Sealions, a British online-only vitamin brand, has announced its charity partnership with The Trussell Trust and its nationwide network of over 1,300 food banks.

The charity, founded in 1997 by Carol and Paddy Henderson, now supports a network that accounts for around two-thirds of all food banks in the UK – with it providing emergency food and practical support to people in crisis.

Its vision is to see the UK without the need for food banks, working together to make change possible and provide the best help to those facing hardship.

Dean Lee, head of digital at Sealions, said: “We’re delighted to welcome The Trussell Trust into the Sealions charity partner family. We genuinely hope this partnership will empower Sealions customers to shop more sustainably and support an organisation working towards changing policy and public opinion surrounding poverty.

“Knowing that more than 14 million people live in poverty, and 4.5 million are children, ” resonated with team Sealions. The trust’s work is utterly essential, especially in the tricky world we are still experiencing; no one should have to choose between buying food or paying their household bills.

“We hope to do our bit, alongside our wonderful customers, this year and raise as much as we can to support such a wonderful cause.”

Sealions, based in Manchester, are supporting the charity across 2023 via Work For Good. This platform helps connect businesses and charities, removing the legal barriers to make it easier for charities to receive donations.

Sophie Carre, director of public engagement said: “We are very grateful to the team at Sealions for their incredible support. Last year food banks in the Trussell Trust network provided nearly three million emergency food parcels to people facing hardship, a record number. This is not right, everyone in the UK deserves to have enough money for essentials like food, clothing and heating.

“The support of Sealions will help food banks within our network continue to provide the lifeline of emergency support for local people in crisis, while we work in the long term to end the need for food banks, for good. We thank all the team.”

Customers can add a small donation to The Trussell Trust at checkout when shopping on Sealions. Each and every donation, big or small, will take a step closer to ending hunger in the UK.

Sealions offers an extensive and ever-growing range of vitamins, supplements, and gummies on its online store. It believes that looking after your wellness shouldn’t cost the earth, with some of its range only costing £5 for a year’s supply, whether that’s looking after yourself, your family or even your four-legged friend.

Sixth-generation North West family brewers, Robinsons, have trained 40 of their 116 head office employees in Carbon Literacy with plans to have their entire central team Carbon Literate within a year. The 185-year-old brewery is the first brewer and pub company to have actioned a commitment to becoming a carbon-literate workforce, with a dedicated training workshop certified by the Carbon Literacy Project. The training has been introduced as part of the business’ Net Zero roadmap across their brewing, bottling and pub estate business, achieving 40 certified employees and becoming a Bronze Carbon Literate Organisation in the first six weeks.

Carbon Literacy® is defined by The Carbon Literacy Project as “An awareness of the carbon dioxide costs and impacts of everyday activities, and the ability and motivation to reduce emissions, on an individual, community and organisational basis.” Recognised by the UN at COP21 as one of 100 worldwide Transformative Action Programs, The Carbon Literacy Project initiates and helps deliver Carbon Literacy in a unique and award-winning way: through the certification of people and organisations by their participation in a brilliant day’s-worth of action-focused learning about climate change, which the participants themselves help devise.

Phil Korbel, Co-Founder and Director of Advocacy at The Carbon Literacy Project said: “We need to see Carbon Literacy embedded in every workforce, which involves breaking out of the ‘eco bubble’ of ‘green’ business and making this simply ‘business’. That’s why it’s such good news to have Robinsons as our first brewery and pub chain. Their ability to influence their landlords, supply chain, their sector and the public is second-to-none and we can’t wait to support them to take Carbon Literacy even further.”

The Carbon Literate certification at Robinsons has been developed and delivered by their Retail Environment Champion, a university placement position linked to the tenanted pub division, and within a dedicated sustainability department instated in the business in 2022. This company-wide integrated workshop aligns with Robinsons’ commitment to Net Zero carbon emissions by 2040, in line with the hospitality climate action group Zero Carbon Forum, of which Robinsons Brewery is a member.

Ben Robinson, Director of Tenanted Operations and the lead on Robinsons sustainability project, Target Zero, said: “We’re delighted that 90% of our directors are now Carbon Literate, including both our Managing Directors. The course has equipped our leaders with the knowledge they need to drive positive climate action throughout our business and their teams. We have now successfully trained every department within the business at a management level and continue to roll out the workshops to the rest of our workforce. We have so far engaged decision-makers who work with resourcing raw ingredients and materials, to designing pub refurbishments, to team members who influence the actions of others in their day-to-day work.”

Martyn Weeks, Director of Brewing & Operations at Robinsons, pledged: “I will review the purchase and installation of a carbon dioxide recovery plant to our brewery fermentation vessels. This will collect the CO2 from our brewing fermentations which otherwise would be released to the atmosphere. The CO2 will then be used within our new brewery for carbonation of drinks. There will be an increase in our electricity usage but as we only purchase green electricity, this will not impact the carbon footprint of the site. The real benefit will be that we will reduce our use of imported CO2 which is currently made as a byproduct of ammonia fertiliser production.”

Issie Masters, Retail Environmental Champion, certified Carbon Literate at Manchester Metropolitan University, and sharing her knowledge as a trainer at Robinsons Brewery, said: “The team have shown dedication and a commitment to understanding the impact of carbon emissions and finding innovative ways to reduce them in our business. With their newfound knowledge, our colleagues have the confidence to reduce greenhouse gas emissions not only at work, but also in their personal lives, and have made some fantastic commitments to reducing their carbon footprints at work. I am delighted to have been given the opportunity to spread climate awareness and enhance the visibility of Robinsons Target Zero goals throughout the company.”

New research commissioned by consumer organisation CAMRA (the Campaign for Real Ale) reveals that only one in 10 Brits believes a pint is still affordable.

Despite some variation, the figures paint a grim picture across the whole of Britain. Drinkers in Scotland felt the most out of pocket at the bar, with just 6% saying a pint was affordable. Despite having some of the steepest prices in the UK, a high of 15% of Londoners said they found a pint affordable.

CAMRA has long called on government to level the playing field between regulated, community venues like pubs and social clubs, and off-license venues like supermarkets, which face far lower levels of regulation and tax. Additionally, the beer tie and other exclusive purchasing agreements mean many publicans are locked into contracts that mean they must buy beer and cider at higher than market prices, further increasing prices at the bar.

The Campaign celebrated lobbying success with the introduction of a new draught duty rate on 1 August. Under this new system, beer and cider sold on draught pays a lower rate of tax, which recognises the social and community value of the on-trade in the alcohol duty system for the first time.

Despite this, the price of a pint has continued to rise as the cost-of-business crisis has hit pubs and brewers, forcing them to increase prices. At the same time, the cost-of-living crisis has meant that many consumers can’t afford to spend as much supporting local pubs, clubs, brewers and cider makers.

Commenting, CAMRA National Chairman Nik Antona said: “This data shows how vital it is that government takes action this autumn and use their planned fiscal event to reassess the huge financial burden they place on the trade.

“A pint down the pub with friends is one of life’s simple pleasures, as well as being a unique part of our cultural heritage. It’s devastating that so few of us feel that this is affordable.

“Our campaigning priorities over the next few months will be calling for a shakeup of the punishing Business Rates systems, action to address energy costs, seeing the draught duty rate refined to work better for pubs, and working to secure increased access to market for small UK brewers.”