Responsible hotel staff walk, plant and even give blood

Sinead Hogan sinead@anglocelt.ie They've tackled the long trek to Riga, planted trees for future generations to enjoy, hosted school visits and made donations to local causes including St. Vincent De Paul and St. Christopher's Hospice. Not content to stop at that, staff at the Radisson Farnham Estate Hotel have even given blood. So when local businesses urge you to shop local because they in turn support the community, don't dismiss it. This month, the Radisson Hotel in Cavan presented a cheque for €3,069 to St. Christopher's Hospice, monies that were raised by staff in the hotel in their Walk to Riga fundraiser. Michelle McElvogue, human resources manager at the hotel, is also Responsible Business manager. She explained that most events took place during September, which is Responisble Business Action Month (RBAM) at all Radisson Blu Hotels. "This is our third year taking part in RBAM, so we made a special effort to engage with employees, guests and the local community, raising awareness of responsible business and raising funds for local causes. It's a great opportunity for the hotel to link with the local community." She said there are three important pillars in responsible business: taking responsibility for the health and safety of employees and customers, respecting social and ethical issues in the company as well as in the community and reducing our negative impact on the environment. Michelle explained how they sought to cover all these areas, through a month-long programme that culminated in the recent cheque presentation. "For the first fortnight in September, we had a food and toiletry collection in aid of the St. Vincent De Paul Homeless Shelter in Cavan. All staff brought food produce and a large hamper was donated to the shelter here in Cavan. In addition all excess shampoos, conditioners and shower gels left over in hotel rooms were donated to the shelter. "On September 17, transport was arranged to the blood bank in Ballyjamesduff, and eight new first-time donors from the hotel's staff signed up to give blood. It's important to remember that any one of us could need it in the future," said Michelle. "For the second fortnight in September, the hotel gave the staff the opportunity to have a health check done, including blood, glucose, cholesterol, haemoglobin and blood pressure tests. The cost was €5 and this was donated by the hotel to St. Christopher's Hospice Cavan. A healthy workforce is a happy workforce." Under the hotel's Plant A Tree initiative on September 21, 60 sapling tress were planted on the golf course by golf course staff. Says Michelle, "these will assist in reducing C02 emissions that we build up every day at work. "On September 25, we had the Walk To Riga, our main fundraising event in aid of St. Christopher's Hospice. Hotel staff walked the 1,054 nautical miles from Ireland to Riga on treadmills set up in the main area of the hotel. Each employee had the opportunity to take part and donate in the form of sponsorship. This was a great team building activity for our staff and a fun way to raise awareness for local charities." Adding that the hotel also had three local schools come to visit, with students being given a tour of the building and nature walk around the estate, Michelle said the hotel management and staff were delighted with how events went, and they look forward to being a responsible business in the community next year too. "We'd like to give special thanks to our staff members who took part and raised sponsorship; they are a great team of staff. We also thank those of our suppliers who made donations."