Cadbury Foundation welcomes new chair of trustees after anniversary year

The Cadbury Foundation has highlighted its 2025 activity to demonstrate the impact and value of the foundation across the Midlands and beyond across its charity and community initiatives, following its 90th anniversary.

The foundation donated more than £650,000 to health and wellbeing programmes, youth skills, and charities close to colleagues' personal lives and interests in 2025, with the majority of the funds supporting more than hundreds of local and national charities accessed by local communities and colleagues of Mondelez International throughout the UK and Ireland.

Established as The Charitable Brothers Trust in 1935 in memory of George and Richard Cadbury, The Cadbury Foundation was founded on the brothers’ belief that supporting local communities' benefits society and business. To this day, the foundation continues to invest in local communities through grants and the time and expertise of its workforce through volunteering and fundraising.

Supporting Mondelez colleagues across the UK, the Your Charity Your Choice initiative gives employees the chance to nominate and vote for charitable causes close to their hearts. More than 800 colleagues participated in 2025, helping distribute £90,000 to 72 charities across the UK and Ireland, including Midland's organisations, Abbie’s Army, Aston Villa Foundation and Amy and Friends.

In Bournville, colleagues have been working with The Conservation Volunteers (TCV) to create a new food-growing space after a winning design was submitted by a member of the Research and Development team. The project forms part of more than 1,200 volunteering hours contributed by colleagues in 2025.

Encouraging healthier lifestyles remains a key focus for the foundation. In 2025, its Health for Life programme has inspired 278,780 schools and communities to learn about healthy eating, food growing and physical activity. More than 3,500 pupils from 50 schools also took part in the annual Health for Life Cookathon, led by Michelin-trained chef and Bromsgrove-based Poppy O'Toole.

The Foundation's commitment to supporting families facing hardship also continued throughout its anniversary year. To mark its 90th birthday, The Cadbury Foundation donated £90,000 to Trussell, directly supporting more than 360,000 individuals. Between July and September 2025 alone, food banks within the Trussell community distributed more than 625,000 emergency food parcels, including more than 213,000 for children.

Additionally, more than 16,600 young people benefited from support from the foundation and volunteers through employability workshops with 90 per cent reporting an improvement in their skills and readiness for future education and employment.

Christian Woolfenden, newly appointed chair of trustees for The Cadbury Foundation, said: “Joining The Cadbury Foundation as Chair of Trustees at such an exciting point in its journey is truly a privilege. For 90 years, The Cadbury Foundation has remained committed to the values that inspired its creation in Bournville, creating a lasting legacy of support for communities across the UK&I.

“The Foundation’s work reflects a long-standing belief that businesses can play a positive role beyond their commercial success, and I look forward to supporting its mission in the years ahead.”