Out of the oven and into the workplace: funding supports baking social enterprise

Bloom Bakery and Catering, a Lewisham-based community programme which supports people looking to re-enter employment by teaching them food handling and bakery skills, has received £4,500 of matched funding from Santander’s innovative Changemaker Fund.

The Fund is part of a pioneering collaboration between Santander and rewards-based crowdfunding platform Crowdfunder. The programme is designed to help social enterprises, small charities and community groups deliver projects that improve communities and help disadvantaged people to have confidence in the future.

Bloom Bakery and Catering is a project run by local charity Jubilee Community Enterprises. The innovative social enterprise trains and supports local people who are looking to return to work after a period of unemployment by running courses in basic bakery and food handling. Following the course, participants will gain an accredited qualification. They will also have the option of working in Bloom’s commercial kitchen, producing goods for private events and sale at local markets. All the profits from the bakery and catering are reinvested into the organisation’s training schemes.

The additional funding has enabled Bloom Bakery and Catering to hire its first full-time staff member to help grow its activities in South East London. The charity was previously run solely by volunteers.

Sue Douthwaite, Managing Director of Santander Business Banking, commented: “We are thrilled to be able to support Bloom Bakery and Catering’s work in teaching people skills to re-enter the workplace. Finding a new job following a period of unemployment can be a real struggle and learning valuable skills such as these can make all the difference.”

Amy Kimbangi, Founder of Bloom Bakery and Catering, commented: “We have seen first-hand the kind of difference the right support and opportunities can make to people experiencing unemployment. We’re incredibly grateful for this funding as we’ll now be able to significantly expand our work to tackle unemployment and social exclusion in South East London.”

The Changemaker Fund, www.crowdfunder.co.uk/changemaker, is part of Santander’s flagship community programme, The Discovery Project, which aims to inspire people to have confidence in the future through projects that build skills, grow knowledge and support innovation.

By working together with Crowdfunder, Santander aims to enable entrepreneurs and community groups to tackle social challenges and create positive local impact. Eligible projects seeking funds of up to £20,000 and focused on supporting skills, knowledge or innovation that get the crowd’s backing will receive 50 per cent of their funding requirement from Santander to ensure the enterprise reaches its target.

As well as access to the matched funding from Santander, projects will benefit from crowdfunding team specialists with education, enterprise and coaching support to unlock further funds and create lasting impacts in communities across the UK.

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Notes to Editors

Santander UK is a financial services provider in the UK that offers a wide range of personal and commercial financial products and services. It has brought real competition to the UK, through its innovative products for retail customers and relationship banking model for UK SMEs. At 31 March 2018, the bank has c19,500 employees. It serves around 14 million active customers, via a nationwide branch network, telephone, mobile and online banking; and 64 regional Corporate Business Centres. Santander UK is subject to the full supervision of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) in the UK. Santander UK plc customers are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) in the UK.

About Us 
Banco Santander (SAN SM, STD US, BNC LN) is a leading retail and commercial bank, founded in 1857 and headquartered in Spain. It has a meaningful market share in 10 core countries in Europe and the Americas, and is the largest bank in the euro zone by market capitalization. At the end of 2017, Banco Santander had EUR 986 billion in customer funds (deposits and mutual funds), 133 million customers, 13,700 branches and 200,000 employees. Banco Santander made attributable profit of EUR 6,619 million in 2017, an increase of 7% compared to the previous year.

About Bloom Bakery and Catering
Bloom Bakery and Catering is a training and employability social enterprise run by Jubilee Community Enterprises (JCE). JCE is a Lewisham-based charity, founded in 2016 with the aim of creating opportunity, fostering community and promoting wellbeing. Through Bloom, JCE helps people experiencing unemployment re-enter the workplace by teaching them skills, knowledge and confidence.

For more information please visit: www.jubileece.org or www.twitter.com/bloominbakers  

Media Enquiries
Leonora Burtenshaw 
T: 020 7756 4543      M: 07701 004 107 
E: leonora.burtenshaw@santander.co.uk  

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