Sainsbury’s partners with Cambridge Regional College to support social inclusion

Sainsbury’s in Huntingdon has partnered with Learning for Life and Gateway students at Cambridge Regional College’s Huntingdon campus to support student enterprise.

The partnership will see Sainsbury’s supply sandwich making ingredients to the students’ Eggcellent Sandwiches business – a winning pitch from last summer’s Gateway Qualifications competition.

Eggcellent Sandwiches is a learning business run by Learning for Life students with the opportunity to develop essential life skills. This includes communication, health and safety, food hygiene, customer service, money management, and home skills. 

The supported learning Gateway students are also collaborating with their peers in Learning for Life and collecting the necessary shopping from Sainsbury’s each week during their community engagement activity.

Claire Ramadan, Customer Experience Manager at Sainsbury’s Huntingdon branch, said: “We’re delighted to be able to work alongside the students at Cambridge Regional College Huntingdon and help play a part in their life skills development. This is such a worthwhile initiative, and we were only too happy to play a part in it.”

Debbie Macinnes, the Assistant Head of Department SEND (Bespoke & Complex Needs) – and the lead behind the winning pitch – added: “I am feeling incredibly proud of our students for taking the initiative to bring their learning business and enterprise to the fore of their skills development. Their proactive approach and the life skills they’re gaining along the way are truly inspiring. A big thank you to Sainsbury’s for their generous contribution!”

Jeremy Lloyd, Assistant Principal – SEND and DSL, commented: “This is another great example of how partnership working can provide a huge level of social value linked to raising the standards and ambition for our young adults with SEND. We appreciate the levels of dedication to this from our students, staff and our wider network within the community. The sandwiches are absolutely delicious.”

Each week, students from the team head up to Sainsbury’s to collect the necessary ingredients but also develop further their soft skills – all whilst doing something they enjoy.