Our theory of change

A word from Tracy Lynch, the Greggs Foundation Manager on the publication of our Theory of Change: 

“A Theory of Change is one of the most important strategic statements for any charitable organisation.  It sets out the outcomes we are trying to achieve, and more specifically, how we will attain them.  Given the growth of The Greggs Foundation across our grant programmes and geographical reach, we felt it was time to revisit our Theory of Change and establish whether it was still relevant.  

“When we first embarked on moving our Theory of Change forward, it quickly became clear just how expansive our aims and activities had become and the ambition that we as a charity have for what we wanted to achieve.  We never perceived this as a negative; we want to be ambitious.  Particularly given the increase in our grant distribution over the past two years.  As our resources grow, so should our impact. 

“It was a lengthy process. We wanted to use the opportunity to identify where our strengths were, the resources we had at our disposal, where we were making strides and where we were falling short.  We wanted to really break down how we were meeting our objectives. 

“What we have ended up with is a Theory of Change that encapsulates where we as a grant-giving organisation are concentrating our efforts to achieve our goal.  From our four main pillars of activities and the shared outcome of helping people to take advantage of opportunities to improve their quality of life, the Theory of Change is the backbone to our day-to-day at The Greggs Foundation.   

“Which is why we have now published our Theory of Change.  We want any individual or organisation who is part of our journey, either as a partner, supporter or beneficiary, to understand what drives our decision making.  After all, we use our Theory of Change to structure our grant programmes and decide where our resources and funding are best placed to deliver the most impact.   

“All with the ultimate aim of achieving our goal to support stronger, healthier communities.”