A FLAGSHIP educational programme from Bolton bread maker Warburton's has been shut down.

The firm's school visitor scheme “delivered practical sessions, aligned to the national curriculum, that teach KS1 and 2 pupils about everything from the importance of a balanced diet and healthy eating to food waste,” according to a Warburton’s community investment report.

And bosses acknowledged “despite 2020 being an unprecedented year, our team of school visitors worked extremely hard to deliver valuable sessions for thousands of children".

But this has now been cut, according to one of the 22 staff who worked for the programme despite the efforts they made to keep the programme going through the coronavirus pandemic.

Jessica Glass, who worked in Kent, said: “I only started with the programme just over a year ago but there were quite a few that have been working with Warburtons in schools for decades.

“We couldn’t go into schools when the pandemic first started so we were asked to come up with new ways of delivering the programme.

"We delivered programmes online with kids which still worked really well, teaching kids about the importance of healthy eating."

But she says around January staff, who had received little communication, were told they were at risk of redundancy.

A spokesman for Warburton's said: “Due to Covid-19, we have been unable to deliver our School Visitor Programme in classrooms since March 2020 and therefore conducted a review into how we can best support schools now and going forward.

“At present, to support schools, we have a range of teaching materials that can be used remotely to teach children about healthy eating.

“For the long term, we are working on a national programme that will enable us to increase the number of schools and young people we can support by providing access to educational support both for classroom and for at home learning.

“As a result of the changes, our resource needs have evolved and sadly this impacted a number of our people.

"We conducted a thorough period of consultation before reaching this decision and worked closely, communicating throughout, with those impacted to provide support and guidance through this difficult process.”