, Jon Hughes, Managing Director of HARIBO UK & Ireland shared: “At HARIBO UK, we’ve always believed that whether you’re young or young at heart, everyone should be able to enjoy moments of childlike happiness.

“Being able to partner with the Together Project is a proud moment for us to support more initiatives which share this commitment – this time, with a specific focus on combatting loneliness.

“West Yorkshire has been our home for over 50 years now, so the opportunity to bring the Songs & Smiles project to the local community for the first time is really special; even more so because we can involve all HARIBO colleagues throughout the nomination process and support care homes with personal connections to our team.”

Louise Goulden, Founder and CEO of the Together Project echoed this enthusiasm, reflecting: “Today is an exciting moment for the Together Project as we expand our Songs & Smiles programme into a new part of the UK.

“At a time when small charities are faced with an exceptionally challenging fundraising landscape, HARIBO UK’s financial support is vital to reducing loneliness and helping isolated people build connections. Without funding opportunities such as this, organisations of our size would struggle to exist.

“We are really excited that this partnership allows us to establish a presence in West Yorkshire and work with HARIBO UK on their mission to create more moments of happiness, bringing people of all ages together to reduce social isolation in their local community.”