Haribo marks UN International Day of Happiness with community venture tackling loneliness
Jon Hughes, of Haribo UK, and the Together Project’s Founder and CEO, Louise Goulden
Haribo UK has moved to mark the UN International Day of Happiness with a key community engagement initiative with The Together Project, a charity tackling loneliness in connecting generations, and devised a series of musical sessions in care homes, writes Neill Barston.
As the company explained, the Songs and Smiles venture in West Yorkshire, is a scheme that it has sought to embrace as as a chance to help play a role in a scheme designed to foster friendships between older people, parents and youngsters alike.
Notably, the sessions, which will also involve Haribo employees, have been created to help combat the kind of isolation sometimes felt by retired people, as well as new parents and carers, with previous similar schemes reporting that 100% of care homes stating that residents had benefitted from the engagement, with 73% of parents also feeling less lonely.
As Haribo noted, it has continued its own purpose of bringing people together and celebrating childlike happiness through its product ranges, believed the initiative was a perfect match for its own goals.
Notably, as the business cited, there was a clear need for the initiative, with figures in West Yorkshire revealing that 8.3% of adults often or always feel lonely, higher than the national average of 7%.
In response, Haribo, which has British production sites in Castleford and Pontefract, has pledged to help more than double the Songs and Smiles programme in 2025, with over 2,200 sessions, over 5,500 beneficiaries, and six groups in West Yorkshire.
Jon Hughes, Managing Director of Haribo UK & Ireland welcomed the venture. He enthused: “At Haribo UK, we’ve always believed that whether you’re young or young at heart, everyone should be able to enjoy moments of childlike happiness.
“Being able to partner with the Together Project is a proud moment for us to support more initiatives which share this commitment – this time, with a specific focus on combatting loneliness.
“West Yorkshire has been our home for over 50 years now, so the opportunity to bring the Songs & Smiles project to the local community for the first time is really special; even more so because we can involve all Haribo colleagues throughout the nomination process and support care homes with personal connections to our team.”
Commenting on the scheme, Louise Goulden, Founder and CEO of the Together Project echoed this enthusiasm, reflected: “Today is an exciting moment for the Together Project as we expand our Songs & Smiles programme into a new part of the UK.
“At a time when small charities are faced with an exceptionally challenging fundraising landscape, HARIBO UK’s financial support is vital to reducing loneliness and helping isolated people build connections. Without funding opportunities such as this, organisations of our size would struggle to exist.
“We are really excited that this partnership allows us to establish a presence in West Yorkshire and work with HARIBO UK on their mission to create more moments of happiness, bringing people of all ages together to reduce social isolation in their local community.
