Do The Right Thing: 10 CSR Highlights from 2019

Festive decorations are making the atmosphere joyful and merry. Laughter and the feeling of home are filling hearts across Ireland and the world. Surrounded by the magic of the last month of the year and the decade, we can’t help but reminisce on the past year. 2019 has been a year like no other for PREM Group.

1 . Beyond the Moon

Our nominated charity, Beyond the Moon, offers families with a seriously ill child the opportunity to enjoy a memorable, cost-free vacation in a child-friendly environment and to spend carefree quality time together, far away from hospitals and treatments. PREM Group has been proudly supporting Beyond the Moon for 14 years and we are delighted to have raised a total of over €200,000 to send 44 families on the holiday of a lifetime. Of the 44 families who have previously benefited from Beyond the Moon, 26 of those families were from Ireland.

2. Charity Golf Event

PREM Group hosted its annual charity golf event on the 30th May 2019 at Tulfarris Hotel & Golf Resort, in aid of Beyond the Moon and it was the most successful one yet. Over 40 teams (164 people) teed off in a bid to take ‘Tulfarris Golfing Glory’ whilst also raising much needed funds for Beyond the Moon. In our 2019 tournament, PREM Group and our kind sponsors and supporters raised over €25,000 between entrance fees, raffles, sponsorship and donations.

3. A More Inclusive Environment: Mobility Mojo

We take our guests accessibility seriously across all of the PREM Group properties. Mobility Mojo, a hotel accessibility guide, specialise in providing easy to access information for people requiring special accessibility in hotels. Guests can simply browse any of our properties websites and link to the accessibility rating page where they can see the ‘standard of accessibly rating’ which ranges from bronze to platinum. This tool is proving very popular as accessibility is an issue for many people; from parents travelling with infants in a pram to someone on crutches or using a walking stick. Not only do PREM Group audit our properties for wheelchair accessibility, we also rate other areas including voice announcements in lifts, braille letters on buttons, subtitles on TVs and alarm cords in bedrooms for emergency assistance.

4. Charity Bike Ride

PREM Group employees participated in the Great Dublin Bike Ride on Sunday 29th of September 2019. Our team consisted of 7 members of staff, who cycled one of two routes, either 60km or 100km, in aid of our nominated charity, Beyond the Moon. The PREM Group team consisted of cyclists of all abilities from novice first timers to seasoned cyclists with plenty of experience. The team trained hard for the challenging course, with the support on their proud colleagues who were there to cheer them on.

5. Bake Sale

PREM Group annually host two bake sales where employees bake and sell their favorite recipes in aid of the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association and Temple Street Children’s Hospital. We are thankful to all our employees who bake cakes and the donations contributed towards these worthy causes.

6. Christmas Shoe Box Collection

For the first time in 2018, PREM Group Head Office employees donated shoeboxes filled with supplies in aid of Light House Homeless Outreach, Dublin. Since the donations we made in 2018 were so appreciated by the charity, we have continued this initiative into 2019. In 2019, PREM Group employees filled shoeboxes & backpacks with toiletries, umbrellas, rain coats and sleeping bags for donating to people in need at Christmas time. We are so thankful to all staff for their continued support to all of the charitable causes throughout the year but there is an extra special effort made around the festive season.

7. PREM Group Blood Drive

One in four people will need a blood transfusion at some point in their lives but unfortunately only 3% of the eligible Irish population actually donate blood. In order to encourage our staff and to promote our company social responsibility, PREM Group facilitates blood donation days to the Irish Blood Transfusion Service for any eligible, willing donors working in the company.

8. LIFT – Leading Ireland’s Future Together

PREM Group are proudly partnered with LIFT – a non-profit initiative that aims to help positive leadership in Ireland. At PREM Group, personal development is important to us and our teams. We believe everyone has the potential for leadership and should be given the opportunity to nurture this skill. The LIFT training concept is based on eight thoroughly researched key leadership values. PREM Group have contributed to cover the costs of the initiative within the company while allowing the LIFT programme to continue into other non-profit organisations. We aim to have 1/3 of PREM employees trained in LIFT across Europe by 2019.

9. Protecting Children: MECPATHS

Human trafficking is a threat to vulnerable children worldwide. According to the most recent global estimate from the International Labour Organisation, close to 21 million people are victims of human trafficking worldwide. 4.5 million of those victims are trafficked for sexual exploitation. The hotel industry in particular can unfortunately be used as locations of privacy and can be viewed by traffickers as a place to keep undercover. MECPATHS provide valuable training to hospitality teams to identify the signs of potential trafficking to ensure their guests safety. PREM Group proudly work with MECPATHS in all of our hotels and serviced apartments, enforcing valuable in-house training. Further to this, our HR team provide a free of charge training module for all staff on our in-house e-learning software, Eureka. Earlier this year PREM Group were awarded by MECPATHS for their efforts in supporting this cause.

10. Two National HR awards for PREM Group

The team at PREM Group couldn't be prouder of our HR team on picking up two distinguished awards at the 2019 Irish HR Champion Awards. The awards which celebrate the hard work and dedication of HR teams – operating at the front line, delivering ambitious programmes, impacting business performance and transforming employee experience. The awards recognise the success, innovation and business focus of HR, delivering the best strategies across various headings including employee engagement, talent acquisition, corporate and social responsibility, employer branding, change management, wellness strategy, learning and development, diversity and leadership.

We would like to say thank you to all who have contributed to these worthy causes throughout 2019.

We wish you the very best for the next decade ahead and we are looking forward to 2020, which promises to be an enjoyable and productive year ahead for both our staff and the company.

We look forward to sharing our journey with you in 2020!