Our Communities strategy is focused on three areas where we can make a meaningful difference: empowering youth, fostering creativity and protecting communities.
Charitable initiatives that inspire young people to explore their creativity, develop life skills, broaden career horizons, and come together in safe environments.
Global creative training and scholarship programmes supporting students from underrepresented groups and collaborations with LGBTQ+ organisations.
Philanthropy to protect people in our local communities, by supporting causes which our colleagues care about and responding to humanitarian needs.
The Burberry Foundation was set up in 2008 by Burberry Group plc as an independent charity dedicated to using the power of creativity to drive positive change in our communities and build a more sustainable future.
The Burberry Foundation’s mission is grounded in the belief that young people, regardless of their backgrounds, can create ideas, innovative solutions, and connections for a better future.
The Foundation’s grant-making is focused on supporting a number of youth clubs and community-based organisations around the world that are working to break down barriers faced by marginalised young people. At the heart of disadvantaged communities, youth clubs provide safe spaces and essential services to help young people gain confidence and develop valuable skills to improve their lives and progress their career pathways.
In 2022, the Foundation announced two new partnerships with charitable enterprises International Youth Foundation (IYF) and OnSide to achieve our goals. Through working with a global delivery partner, the Foundation aims to co-develop and support innovative solutions to youth challenges that generate long-term sustainable impact.
We donate at least 1% of group adjusted pre-tax profit to charitable causes
Everyone that works at Burberry is entitled to three paid volunteering days a year
We match funds up to £3,000 raised through employee fundraising initiatives
We provide product and material donations to schools, charities and social enterprises to support communities
Find out more about our commitment to positively impacting communities around the world in the social impact report here
We support charitable initiatives that inspire young people to explore their creativity, develop life skills, broaden career horizons, and come together in safe environments.
The Burberry Foundation champions youth empowerment through Burberry Inspire. A core belief of Burberry Inspire is that young people who have positive role models, safe spaces, and opportunities to develop and exercise their creativity can become empowered, self-confident individuals.
Burberry Inspire seeks to enable young people to unlock their creativity and drive positive change in their communities. Informed by the Creative Youth Development Partnership’s programme framework, this global programme supports projects that foster creativity in young people aged 10 to 24 through the visual and performing arts, STEM-related skill development activities, and a host of activities associated with leadership development and social engagement. The programme’s theory of change is that engaging and developing young people’s creativity, and giving them well-designed opportunities to develop and learn, enables them to:
In FY 22/23, The Burberry Foundation established a global partnership with the International Youth Foundation and appointed regional delivery partners for the programme. These include OnSide in the UK, and four regional organisations in the US. The Burberry Foundation and its partners aim to have a long-term sustainable impact by developing and supporting innovative solutions to youth challenges.
Our founder Thomas Burberry’s longstanding dedication to community serves as the foundation of our culture. As an open and caring company with a deep commitment to communities and the environment, we are proud to continue that legacy today. We aim to protect people in our local communities, by supporting causes that our colleagues care about
To support relief efforts from the devastating earthquakes, we donated to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Turkey-Syria Earthquake Appeal. This is enabling DEC charities and their local partners to scale up their response and reach more people.
In response to the escalating refugee crisis, we donated to UNICEF, Save The Children and the British Red Cross, enabling the distribution of food, hygiene products, warm clothes and aid to meet urgent and immediate needs.
We seek to achieve meaningful difference by supporting global creative training and scholarship programmes supporting students from underrepresented groups and through collaborations with LGBTQ+ organisations.
At the end of FY 21/22, in partnership with the China Women’s Development Foundation and the China National Textile and Apparel Council, we launched a three-year training programme to empower women with training to develop their traditional handicraft design skills and encourage entrepreneurship.
So far, working with local experts, we have provided training to 60 female designers from three ethnic minority groups across the South and Southwest of Mainland China: Miao in Guizhou, She in Guangdong and Yao in Guangxi. Their creative specialties range from Miao embroidery to brocade, batik, traditional Miao costume design and jewellery creation.
Participants were given the opportunity to exhibit their creations at national events, including Beijing Fashion Week in September 2022 and at Burberry’s stand at the China International Import Expo in November 2022.
Once the three-year programme concludes it will have directly trained 200 women and positively impacted up to 30,000 others, preserving intangible cultural heritage for generations.
1 Volunteering hours are calculated based on colleagues’ disclosures.
