Charitable giving

These funds provide valuable support to local, national and international charities, helping them to develop new programmes and support those in need.

Corporate giving

Each year, we set ourselves a target to donate at least 1% of our pre-tax profits to charities and good causes. In 2010/2011 we donated £64.3 million to charities and good causes through direct donations, cause-related marketing, gifts in kind, staff time and management costs. This represents 1.8% of our pre-tax profits – almost double our target.

Emergency relief and humanitarian aid

We work hard to respond quickly to natural disasters wherever they happen. Our partnership with the Red Cross has helped us to get funds to those in acute need. In 2010/2011, our emergency giving included donations to help the victims of floods in Central Europe and the Qinghai earthquake in China, as well as floods in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

We were one of the first businesses to respond to the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan in March 2011. We made a corporate donation of £50,000 as a Group, and allowed our UK customers to donate their Clubcard vouchers to the appeal. Our Japanese business worked with the Red Cross to enable customers in Tokyo to donate in-store, and matched staff and customer donations until the end of April 2011.

Tesco Foundation in the Czech Republic

We were named the ‘biggest donor in history’ in the Czech Republic by NROS, a Czech charitable foundation, when the Tesco Foundation raised CZK3.6 million (£122,000) for Help the Children through a cause-related marketing campaign with Procter & Gamble.

Charity of the Year

We run Charity of the Year campaigns in five markets to focus staff and customer fundraising. In each market, we select a Charity of the Year that represents a cause that our staff and customers care about, and can make a difference on the ground. In 2010/2011, we supported the following Charities of the Year:

• Ireland – The Irish Cancer Society (www.cancer.ie). We raised €950,000 (£805,000) in 2010/11, which helped to fund ‘Care to Drive’, the charity’s national volunteer driving service for cancer patients.
• Japan – the Make-A-Wish Foundation (www.mawj.org). The funds we raised helped to grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions.
• Malaysia – Rumah Nur Salaam (http://nursalamchowkit.blogspot.com). The money raised by Tesco staff and customers funds the running costs of a 24-hour shelter and activity centre that provides a safe environment for homeless children in the Chow Kit area of Kuala Lumpur.
• Poland – The Happy Kids Foundation (http://www.tesco.pl/spolecznosci-lokalne/tesco-dzieciom.php). The money w raised has helped the charity to open a new foster home for seven children in Wieruszow, and also supports the running of five other foster homes.
• UK – Clic Sargent (www.clicsargent.org.uk). We raised £7.2 million in 2010/11. The funds were used to fund CLIC nurses, who help children with cancer spend more time at home and less time in hospital.

In the UK, our 2010/11 Charity of the Year was CLIC Sargent, which helps children with cancer. Together with the charity, we exceeded our largest ever target of £5 million, raising a massive £7.2 million. We also dramatically increased UK customer donations through coordinated marketing with Procter & Gamble around their household products. Our employee surveys tell us that two-thirds of staff feel proud to work for Tesco as a result of this campaign.

In 2011/12 we are working with Alzheimer's Society and Alzheimer Scotland as our Charity of the Year. We are aiming to raise £5 million which will help fund research, dementia community roadshows and dementia support. For more information please visit our site www.alzheimers-tesco.org.uk.

Mary's Meals

We began supporting Mary’s Meals, an international charity providing meals for schoolchildren, through the Tesco Charity Trust in 2009. Tesco’s support provides meals for over 4,000 schoolchildren in India, Kenya, Malawi and Thailand every year.

Inspired by this initial support, our International Sourcing Office in Bangalore decided to take their own project forward, and has been working with Mary’s Meals to provide food and primary education to children without access to government schools. Eleven of our Bangalore office staff took part in a marathon to raise funds.

We now provide all the funding for a centre run by Mary’s Meals in Bangalore, which caters for around 40 children each day. Our involvement has lead to improved sanitation and drainage facilities at the centre, as well as clean drinking water, stationery, clothing and utensils.

National collections

We help charities to raise money by allowing them to collect outside our stores. In 2010/11, the Royal British Legion raised £3.3 million through Tesco collections, and the Slovak Humanitarian Council raised £73,000 through its Christmas collection with Tesco.

In 2010/2011 at Ramadan, in partnership with the Turkish Red Crescent, we raised enough money to provide over 17,000 food packages for people in need. We also donated 1,300 units of blood, a valuable resource in Turkey, collected from both our staff and customers in store car parks.

Equipment for schools

Through Tesco for Schools and Clubs, UK customers can collect and redeem vouchers for equipment for schools. In 2010/2011, we donated £9.3 million of equipment to 41,000 schools and clubs, bringing the total to more than £170 million in the last 20 years. For more information, see www.tescoforschoolsandclubs.com.

Customers told us they would like to participate in the scheme, but currently do not because they have no direct link with a school or club. In 2011/12, we will introduce boxes in store for customers to deposit their vouchers, allowing them to choose from several local schools and clubs. We expect to see a dramatic increase in the amount donated through the scheme; if so, we will look to roll it out to other markets.

In the US, we ran our Shop for Schools scheme for a third year, in which participating schools receive US$1 for every US$20 spent at Fresh & Easy stores. We also run Shopping Night for Schools, where 5% of the profits made on that night go to a specific school.