ADS, who operate under the Side by Side brand, will bring together a workforce of more than 4,000.
Starting with a wave of company-wide Big Brew Up events during Armed Forces Week, ADS is set to commit to an annual calendar of activities, driven by its team members and the company’s management.
Neil Shroeder, managing director of Aramark Defence Services, commented: “We asked our teams to nominate a corporate charity partner and SSAFA was an obvious choice because they, like we, look after the needs of service men and women and their families in all three forces. We have set ourselves a substantial fundraising target of £250,000 across the 5 years of our partnership to achieve this goal."
Early activity will include donations from the sale of carrier bags across the company’s 42 Premier Stores, with an inaugural donation of over £4,300.
The partnership will be officially launched with a fundraising tool kit sent to all ADS major Defence establishments, full of ideas on volunteering and raising money for the charity.
SSAFA provides lifelong support to the Armed Forces, veterans and their families in times of need and is the oldest tri-service military charity running in the UK.