Costa Foundation

In Vietnam, we're proud to direct our funding towards building nursery schools that help young children from minority communities, who speak their own local dialects, learn the national language. This is a critical step, as without this foundational knowledge, they can't access primary education. Last week, some incredible Foundation Champions from Costa Coffee, who continuously support fundraising efforts for our charity, had the opportunity to visit these nurseries. They witnessed firsthand the profound impact that early years education has on the futures of children and their families in Vietnam's rural coffee-growing regions. A heartfelt thank you to our partners at Dakman Volcafe for hosting this meaningful trip and for their ongoing dedication as we work together to provide safe, high-quality education to children and young people worldwide. #costafoundation #changeachildslifestory

🌍📚 Happy International Women's Day! 📚🌍 Today, we honour the bright, resilient girls and young women in coffee-growing communities who are breaking barriers and paving the way for a future where education and opportunity are within reach for all. 🌱✨ Access to education is key to empowering these girls, helping them to transform not only their own lives but also their families and communities. As they learn, they bring new ideas, innovation, and leadership to the world around them. 🌸 Let's continue to work together to support girls' education and create a world where every young woman can thrive, dream big, and make her mark in the world. Thank you to our incredible partners who work hard to ensure that girls' and young women's experiences are included and considered within each project that they undertake. Together, we are able to focus on the future of education for girls in these communities and work towards gender equality and equity for all. #InternationalWomensDay #GirlsEducation #EmpowerHer #SupportGirls #ChangeMakers #ChangeAChildsLifeStory

We’re thrilled to share insights from the recent visit of the Costa Foundation, Costa Coffee’s charity partner, to Ethiopia. This visit showcased the amazing impact of collective efforts on coffee-growing communities. The Costa Foundation team witnessed the transformative work by Imagine1day, where 1 in 3 children do not go to school. They visited some of the 38 schools funded by the Foundation and met: • 14 year-old Milenesh*, advocating for menstrual hygiene support for girls, who said, “If you educate a girl, you educate the whole community.” • Aster, a mother of nine, who has sent all her children to school and said “I am happy they will have the opportunities I never had” We thank all Costa Coffee team members, suppliers, and partners for supporting the Foundation, as your contributions significantly impact children in rural coffee-growing areas worldwide. #CostaFoundation #Ethiopia #MakingADifference #ProudToBeCosta #ChangeAChildsLifeStory *Names of children have been changed. Photos by Solan Kolli at Arete Stories

I was very fortunate to spend last week in Ethiopia visiting education projects funded by the Costa Foundation in rural coffee growing communities, hosted by our amazing partner organisation Imagine1day. It’s a true honour to partner with an organisation full of such passionate and talented individuals changing lives in some of the most hard to reach communities, in a country where 1 in 3 children are not in school. Often we talk about the projects but it’s the people behind them that make these a success. A special thanks to Seid Aman Mohammed and all his team. Of the many inspiring students, teachers, parents & caregivers that I met, one 13 year old girl made a big impression. She stood up in a male-dominated room and put forward a very compelling case to add a menstrual hygiene management room to her school. She explained that otherwise girls miss out on a quarter of their education as they don’t attend when they are menstruating due to stigma & lack of sanitary products. ‘If you educate a girl, you educate the whole community’. It was also fantastic to witness the commissioning of a drilling rig to bring access to clean water to remote communities, improving access to education. A result of phenomenal fundraising by the Imagine1day board. An incredibly inspiring speech from Berekat G/Tsion on the power of clean water and sanitation. Thanks to everyone at Costa Coffee for enabling us to be able to support our 39th school in Ethiopia! #ChangeAChildsLifeStory Rob Swyer UMER LIMU Nasir Abdurahim Mary Anna Noveck, Ed.D. Feben Yohannes Worku Kejela Kemal Shenka Tune Kelali Belay Kebedow Solan Kolli

🌟 As we step into 2025, it's time to reflect on the incredible achievements of our Global charity partner, the Costa Foundation, over the past year.  Thanks to the nearly £1.5 million raised through the generosity of our consumers, people, and partners, the Costa Foundation has made a huge impact in 2024. We have positively impacted over 7,000 children and young people through funded projects in coffee-growing communities, providing them with access to safe, quality education.  The Foundation has invested in building a further 10 new schools and constructing 2 new dormitory blocks which provide safe accommodation for students who travel long distances to attend school, ensuring they can rest and recharge for a full day of learning.📚✨ If you'd like to learn more about the amazing work of the Costa Foundation, follow the link below: https://www.costafoundation. com/  

A room with a view. Imagine looking out at the Andes from your school canteen. This school, newly completed, has been carefully designed to inspire students, connecting young minds to nature and the beautiful environment around them as they learn. One 8 year old child read us a poem he had written called 'School is the path to my dreams' in which he spoke of dreaming of coming to study in this beautiful school that had been built for him and his friends. Having recently spent time with coffee growing communities in rural Peru, where the Costa Foundation has funded the construction of 9 schools, it's clear to see the direct link between the communities, coffee and education here. The anthem of one of the towns we visited was 'El café es el oro del pueblo' ('Coffee is the gold of our town'). There was a real sense of pride of being coffee growing families. It was clear they want their children to continue this tradition with enhanced knowledge and expertise through education and a focus on climate resilience. It was a pleasure to spend time with students, teachers, parents and caregivers and coffee farmers who all generously shared their stories around both the joy and challenges of living within these rural coffee growing communities. Mega thanks to our partners and hosts in Peru Volcafe and Semillas para el Desarrollo Sostenible and our trustees Rob Swyer and Charlotte Balfour-Poole for giving their time to support this work. A huge thanks to teams and store customers at Costa Coffee for amazing fundraising to enable the funding of these projects. #ChangeAChildsLifeStory Faye Southey Marta Maccaglia fiorella alejandra mendoza Rocío Franco Suarez

Happy #trusteesweek to our wonderful trustees of the Costa Foundation! Trustees’ Week 2024 focuses on trustee recruitment and retention. We are so lucky and grateful to have an incredibly committed and active board, consisting of a team of people who help to drive our charity in positive directions, sharing their expertise in different areas and acting as an extended voice for the Foundation. As well as our longer term trustees, we have also recently welcomed on board some new and returning trustees who bring with them a breadth of knowledge and experience which compliment the rest of the team. We are excited to see where we go in the future, with our strategy for the next three years in the making as we speak! Here's to you, our wonderful Trustees. Thank you for your endless dedication to our mission to improve the life chances of children and young people in coffee growing communities by providing the opportunity of a safe, quality education. #changeachildslifestory 📸: Our Chair of Trustees, Rob Swyer, on a recent trip visiting schools in Peru

Today on #DayOfTheGirl we stand with our partners Plan International UK to make sure every girl can have an education. Around the world, 129 million girls are out of school and being denied the chance to learn. We aim to change this through our partnership together, by working collaboratively to #changeachildslifestory in coffee growing communities by offering access to safe and quality education. Together, let’s clear the way for girls, so that every girl can finish school. To see more information about how Plan International UK are marking this important day, head to https://bit.ly/47X4IpZ #AgainstAllOdds, girls are determined to learn.

That's a wrap on two weeks of Costa Coffee festive roadshows, seeing our team travel up and down the UK to meet everyone. We've spoken to many inspiring team members who have shown so much love and support for our Foundation. It was great to hear stories of challenges that teams and individuals have taken on so far, fundraising events they have running in stores and ideas for what they hope to do next! We are looking forward to seeing what these amazing teams all have in store next, in their collective efforts to help change a child's life story. #changeachildslifestory

Last weekend, this incredible team of 25 people cycled 175 miles over two days and have raised a staggering amount of money towards our Foundation. We are beyond grateful for the effort of everyone involved, those on the bikes and behind the scenes, who year on year make this event happen. Thank you all for your continued commitment to supporting education in coffee growing communities. Together, we are able to improve the life chances of so many children and young people across the globe ✨ #changeachildslifestory