Sainsbury’s commits £8m to tackle holiday hunger as its colleagues help by ‘moving for meals’

• Sainsbury’s has committed £8m through its partnership with Comic Relief to complement the Government’s holiday club programme, helping combat school holiday hunger

• The retailer is calling for the Government to extend the programme to cover all school holidays and to align with free school meals eligibility

• In support of the partnership, thousands of Sainsbury’s and Argos colleagues are taking on physical challenges to raise money for Comic Relief, with the retailer matching all donations*

• The bold fundraising push is working towards Sainsbury’s ambition to raise £30m by 2030, helping to donate a total of 120 million meals donated to children and families across the UK since 2022**

Sainsbury’s and Comic Relief have announced that they are investing over £8m of donations raised through their charity partnership into complementing the Government’s Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme.

With over 2 million children living in food insecure households in the UK***, and many missing out on Government funded holiday provision due to continued strict eligibility thresholds, school holidays create a sharp gap where families struggle to provide enough nutritious food for their children, without the lifeline of free school meals provided during term time. Holiday clubs are vital in bridging this gap, guaranteeing children a healthy meal during the school holidays, alongside enriching activities and support.

Working together to tackle food insecurity in the UK, the funding from Sainsbury’s and Comic Relief will help create additional holiday club places, including this summer, until at least March 2029. This funding builds on two years of support already, which means that by the end of the new three-year commitment, Sainsbury’s will have funded over 500,000 new holiday club places in total, for children who may otherwise miss out.

Sainsbury’s is also calling for the Government to go further and close this “hunger gap” - by expanding HAF to cover all school holidays, including half-terms, and aligning eligibility with Free School Meals - so children don’t lose vital support when term time ends.

Niamh****, whose children attended a holiday club funded by Sainsbury’s and Comic Relief, said: “When other families are looking forward to the sun or going away somewhere nice, my stomach sinks with this awful knot in it, knowing we are going to struggle. But this year, I knew that support was there, and it was such a relief.”

To help achieve its ambition to raise £30 million for Comic Relief by 2030, Sainsbury’s has kicked off a bold, all-colleague fundraising push – ‘Move for Meals’. Across July and August, Sainsbury’s and Argos colleagues across the UK will be taking on epic challenges including an Olympic torch-style relay race from Wick to Penzance, a football tournament and a 200-person sports day in the London Stadium at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

Ruth Cranston, Director of Sustainability at Sainsbury’s, said: “Too many children are at risk of going without the food they need during the school holidays – something we simply can’t ignore. We need continued, systemwide action to close the holiday hunger gap, so that no child goes hungry. That’s why we're committing a significant investment into complementing the Government’s Holiday Activities and Food programme, so that more children access nutritious food when they need it most.

“It’s been incredible to see our colleagues rally behind this cause – taking on everything from personal challenges to team events right across the UK to raise vital funds for Comic Relief and the organisations working on the ground to tackle food insecurity.”

Samir Patel, CEO of Comic Relief, said: “The school holidays should be a time for children to play, build confidence and make lasting memories. But for many families, they can bring additional worry and pressure when household budgets are already stretched. No child should miss out on nutritious food and enriching opportunities because of their circumstances or the time of year.

“This additional investment in the Holiday Activities and Food programme will mean that more children can eat, learn and play when school’s out. Creating lasting change takes all of us working together, and we’re grateful to everyone who has donated or fundraised so far. We look forward to building on the huge impact we've made to date so we can help even more children and families access the support they urgently need.”

Andrew Forsey OBE, National Director of Feeding Britain, adds: “This is a significant and hugely welcome commitment from Sainsbury's, which will enable many more children and young people to enjoy nutritious meals and enriching activities during school holidays. We are enormously grateful for their ongoing support in the fight against "holiday hunger" in the UK, not least by complementing the HAF programme in this way over these next three years.”

Feeding Britain led the successful campaign, in 2017, which resulted in the introduction of HAF – a series of regional pilots tested the model in 2018, 2019, and 2020 – and then helped the co-design of the programme, led by Professor Greta Defeyter, Chair of Feeding Britain, ahead of its nationwide rollout in 2021. At that time, Feeding Britain convened the HAF Alliance of organisations to support the ongoing funding and development of the programme.

Today’s announcement forms part of Comic Relief and Sainsbury’s joint ambition to raise £30 million by 2030, doubling its impact to date, to reach a total of 120 million meals donated to children and families across the UK since 2022. Funds will go towards supporting UK organisations helping children and families access healthy food, including through holiday clubs, food clubs and after-school meals.

Sainsbury's customers can donate to Comic Relief in-store, online, or by converting and donating Nectar points. The retailer will match all customer donations made to Comic Relief until 31 July 2026*.

*Sainsbury’s will match all donations made to Comic Relief instore and online between 1 July and 31 July 2026. Matching applies to monetary donations only. Donations will go to support our ambition to donate £6 million to Comic Relief this year which is the equivalent of 12 million meals to be distributed by Comic Relief’s funded partners. Comic Relief is a registered charity in England & Wales (no. 326568) and Scotland (SC039730). For more information on our partnership visit www.sainsburys.co.uk/comicrelief.

**Sainsbury’s aims to raise £30 million for Comic Relief by 2030. Since 2022, Sainsbury’s has donated the equivalent of 60 million meals as part of its partnership with Comic Relief, and is now aiming to double that amount to donate the equivalent of 120 million meals, to be distributed by Comic Relief’s funded partners.

***1 in 7 households with children are currently food insecure (Food Foundation, Feb 2026).

****Name has been changed for anonymity.