Sodexo is committed to creating social value in the communities we serve. Stop Hunger is a key enabler of our Social Impact Pledge and delivers impact for the most disadvantaged communities where we live, work and play.
Our progressive volunteering policy enables our employees three paid volunteering days each year; individuals have a choice to how they wish to use the days and at least 2 of them are dedicated to activities related to the Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation,
Stop Hunger 
Stop Hunger is a Sodexo initiative active in over 40 countries around the world and was created in 1996 by US Sodexo colleagues who witnessed children going to school hungry. Thanks to the financial support of Sodexo, 100% of the donations made to Stop Hunger go directly to financing activities and sustainable solutions for disadvantaged communities to exit food insecurity.
Since 2010 the Stop Hunger Foundation has been able to donate over £4 million to charities tackling food insecurity in the UK and Ireland. Volunteering through Stop Hunger plays a vital role in Sodexo's commitment to fighting food insecurity both in the UK and Ireland as well as across the globe.
In the UK & Ireland, we work with national and local charities to donate time, skills and money to tackle food insecurity and its root causes, and help empower women – who represent the biggest opportunity in eliminating hunger.
Stop Hunger activities aren't limited to a food related project or a day at a food bank; this can also include opportunities that support the prevention of individuals needing to rely on emergency food packages and addressing the root causes of food insecurity, like mentoring, job-skills, cookery classes, skills-based volunteering and much more!
Volunteering highlights 2022
In FY22, through the Stop Hunger Foundation, colleagues volunteered for almost 4,500 hours, of which 800 were skills-based. Their support through fundraising and volunteering helped over 1million beneficiaries.
Volunteering activities might be supporting with hands-on and skills-based volunteering such as the local community centres, food charities, education and career-skills projects and litter picking
What a year of volunteering we've seen! Take a look at the highlights...
Sodexo, Stop Hunger and the The Bread and Butter Thing
The Bread and Butter Thing makes life more affordable for people on a low income by creating a fair solution for people in poverty. The charity operates through a membership model, whereby members with very little disposable income are offered the provision of a deeply discounted food service to help their income go further.
The Bread and Butter Thing, like many other Stop Hunger partners rely on the support of volunteers to help sort surplus food for the food packages, and skills to grow their model - and our colleagues are only too happy to help.
The Great British Beach Clean 2022
In 2022, almost 70 Sodexo colleagues volunteered, delivering over 250 hours to help the MCS’s Beach Clean initiative.
The volunteer’s efforts resulted in over 48kg of waste removed from West Kirby, Edinburgh, and Brighton beaches during the cleans. This included 3,061 individual litter items, being picked up and recorded.
To support the initiative further, we have donated £17k to the charity, with the funds being generated by the bag levy from the two previous financial years.
The donations from the levy will be used to support the Marine Conservation Society’s seagrass and wider ocean restoration protection work and fund Sodexo volunteering spaces at beach clean.