State/Public Schools

A wide range of schools trust us as the food experts to help children develop mealtime skills. Choosing their own meals and making an informed choice, eating with a knife and fork, putting their plates away, chatting with friends – mealtimes are more than just a time to eat, they're also an opportunity to develop social skills that can last a lifetime.

Excellence in action

• An innovative example of our commitment to improving the health and wellbeing of children is the 'BackPack' programme in Atlantic City, USA which helps ensure that some of the neediest children have enough nutritious food to eat over the weekend.
  
  Each Friday, our Chartwells team provide backpacks filled with healthy, non-perishable food. These are collected by the children in the programme, providing them with sufficient food to last the weekend. The children return the empty backpacks on Monday morning, so that they can be filled again.
  
  
• Compass Group supports the UK Government's programme for improving the nutritional content of school food and was the only caterer to be involved in School Food Trust sponsored trials at Heathside School in Weybridge, Surrey.
  
  
• Giving back to the community is a fundamental value of Compass Group Canada. And in 2008, through a variety of fund-raising methods, our Canadian business donated over C$300,000 to Kids Help Phone – Canada's only toll-free, 24-hour, bilingual and anonymous phone and online counselling, referral and information service for children and youth.
  
  Every day, professional counsellors provide immediate, caring support to young people living in urban, rural and remote locations right across the country.
  
  
• In 2008, our Italian business launched a nutrition education website for municipalities, schools, teachers and students. Using a fictional character, the site allows users to discover and learn about different foods, nutrition and culture.