Ready for Change
Since our partnership began in 2020, McDonald’s UK & Ireland and The Royal Countryside Fund are proud to have supported over 221 farm businesses across the UK through our Ready for Change programme. The partnership forms part of McDonald’s commitment to British sourcing and wider support of the agricultural community. Specifically, McDonald’s are working with the RCF to improve the economic resilience of farming families as they face the agricultural transition period – the biggest changes to face the sector in living memory. We are incredibly grateful to McDonald’s for their support during this period.
We are working together on our Ready for Change programme which offers support for dairy and livestock farmers who have participated in the RCF’s Farm Resilience Programme and are looking to learn more about how to adapt their activities and make informed decisions about their businesses.
In its first two years, Ready for Change’s workshops focused on providing the tools, knowledge and skills needed to adapt to industry-wide agricultural reform with incredible success—for every £1 invested in the programme, £61.14 in social value was generated for family farm businesses.
In its third year, we’re updating our content to meet the current needs of family farms by focusing on practically implementing change within the family farm business by introducing practical change management techniques. In doing so, we’re also expanding our reach to a further 120 farms across the UK. Ready for Change is a practical and focused workshop covering effective change management. The session will explore how and why change impacts a business and the people within it, along with creating strategy for leading/driving change.
“It’s really encouraging to hear that McDonald’s are offering this type of support to farmers and helping to keep everyone on the same page.”
Gerard, Northern Ireland
Through an interactive workshop, participants gain the tools and skills to allow them to effectively manage and implement change in their own farm business — enabling them to achieve measurable purposeful change.
The RCF is really proud to be partnering with McDonald’s UK & Ireland as they seek to empower farming businesses and create a more sustainable agricultural sector for the future.
By delivering these sessions with The [Royal] Countryside Fund, we hope to provide farmers the opportunity to ask any questions they may have on future policy and seek real clarity on next steps they may need to take.
Harriet Wilson, Agriculture and Sustainable Sourcing Manager at McDonald’s UK
