KFC and KISS are teaming up to support young people and their futures, shining a light and building on the work KFC is doing through its community impact programmes, including Hatch, the KFC Youth Foundation, and its food donation programme in partnership with FareShare. The fourth year of working together in a partnership secured by Mindshare, KISS and KFC this year will focus on the barriers young people are facing and the opportunities ahead; generating activity on-air, online and on the ground to foster career prospects, inspire young talent and tackle food insecurity. KISS will be highlighting KFC’s community impact programmes and ambitions, such as to have over a third of their workforce come from young people facing barriers by 2030.

The campaign kicked off on Tuesday 6th February with KISS host Tyler West appearing on KISS Breakfast with Jordan Banjo and Perri Kiely, announcing that he will act as both a mentor and ambassador for the year-long programme. The sponsorship of Tyler’s weekday drivetime show will act as the backbone of the campaign, with regular features and real-life stories detailing experiences to bring these issues to life. This on-air activity will be supported by short-form and mid-long form video content posted online and on social media, showcasing the inspiring work being done.

Deepening the relationship between KFC and the iconic Bauer Media radio station, Bauer’s training entity Bauer Academy will also partner with the Hatch & Kentucky Club initiative to deliver workshops, 1:1 coaching sessions and peer-to-peer huddles to teach employability and practical skills. This also includes real opportunities to work with the Bauer Media production teams to create video content; made for the youth, by the youth!

Rebecca Frank, Content Director, KISS said: “This is such an important campaign for us at KISS, delivering on our shared belief in young people. This is a generation who have inherited problems they didn’t create, and who are often viewed negatively by the older guard. As a brand that keeps young people and progress at the heart of everything we do, we’re so excited to use our platform, influence and authentic storytelling to deliver understanding of what KFC have been and are committed to continuing to deliver.

Tyler West, KISS Presenter, added: “I’ve loved working with KFC these past three years, building trust with both the brand and my listeners. We all love KFC, but my listeners probably don’t know about the amazing work it’s doing to support local communities and build young careers. This is such a valuable cause that’s close to my heart; I’m so pumped to get started on this new phase of our partnership and highlight all the good KFC does – and most importantly hearing from amazing young people with something to say we need to hear.”

Kate Wall, KFC Marketing Director, said: “We are thrilled to embark on another year of partnership with KISS, this time with a fresh approach aimed at amplifying our commitment to supporting young people and their futures. Through this collaboration, we want to shed light on our community impact programs, such as Hatch & Kentucky Club with Bauer Academy, KFC Youth Foundation, and our food donation programme with FareShare, which are dedicated to addressing pressing social issues like food insecurity and youth unemployment. Together with KISS, we aim to inspire positive change, challenge perceptions, and foster a brighter future for generations to come.”

About KISS:

The KISS Network is the beat of the UK, delivering the biggest tunes, exclusive content with huge artists and all-round positive vibes, across multiple platforms on-air and on screen all day, every day. It’s home to KISS Breakfast with Diversity’s Jordan & Perri, the Home Straight with Tyler West in the afternoons, the latest chart-topping hits with The Hype Chart and Ellie Prohan, and the best DJs and producers in the industry with KISS Dance and KISS Nights. The network also houses the UK’s biggest digital commercial station KISSTORY (Old Skool & Anthems) and KISS Fresh (Non-Stop New Beats), plus ten exclusive stations including KISS Afrobeats, KISSTORY 90s, KISSTORY Slow Jams and KISS In The Mix which are available ad free with KISS Premium. Targeting 15-34 years olds, the KISS Network is available on FM and DAB Radio, Freeview, online and/or via the KISS Kube app.

About KFC

In 1952 Colonel Harland Sanders opened the first KFC restaurant in Utah. Since then, his perfectly crafted Original Recipe chicken and its secret recipe of 11 herbs and spices has become famous all over the world, and today we have over 900 restaurants across the UK and Ireland.

The Colonel was all about doing things the right way. That means our chicken is delivered fresh from farm to restaurant in 48 hours. It’s prepared carefully by hand in-restaurant by trained cooks, using the very best chicken reared to strict welfare standards. In July 2019 we took the next big step in our welfare journey and signed up to the Better Chicken Commitment, a set of six criteria that have been designed to improve the lives of all chickens within the KFC supply chain, by 2026. That’s what makes our food so finger lickin’ good.

The right way also means serving fresh proper food, packed with flavour. So, we’ve worked hard to make nutritional improvements across our menu, so our fans have as much choice as possible, and we’ve committed to removing 20% of calories per serving by 2025.

The Colonel also believed in feeding promise, wherever it’s found. So that’s why we invest heavily in the development and careers of our 27,000 employees – we were the first restaurant to launch an honours degree. And since its 2015 launch, our KFC Foundation has paid out grants totalling £5 million to our charity partners who are passionate about developing and nurturing young people across the country.

To find out more about us visit www.kfc.co.uk, or follow the Colonel on Twitter @KFC_UKI and Instagram @kfc_uki.

About Hatch

Hatch is a social mobility programme created by KFC and UK Youth that aims to help break cycles of inequality, disadvantage and unemployment for young people in the communities that KFC serves. Hatch is a free, 8-week employability programme for young people aged 16-24 who are ready for work but have struggled to access roles because of circumstances beyond their control. Through the programme, KFC and UK Youth hope to help young people to unlock more opportunities to help reach their potential.

What will young people gain?
• Employability skills using the skills builder framework
• Guaranteed interview for a role at KFC or another partner
• Work experience placement at KFC or another partner

What does it involve?
• Pre-employability workshops over 4 weeks, including 1-2-1 training
• 4 weeks of work experience at KFC or another partner
• Consolidation of learning including a mock interview
• Real interview guaranteed with KFC upon completion

About FareShare

FareShare is the UK’s biggest charity fighting hunger and food waste. We take good-to-eat surplus food from across the food industry, sort it in our regional warehouses across the UK, and pass it onto a network of nearly 8,500 charities and community groups.

These include food banks and pantries, hostels, refuges, community centres, older people’s lunch clubs, school clubs and hospices.

Three quarters of the organisations we provide food to, support children and families. During the last financial year, 2022-23, FareShare redistributed the equivalent of nearly 128 million meals – that’s 4 meals every second.