Supporting Afghan refugees
As part of our commitment to helping displaced Afghan refugees, Burberry donated to the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Breaking Barriers.
Our donation to Breaking Barriers contributes towards covering critical support for hundreds of refugees, enabling both unemployed and young people to receive tailed advice, support and training to secure job opportunities. In June 2022, we will host a ‘Career in Luxury Retail’ workshop at our Regents Street store for Breaking Barriers clients to gain an insight into a day in the life of our Client Advisors, learning the practical skills and behaviours associated with a career in luxury retail. Through in-kind donations, we have also launched a pilot Laptop Scheme. At the heart of all our activations with Breaking Barriers is a motivation to help equip and empower communities to enter and thrive within the UK.
Ukraine
To support global relief efforts in Ukraine, we provided funding to charities and aid agencies delivering essential goods and services to those impacted by the humanitarian crisis, and mobilised our employee community to participate in a range of fundraising activities.
We donated to the British Red Cross Ukraine Crisis Appeal, enabling the distribution of food, hygiene products, warm clothes and aid to meet urgent and immediate needs. In response to the refugee crisis, we also donated to Save the Children and UNICEF in support of their Ukraine humanitarian appeals. Both organisations have worked to provide essential services, including health, protection, education, water and sanitation to millions of children and their families who have crossed into neighbouring countries for safety.
In addition to providing financial aid, we are working with our global supply chain partners to support displaced communities. In April 2022, we created and donated to UNHCR over 20,000 blankets for Ukrainian refugees through our supply chain partners in Italy as well as from our internal manufacturing site based in Castleford, UK.
We also encouraged our employees to support relief efforts by double matching their donations to our charity partners, and supporting them to organise individual or team volunteering and fundraising activities during our internal April Month of Giving campaign.