Waitrose Foundation At Work

Global Response Fund Phase 3

One of the projects that we've been very busy with behind the scenes since April last year, is the procurement and distribution of Covid-19 safety equipment to all partner farms with partial care facilities. The project impacts 83 partial care facilities: 3112 children in partial care facilities (creches and aftercare programmes). There are 243 women employed in creches and aftercare programmes. All farms with partial care facilities are benefiting from this investment of goodwill and support.

The Covid-19 pandemic had an immediate effect on the operational costs of partial care facilities and have had a long-term impact on maintaining the measures put in place to curb the spread of the virus and keeping children safe and healthy. Partial care facilities have COVID-19 protocol in place to adhere to health and safety standards to operate and our grower partners have been doing their best to maintain these safety measures.

The aim of this project was to contribute to the effectiveness and sustainability of educational programmes within partial care facilities and to sustain the daily hygiene and cleaning practice by:

• Supplying each partial care facility quarterly with 5 litre disinfectant and a 5 litre hand sanitiser.
• Foot pedal dispensers, two per centre
• One non-contact thermometer to each facility

To ensure learning continues in a non-threatening environment:

• Provide each partial care facility with 4-way table dividers.
• Desk divider shields for computer rooms
• Provide stationary kits to 50% children of each facility.

To prevent and mitigate the spread of the corona virus among children and partial care facilitators and support staff:

• Provide children each with two masks and facilitators with a face shield. Some children have hearing disabilities and cannot hear facilitators properly.
• To ensure that 3112 children will have access to education in a safe environment by wearing a mask, practicing safe social distancing and use their own stationery kit as sharing of resources is not allowed.
• To ensure that 243 educators / facilitators can continue teaching and provide quality educational support to learners in their care.