Morrisons renews support for a further three years
March 10, 2022
The Prince’s Countryside Fund (PCF) is delighted to announce the continuation of our partnership with Morrisons for a further three years. The new agreement, which will run until 2025, includes continued support for our farm resilience programmes, in addition to the introduction of a new Carbon Workshop open to members of the Farm Resilience Network.
The leading UK supermarket first contributed to the PCF in 2016 via the Morrisons Foundation, and has since collaborated through the creation of a Farming Apprenticeship levy sharing scheme. Most recently, Morrisons became a sponsor of the Farm Resilience Programme (FRP), and they now provide direct assistance to two groups each year in various locations across the UK.
For FRP farmers participating in the sponsored groups, Morrisons’ involvement has proved to be vital. “What you pick up on the Programme really spurs you on,” said Derek Clark, a sheep farmer based in Lancashire that joined the 2020 Garstang group. “It’s great to see such a large corporation supporting small family farms.”
The new Carbon Workshop will sit within both the PCF’s Farm Resilience Network and Morrisons’ School of Sustainable Food and Farming, a new initiative to provide guidance for farmers as they work towards a net zero agricultural system. Up to 20 family farms will take part in the workshop each year.
Sophie Jenkinson, Agriculture, Fisheries and Sustainable Sourcing Specialist at Morrisons said “At Morrisons, we work closely with around 2,700 UK farmers, and make hundreds of products in our fresh food manufacturing sites for almost 12 million customers in our stores and online each week. This means Morrisons are British farming’s biggest direct supermarket customer.
“We are proud to support The Prince’s Countryside Fund and all the work they do with British farmers to share knowledge and new skills with the industry, helping to ensure a resilient food supply chain for the future.”
Keith Halstead, Executive Director of the PCF said: “The Prince’s Countryside Fund is proud of our work with Morrisons to deliver the PCF’s Farm Resilience Programme, and we are grateful for Morrisons’ continuing support of our resilience programmes, which will enable us to help more family farming businesses across the UK.
“The introduction of a new carbon workshop through the FRN and Morrisons’ School of Sustainable Food and Farming marks an exciting new phase of our partnership, and we look forward to its development in the coming months.”
