Sustainable Impact Business Awards 2022 by Ashville Media Group

PRACTICESSUSTAINABLECELEBRATINGBUSINESS&CHAMPIONINGSOCIALRESPONSIBILITY

We’re also empowering our customers to make sustainable choices of their own through Green Loans and Green Mortgages which further reduces emissions.

At AIB, we believe it takes long-term commitment to build a sustainable business. That’s why we’re the rst Irish bank to join the Net Zero Banking Alliance and pledge to operate as carbon neutral by 2030. Yet, we know more is required. That’s why we have:

• Been awarded a CDP Climate Change A rating.

• Doubled our Climate Action Fund to €10 billion, supporting Ireland’s transition to a low carbon economy.

Allied Irish Banks, p.l.c. is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.

We’re doing less of the things that damage and drain the environment, and more of the things that don’t.

BY DOING LESS, WE’RE DOING MORE FOR SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS.

• Become the rst Irish bank to launch a Social Bond Framework to further support communities across Ireland.

• Raised €2.5 billion through green bond issuances, helping nance projects with clear environmental and climate change bene ts.

We Pledge to Do More.

Life 53 Lidl 54 Winelab 55 Mason

Published by: Ashville Media Group, Unit 55, Park West Road, Park West Industrial Park, D12 X9F9. Tel: +353 1 432 2200 | Email: info@ashville.com | Web: www.ashville.com. On behalf of: Chambers Ireland, 11 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, D02 FY84. Tel: +353 1 400 4300 | Email: info@chambers.ie | Web: www.chambers.ie. All articles © Ashville Media Group 2022. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from the publisher. Opinion and comments expressed herein are not necessarily those of Ashville Media or Chambers Ireland.

We must begin by pausing to reflect on the plight of Ukrainian people, who have been forced to leave their homes and travel thousands of miles in search of refuge. According to the latest available CSO figures, over 45,000 Ukrainians have arrived in Ireland and sought accommodation, work, education and support for their families. The response from communities across the country, including the business community, has been demonstrative of Ireland’s reputation as the land of a hundred thousandHowever,welcomes.theRussian invasion has also ignited a myriad of issues that are testing business capacity and stifling recovery efforts in the wake of Covid-19. Supply chain disruption, trade sanctions, rising costs and energy security have been brought into sharp focus and individuals and businesses are facing mounting pressure as a Harnessingresult.sustainable green energy has been a key priority in the race to net zero but we are now in a position where the slow rate of progress is exposing us to increased risk at a time when security of energy supply is in doubt.

48 Aldi 49 Abbott 50 Intel 51 Liberty Insurance 52

56 SSE

43 The

Grey 69 MSD 70 Applegreen 71 Inishowen Co-Op 72 Permanent TSB 73 Dairygold 74 An Post 75 Department of Rural and Community Development 78 BAM Ireland 79 One4All 80 2022 Sustainable Business Impact Awards Shortlisted Projects

Awards Shortlist 06 2022

Margaret Brennan ChambersPresident, Ireland

or this year’s Sustainable Business Impact Awards, we are reflecting on a year of seismic shifts in the geopolitical landscape. Just as we were beginning to move on from the rigours of the Covid-19 public health measures, we have been faced with the atrocious and unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine that has shocked the world and rocked the global economy.

44 Altada 45 Marino

59 Data Solutions 60 Cheveux Hair 61 Trigon Hotels 62 Sustainability Works 63 Chevron College 64 Jiminy Toys 65 Telus 66 Boots 67 Alex’s Adventure 68 Shock

58 A&L

Celebrating businesses that are championing sustainability and integrating environmentally friendly practices has therefore never been so important. This year, we are delighted to be back for the first in-person Sustainable Business Impact Awards ceremony since 2019. It has been inspiring to hear of the triumphs and innovations in sustainable practices across so many different businesses, from SMEs to large indigenous and multinational companies.TheUNSustainable Development Goals has set the global agenda for sustainability up to 2030 and is a framework for ending poverty, improving health and education, reducing inequality, spurring economic growth, tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests. We must commend each and every nominee in the Awards this year for your commitment to furthering these goals across Ireland.

Judges 09

- Our

Ian Talbot Chief ChambersExecutive,Ireland

the SDGs 11 Recycle IT 12

You are the change-makers that will lead us forward in protecting the planet and securing a future that is bright and hopeful for future generations to come.

2 WelcomeContents

04 2022 Sustainable Business Impact Sustainable Business Impact Awards Chambers Ireland Commitment to Urbanvolt Bowsy Amazon Web Services Irish Water Community Power Ryanair Sustainable PR VMware Gardiner Family Apothecary SuperValu Fyffes John Sisk & Son William Fry KPMG Abbott Ireland Arthur Cox Vodafone Brown Thomas Rose Hotel Software Press Canada Hayse & Curran Airtricity Stillgarden Distillery Goodbody of

46 Three 47 Triest

cyclescheme.ie

• KPMG

Fyffes Rebrand Restores Reputation

Intel Ireland volunteering in our communities

Creating new Pathways for Life

• Sustainability Works SustainabilityWorks Newsletter

Volunteering

withPartnershipCharity MNC

• VMware

• AIB

Partnership with Charity LIC

• Intel Ireland

AIB partnership with GOAL on the GOAL Mile flagship event

KPMG & Children’s Books Ireland

• Chevron College Volunteer Expo Wexford

• VMware Ireland

• An Post

• Trigon Hotels

• Boots Ireland

• Sustainable PR Sustainable PR

• Vodafone Ireland Hi Digital

Afghan community in Ireland supported with pro bono legal assistance

Inishowen Co-Op Supporting Spraoi agus Spórt

• Applegreen Applegreen Blossom Fund

Better Everyday

• VMware Ireland TechStart with VMware Ireland and Digital Skillnet

An Post’s sustainable action in a challenging year

• VMware Citizen Philanthropy at VMware Ireland

Arthur Cox Sustainable Business Impact Report 2020/21

• A&L Goodbody

The Future of Work

• Arthur Cox

Lidl Ireland’s Combatting Period

• Inishowen Co-Op

Large Indigenous Company | **Multinational Company

• Arthur Cox

Eco TDOG: Community garden build

• Ryanair Erasmus Student Network Partnership

• Microsoft Ireland

2021 AIB Sustainability Conference

Trigon Hotels in Partnership with Cope Foundation

Poverty with Dignity

Junior Juries Volunteering

• SuperValu SuperValu Save the Bees

Aldi and Barnardos Partnership

Strengthening Access to Justice for Communities through FLAC’s Information Line

Communication MNC

• Fyffes

• AIB

• Aldi Ireland

• Lidl Ireland

• Amazon Web Services (AWS) Take on a Cause

• KPMG KPMG LEGOTM Club

• An Post

Shortlisted Projects

ProgrammeCommunity LIC

• Boots Ireland Boots and Dementia Understand Together Campaign

• A&L Goodbody Career LEAP

ProgrammeCommunity MNC

• Permanent TSB Elevating Our Social Impact Through The Permanent TSB Community Fund

An Post Employee Campaign

Communication LIC

• Liberty Insurance

Boots and Irish Cancer Society

• TELUS International Ireland

• Aldi Ireland

The Stories That Bind Us: VMware Ireland and Age Action

Liberty Communications: The Greatest Gift

• Winelab Winelab closed loop recycling system

• Stillgarden Distillery Social Botanist Project

• William Fry William Fry’s FryTY Programme

• An Post An Post’s Sustainable Workplace

Altada’s Self care Initiative

Large Indigenous Company | **Multinational Company

• Recycle IT Community Electrical Recycling

Giving Charlie His Voice Back

• Abbott LiveLifeWell Programme

• Cheveux Hair Salon Cheveux, sustainable salon

• Intel Ireland Sustainable Kildare

Free To Be Me

MSD Ireland ‘See Green Be Green’

SME

Triest Press Integrated Training/ Employment Programme

• John Sisk & Son

• Bowsy Graduate Diversity

• Shock of Grey Shock of Grey Handcrafted Jewellery

Universal Inclusion Campaign

Shortlisted Projects

• A&L Goodbody ALG and SEI collaborate to unlock the potential of social enterprise

• Ryanair Pathway to Net Zero

Lackaduff raised bog restoration project

• Gardiner Family Apothecary Gardiner Family Apothecary Product Redesign

• Liberty Insurance Liberty Digital Way

• Three Ireland Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging in Three Ireland

• Alex’s Adventure Drug Talk with Nicole Ryan

• Altada Technology Solutions

• Sustainability Works Climate R|O

• Dairygold Co Operative Society Dairygold Farm to Factory Carbon Reduction Roadmap

• AIB

• Brown Thomas Arnotts

Reinventing Retail: Creating a Sustainable Future through Workplace Experience

• MSD Ireland

An Post’s Decarbonisation Strategy

• DataSolutions Techies Go Green

• Liberty Insurance Liberty DEI Council

• Urbanvolt Helping companies transition to clean energy

• Jiminy Eco Toys Inspiring a Playfully Sustainable World

• Community Power Power produced by the people for the people

• Canada Life Reinsurance Community Orchard

Diversity & Inclusion MNC

• An Post

• Bowsy Bowsy Diversity Launch

• Irish Water Delivering Sustainable Water Services

• Marino Software

• The Rose Hotel

The Rose Hotel Green Journey

Social Enterprise

• Triest Press

• KPMG

Workplace

• VMware Mentorship programme with the UCC Disability Services

• William Fry William Fry’s Environmental Partnership with Hometree

Environment MNC

Diversity & Inclusion LIC

• SSE Knowledge Sharing Programme

Environment LIC

• Mason Hayes & Curran The Engage & Educate Fund 2022

I daren’t use the dreaded word ‘unprecedented’, but we’re living in a time where there is no option but to change our ways and that’s why I was really heartened to see such valuable and genuine sustainability initiatives being carried by so many different types of businesses across Ireland. The fact that you’re taking action for a better, more stable future for all means you’re already a winner.

NINA CHIEFARWITZ,EXECUTIVE OFFICER, VOLUNTEER IRELAND

It was so interesting to review the SME applications from across Ireland, some of which have from start-up considered environmental, social and governance (ESG) as the foundation of how they operate in regard to the planet and its people. Once again there were very strong applications in the Community Programme categories showing multiple years of support and partnership. I look forward to seeing the growth in the number of applicants in the recently introduced Social Enterprise Category.

MARY NETWORKCOMMUNITYNATIONALFLEMING,EXECUTIVE,RESOURCESIRELAND

SABINA ASSOCIATECOTTER,DIRECTOR DCU EDUCATIONAL TRUST

JOHN MORGANRELATIONSHIPCUNNINGHAM,DIRECTOR,MCKINLEYGROUP

LORRAINE DIRECTOR,CORCORAN,AFANITELIMITED

While ESG is increasingly topical there are many businesses for whom sustainability has been a central part of their existence since well before it was in the public eye. The 2022 Sustainable Business Impact Awards demonstrate this in abundance. They showcase the substance behind sustainability initiatives and how continuous progress is vital for all.

The Sustainable Business Impact Awards demonstrate the appetite that businesses all over Ireland have to effect real change. I want to congratulate all of the entrants for their efforts - by stepping up to the challenge you are already trying to make a difference and hopefully encouraging other businesses to do the same.

We are delighted with the increase in applications from SMEs - there is so much good work being carried out. I encourage all SMEs to consider applying next year. What these organisations do makes a real difference and I’m delighted to see us using the Sustainable Development Goals as the benchmark - this country is providing a sophisticated approach to a global issue - Business in Ireland can stand tall and proud!

DEBORAH TRADEDEPARTMENTTRADEDRETAILASSISTANTDIGNAM,PRINCIPAL,ANDLOCALLYENTERPRISEUNIT,OFENTERPRISE,ANDEMPLOYMENT

6 Our Judges

Every year I am struck by the rising quality of entries to the Sustainable Business Impact Awards - in particular around the way impact is measured, understood and communicated. The potential for companies to make real positive changes in our communities is huge, and the winners of these Awards shine a light on what is possible.

SIOBHAN MANAGINGHAMILTON,DIRECTOR, GREEN WORKPLACES

The emerging focus of the awards on sustainability provides a badly needed opportunity as well as incentive to showcase the base of what community and business can do in partnership. The results showcased here will help create a pathway to inspire others.

MOIRA GRASSICK, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, PENINSULA BUSINESS SERVICES IRELAND

I would like to congratulate all candidates. The high calibre of initiatives made judging a difficult but very gratifying process. The commitment shown by businesses large and small across the country to work collaboratively to find innovative and sustainable ways to positively impact people and planet is truly inspiring.

It’s great to see so many organisations taking action and implementing policies in sustainable development and social responsibility. This year’s finalists demonstrated commitment and leadership in sustainable practices and ensuring they are embedded in the company culture. They are exemplars in supporting the UN’s sustainable development goals.

It’s incredibly encouraging to see the sustainability efforts of the businesses shortlisted for this year’s Chambers Ireland Sustainable Business Impact Awards. Climate action is an increasingly important issue and seeing the effort these businesses are making internally and throughout their communities signifies the importance of this issue.

Our Judges SHEILA UNIVERSITYKEMMYASSOCIATEKILLIAN,PROFESSOR,BUSINESSSCHOOL,OFLIMERICK

DEIRDRE GARVEY, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, THE WHEEL

It’s always encouraging to see the quality of entries in the Chambers Ireland Sustainable Business Impact Awards, particularly when they address pressing issues of social sustainability. With new crises emerging in 2022 including a sharper focus on the social as well as environmental impact of climate change, and the war in Ukraine, this trend should be even more impactful and necessary in the future.

MARTIN TOBIN, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, EUROPEAN RECYCLING PLATFORM IRELAND

The circular economy is a crucial building block for creating a healthier future. It is inspiring to see the breadth and diversity of programmes by companies from across the country mapping their sustainable initiatives both inside and outside of their workplace operations. The incredibly high standard of entries for the Chambers Ireland Sustainable Business Impact Awards has made this year’s judging very difficult and I commend all those that have been shortlisted.

ALASDAIR IRELANDEXECUTIVEHENDERSON,DIRECTOR,BAM

All Ri s eAll Ri s e Suppo r t loc a l to l i ft us a l l Ch am p i o n G r ee n . i e

With members in every region and economic sector, we are uniquely positioned to represent the views of businesses and understand their concerns. We realise the vital role that the business community plays in adopting and implementing the SDGs in Ireland, and we support businesses’ commitments to achieving the Goals in every sector.

BEGIN YOUR COMPANY’S JOURNEY TO ALIGN WITH THE SDGS BY DOWNLOADING THE CHAMBERS IRELAND SDG TOOLKIT FOR TIPS ON GETTING STARTED Visit chambers.ie to download the SDG Toolkit for Business

One change, one plan or one step in the right direction by each individual, business or organisation equates to a leap forward in our duty to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

CHAMBERS IRELANDOUR COMMITMENT TO THE SDGS

hambers Ireland is the largest business organisation in Ireland, with a geographic reach and membership base that spans cities, towns, and communities nationwide.

OUR VISION

If Ireland is to implement the SDGs domestically by 2030, each represented dimension of society must be included in the progress.

With our extensive regional and national reach, we believe that Chambers Ireland is strongly positioned to influence and encourage both business and community engagement with the Goals. By championing the SDGs, Chambers Ireland will ensure that accomplishing these goals is reflected in the work that we do across our Network.

E Explain the SDG concepts to the owner/management and employees.

Get further information on the SDGs and how it relates to your industry.

Do a comprehensive audit of the companies’ current engagement and review the results.

IMPROVE

Help the owner/operator to develop a short policy about engaging with the goals.

ASSEMBLE

Explain the SDG concepts to the owner/management and employees.

Conduct a confidential comprehensive survey of all staff asking about their health well-being concerns and other areas in relation to the SDGs.

In the survey, ask what they would like to do as individuals to improve their engagement on the SDGs, and how they think the employer could help.

Measure the process and outcome of each activity against the evaluation plans.

Prioritize by pairing high need areas with high “want” areas from employees.

On at least an annual basis, reevaluate the 3 to 5-year plan and update it.

Ask for 2-3 volunteers to help with the work (Working Group).

ASSESS



Write out the plan and make a list of what you’ll need to accomplish each activity, and present to the owner/ operator for approval or negotiation.

Do this at the same time as the initial meeting if possible or at a subsequent meeting.

Get a commitment for enough time to plan and implement programmes.

PRIORITISE

Brainstorm ideas on what the employees and the employer could do to make things better.

Find a space to meet and gather any materials you will need.

If there are very different types of jobs in the company try to get one of each to help.

Set up regional subcommittees if the corporation has many sites.

Lead a discussion with the workers about the SDGs. Include family and community as they relate to work.

Determine local good practice and consult outside experts as appropriate.

Based on what you see and hear from workers, change the programme to improve it.

Set up a committee of 10-15 people representing different departments and work locations.

Plan to do one thing at a time.

Use ideas from the Working Group as well as other employees or other enterprises.

Contact the owner/operator separately to ask for his/her ideas.

Begin on another project, based on your list of priorities.

Hold monthly or bi-monthly meetings to assess progress on all projects.

Repeat the survey every 2 years and monitor changes over Developtime.annual plans on the basis of the evaluations from the previous year.

Get a commitment for enough time to plan and implement programmes.

If you can find experts from larger enterprises or community associations willing to help, include them.

Prioritize by pairing high need areas with high “want” areas from employees.

PLAN

SMALL ENTERPRISE LARGE CORPORATION 

EVALUATE

CHECKLISTSDGSTHEONSTARTAMAKING

Develop a long-term plan to accomplish bigger projects. Develop a broad 3 - 5 year plan.

Carry out the action plans with assistance from the owner/ operator and the Working Group.

Include activities addressing awareness, knowledge and skillbuilding, behaviour change, and environmental/ organizational adjustments.

MOBILISE

Develop terms of reference for these groups if necessary.

Get permission to hold short meetings with the workers to determine what needs to be done.

List problems and solutions and ask people to choose their top 3-5.

Gather demographic data about the workforce.

Help the owner/operator to develop a short policy about engaging with the goals.

Ensure cross-representation from all parts of the organisation.

Analyze the results of the survey and audit/inspection results.

Divide responsibilities among those on the committee.

Ask workers if they think the project worked, why or why not, and what could be improved.

In each specific action plan, include process and outcome goals as well as evaluation plans and timelines.

Base action plans on stages of change when appropriate.

Do this at the same time as the initial meeting if possible or at a subsequent meeting.

Get permission to hold short meetings with the workers to determine what needs to be done.

RESIDENTS, COMMUNITY GROUPS AND ORGANISATIONS HAVE EMBRACED RECYCLING AND TO THEIR CREDIT HAVE ARRANGED AND SUPPORTED COLLECTIONS WHICH WILL HELP US RECYCLE OVER 1,300 TONS OF WASTE

Una Lavelle, General Manager, Recycle IT

DETERMINING NEEDS

and with ease. Recycling collections, drop off, and breakdown for reuse services assist us in supporting real training and employment outcomes which over time lead to employment progression and career development.”

As Recycle IT progresses an important goal involves helping improve recycling and reuse rates for waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). This will help Ireland reach the European Union target of 65 per cent minimum collection for recycling of WEEE as outlined in European Community Directive 2012/19/EU.“Ourteam will not only recycle waste electrical equipment but will work to promote electrical recycling as the right option when old equipment comes to the end of its useful life,” says Lavelle.

Through its collection and drop off service, Recycle IT supports thousands of people with free electrical and pure metal recycling opportunities each year. This service is important for a variety of reasons as some people may not have access to a car, the financial means, or can’t easily move or lift heavy electrical appliances

“Our main goal for the year ahead involves connecting with new communities across Dublin to support recycling while increasing training and employment opportunities for people returning to work after a period away. Recycle IT offer people distanced from the labour market the opportunities to work in team environment, rebuild confidence, reskill, or upskill, all with the aspiration of gaining a secure sustainable and worthwhile job.”

Lavelle explains, “Recycle IT are working hard to increase electrical equipment recycling rates in Dublin and surrounding areas and allow individuals, families and organisations recycle safely

Recycle IT have just started a new project to determine the need for electrical recycling collections from new and existing apartment locations in Dublin. This project will operate for an initial one-year period, which began in July 2022. The aim is to increase the quantity of electrical and electronic equipment safely recycled by the individuals, shared or family households living in apartments.

ecycle IT is an awardwinning social enterprise providing recycling collection and drop-off services for all types of waste electrical, electronic equipment and pure metal items. It works with WEEE Ireland to collect old, damaged or unused electrical and electronic equipment from households, apartments, schools, colleges, charities, and businesses across Dublin and surrounding areas.

“Residents,safely.community groups and organisations have embraced recycling and to their credit have arranged and supported collections which will help us recycle over 1,300 tons of waste during the two-year period to December 31st, 2022,” says Una Lavelle, General Manager, Recycle IT. “That equates to a small mountain of computers, laptops cables, chargers, household cookers, kettles, irons, toasters, and lots more equipment, all for safe recycling.”

Recycle IT has been making an environmental impact by recycling electrical and electronic equipment since 2002

11 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE RECYCLE IT

Recycle IT is supported by the Department of Rural and Community Development, Dormant Accounts Fund, Pobal, South Dublin County Council and authorized by the National Waste Collection Permit Office and the local authorities across Leinster.

Making AccessibleRecycling

that will remove our reliance on fossil fuels and the creaking infrastructure that powers our electricityAccordinggrid.to the International Energy Agency, global renewable electricity capacity is forecast to rise more than 60% in 2026 from 2020 levels. Renewables alone are set to account for almost 95% of the increase in global power capacity through 2026, with solar PV providing more than half. The die is cast, portents of the future have crystallised and renewable energy has won out as the cheapest form of energy on theThat’splanet.where UrbanVolt comes in. We are a clean energy partner specialising in LED and solar installations for commercial and industrial buildings. Since 2015, we have been helping hundreds of Irish companies reduce their carbon footprint and begin their journey to energy independence by removing the need for upfrontUrbanVoltcapital.began their business with the core objective of educating and inspiring clients to make a difference to the world. Despite consumers radically changing their behaviour over the last two decades, carbon emissions have continued to rise and are still accelerating. Consumers simply do not have the scale to impact global carbon emissions in time to save our planet from irreparable

The other route is UrbanVolt’s ‘as a service’ model which means there is no capital or operational risk. UrbanVolt looks after the hidden costs that you do not see like planning permission, glint and glare reports and also all the maintenance costs for

damage. Businesses must be mobilised if we are to achieve our stated UrbanVoltgoals.built a service offering that delivers LED lighting and solar installations to companies — without any need for upfront investment. For example, in terms of rooftop solar, UrbanVolt covers the cost of design, installation and all maintenance for the system for up to 30 years and the client signs a Power Purchase Agreement where they only have to pay a fixed price perAskilowatt-hour.abusiness,you have two options when looking at solar. You can go the CapEx route, which means you will pay for the solar panels and take full risk and responsibility. When being sold these installations however, there is false information surrounding what panels can actually produce and the solar energy you can actuallyHere’sconsume.thething - the system needs to be designed to meet the demand of the client without producing excess energy that the client cannot use, or else you are installing redundant capacity.

n a world that is numb to shocking climate change news, what steps can we actually take to make a real difference? Consumers have tried for a decade to stem the tide and save the planet for our children, but they face a constant struggle with feeling helpless. While it’s true that one person can make very little difference, large corporate entities, when they decide to act, can drive real and meaningful change.

12 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE URBANVOLT

Kevin Maughan, CEO, UrbanVolt

The future is bright

Clean energy company UrbanVolt is helping hundreds of Irish companies reduce their carbon footprint and begin their journey to energy independence

By opting for clean energy, companies are not only helping the planet but also starting the journey to energy independence

The question is no longer ‘if’ companies will embrace renewable energy, the questions now are ‘when’ and ‘how’.

We have dramatically reduced energy consumption for our customers through the innovative light and solar as a service models, and our clients save millions of tons of CO2 every single year. Along the way, we have won

Companies will have to embrace a fundamental change and really try and create a better world for our children and grandchildren. Those that don’t make this transition will simply not exist in twenty years’ time. We work hard every day to help companies make this transition, so join us on the journey to energy independence and let’s accelerate this transition to a sustainable future together.

See urbanvolt.com for more information

13 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE URBANVOLT

Don O’Neill, Managing Director of Manhattan Peanuts

THERE IS A MORAL OBLIGATION ON COMPANIES TO TRY AND REDUCE THEIR CARBON FOOTPRINT. THE GREAT THING ABOUT URBANVOLT IS THAT THERE’S NOT ONLY ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS, BUT THERE’S ALSO FINANCIAL BENEFIT. IT’S A GREAT CHOICE TO MAKE

the duration of the agreement. It also means that you are not left with the responsibility of disposing of the panels when they eventually have to be replaced. You also dramatically reduce your carbon emissions and hit sustainability targets. Sounds like a no-brainer, right?

countless awards and also became Ireland’s first certified B Corporation. As a Certified B Corp, UrbanVolt meets the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency and legal accountability. Becoming a B Corp hard-coded our mission into the DNA of the company and we are living proof that business holds the key to changing the world.

Not surprisingly, students can support a huge range of different project work and if someone is studying it, it can be done through the Bowsy platform. According to Lorna McMullan, Head of Marketing at Bowsy, “The most common projects performed are usually around website development, content creation, social media management, graphic design, constructing business plans or devising marketing strategies. But each day there is something new. Last month we had architecture students doing floor plans for a hotel and during Covid-19 we had

As part of the launch, Bowsy ran several campaigns and webinars to address specific challenges that small businesses were facing. During the lockdown, Bowsy ran several webinars for rural businesses with the objective of connecting them with students who could help get their business online with tools like Shopify. Similarly, Bowsy ran several campaigns aimed at start-ups across the country who could now connect with a talented and flexible workforce.

14 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE BOWSY

Remote work experience platform Bowsy is connecting a diverse cohort of students with paid work experience opportunities in both small and large companies

The idea behind the initiative is simple; final year university students are looking for relevant work experience that can help them at the start of their careers and on the other side there are many small businesses who are struggling to connect

Another exciting development has been the use of the Bowsy platform as a recruitment tool for small businesses. According to Renata Covisi who is Head of Operations at Bowsy, “Students can often default to looking for employment amongst larger employers, but we have several case studies where students started off doing project work for a small business and ended up getting a full-time job. Through remote project work with a small business, students are exposed to new areas and opportunities that they might not have originally considered and very quickly see the benefits of getting broader responsibilities when working for a small sized business”.

John Brady, CEO and Co-founder of Bowsy, Lorna McMullan, Head of Marketing, and Renata Covisi Pereira, Head of Product & Operations

with graduate talent that can help their businesses. This is where Bowsy comes in, providing a one-stop, remote working platform that allows small businesses to post projects and students to get paid remote work experience.

eing a small start-up has not stopped Bowsy making a national impact, with the launch of their Graduate Diversity programme, which helps small businesses to connect with final year university students from across the country through remote project work. After only 18 months, Bowsy is now working with over 90 per cent of the third level institutions across the country, and university students in Ireland have already helped hundreds of small businesses through the Bowsy platform.

students helping small businesses with grant and business relief applications which still goes on today. Social media management & Advertising has been a particularly popular area for businesses on Bowsy seeking university student support. Leveraging this digital-native, savvy student workforce has helped many small businesses across Ireland scale online.

Connecting Students and Employers

There is also a strong social cause at the heart of Bowsy which is to create equality of opportunity for all Irish students, as John Brady, CEO of Bowsy, explains “Many students face different barriers to getting traditional work experience which can vary greatly depending on where a student lives, where they are studying, their socio-economic background or even if their family has access to an employer network. Bowsy helps address this and is focused on providing remote work experience opportunities that are open to all students. This helps them build their CV, address practical skills gaps and create

SOCIAL CAUSE

STUDENTS FACE DIFFERENT BARRIERS TO GETTING TRADITIONAL WORK EXPERIENCE WHICH CAN VARY GREATLY DEPENDING ON WHERE A STUDENT LIVES, WHERE THEY ARE STUDYING, THEIR SOCIO-ECONOMIC BACKGROUND

As part of this strong focus on creating equality of opportunity for Irish students, Bowsy rolled out a Diversity Launch, specifically aimed at larger employers who are trying to improve the diversity in their graduate recruitment pipeline. Bowsy created a national student ambassador programme to ensure that their platform was representative of the diverse student population across Ireland. Lorna McMullan explains, “Our ambassadors come from key student communities that are facing particular challenges such as students with disabilities, students

Bowsy has also received significant external recognition for the work that they are doing to help students and the company was named as Tech Start-up of the Year at the National Irish Start-up Awards as well as being a finalist in this year’s Talent Summit which was the largest HR event in Europe this year.

15 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE BOWSY

To better understand the challenges, Bowsy commissioned a national study amongst recent graduates in Ireland which found that 89 per cent of students are not happy with the current graduate recruitment process and that 29 per cent of students felt that they had been indirectly discriminated by some employers during the recruitment process. Renata Covisi notes, “There is a very strong student mandate for change and the Bowsy diversity programme represents a significant opportunity for companies to address this. Through Bowsy, employers can reach students, that normally do not engage with them, to improve the diversity in their graduate recruitment. In the same research study, we also asked students what was the number one change that they would like to see and it wasn’t more graduate fairs or more internships—the number one change that Irish graduates would like to see is access to remote work experience.”

John Brady adds, “Everyone in the Bowsy team is super proud that we have been nominated in two categories for our efforts as a small business and also for our work on diversity. We are very excited that Bowsy is making a positive change for both business and students and we looking forward to great things to come.”

their employer network while they are in their final year of university.”

from low socio economic backgrounds, the LGBTQ student community and refugees. Employers can now use the platform to connect with students from diverse backgrounds that may not normally apply for a graduate role in their company. The idea is not to replace a company’s existing graduate recruitment programme but to improve the diversity of talent that feeds their graduate recruitment pipeline.”

Talent Summit at the Convention Centre Dublin, where Bowsy was a finalist

a positive impact, specifically in the regions where we build and operate our global infrastructure, we established a programme and team called AWS InCommunities.”

“We know that AWS employees care deeply about their local communities and have a strong desire to give back and be involved in causes they are passionate about,” she explains. “As part of the AWS InCommunities Take On A Cause initiative, AWS employees nominate a cause in the area where they live and work and gather a team of AWS

local initiatives around science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM) education, equity, and access; local tech upskilling; environmental stewardship; and employee engagement.

LOCAL LEVEL

“What I love about Amazon is the opportunity,” he says. “It’s so fast paced. Within eighteen months

needs, to nominate important causes in need. The nominations are often a result of employees being involved as volunteers with local charities and organisations and/ or listening and understanding at a local level the needs of that local community. Take On A Cause is driven by AWS lead volunteers called ‘ambassadors’ and volunteers who are passionate about being good neighbours and investing in the organisations that are the pillars of the local communities.

TO BUILDING A WORLD WHERE EVERY PERSON HAS OPPORTUNITYTHETO LIVE A LIFE OF DIGNITY ON A HEALTHY PLANET

COMMUNITY SPIRIT

“Whether it’s using technology to solve the world’s most pressing issues, or through our employees donating their time to support causes they care about, AWS is dedicated to building a world where every person has the opportunity to live a life of dignity on a healthy planet,” says Reynolds. “To make

With local andwhereliveempowerstheadditionalorganisationscommunity-basedofteninneedofsupportandinvestment,TakeOnACauseinitiativeAWSemployees,whoandworkinthecommunitiesAWSoperatesandknowunderstandtheircommunities’

volunteers to make a positive impact for that organisation depending on their specific need. The initiative has been running in Ireland since 2018 and over 35 volunteer projects have been completed.”

Take On A Cause

AWS DEDICATEDIS

AWS InCommunities launches long-term, innovative programmes that will have a lasting impact; the programmes are focused on building and supporting global and

16 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE AMAZON WEB SERVICES

Amazon Web Services’ employees take on causes and organise community events with one goal in mind: making a positive impact in the places where they live and work

mazon Web Services (AWS) is committed to making a positive difference around the world, and in 2020, AWS colleagues in Ireland completed 800 hours of volunteering growing to 1,300 hours in 2021. In 2022 they are on track to increase this number by over 25%. “As our employee base grows in Ireland, so too does our company’s commitment to give back to our local community and our employees’ desire to be a force for good in their communities. There is a strong commitment to being an asset to our communities instilled in the company from the highest levels of management,” states Joanne Reynolds, Community Engagement Manager,EmployeeAWS.engagement is a core pillar and priority for the AWS InCommunities team and Take On A Cause is a key initiative within that pillar. Take On A Cause aims to makes a lasting impact not only on the community but also on the employees who volunteer and make that contribution directly to the community, notes Reynolds.

Thomas Carroll, a Data Centre Operations Training Specialist for AWS Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), works at the company’s data centre in Tallaght, South Dublin – the area where he has lived and worked his entire life, and where he now volunteers.

I was given the opportunity to support the launch of some new data centres across Europe. As part of a team, I led a project to redesign a system within a data centre. It’s a great environment to be in. Everybody’s opinion is valued.”AsanAWS InCommunities

Ambassador, Thomas identifies community organisations or projects in his local area that need support. One of the first projects he took on as a volunteer was repainting St Killian’s, a local school attended by many data centre employees’ children, including his own. Another was working with EPIC, a community space for adults with severe learningThroughdisabilities.AWS’sTake On A Cause initiative, Carroll has driven more than 25 projects in his community, ranging from refurbishing women’s refuges, to installing sensory rooms for pupils with special needs in local schools, and mobilising more than 100 AWS employees for a Christmas drive to provide meals and care packs for the homeless. “My day job allows me to work on projects that are globally impactful,” he says. “And my role as an ambassador lets me lead projects – with the company’s backing – that have a meaningful impact in my local community”.

Joanne Reynolds, Community Engagement Manager, AWS

AMAZON WEB SERVICES

SBIA PARTNER PROFILE

hroughout 2021 Irish Water continued to make big strides in improving water and wastewater services, reducing leakage, enhancing the service offered to customers and delivering high levels of connections for housing and developmentInvestmentnationwide.of€851min capital infrastructure projects during the year delivered major upgrades and construction of new water and wastewater treatment plants and networks, as well as the completion

of critical projects such as Cork Lower Harbour and the Vartry Water Treatment Plant. Irish Water also reached a significant milestone with the elimination of 60 per cent of raw sewage discharges in Ireland and is on track to remove most of the remainder by 2025.

Irish Water’s CEO, Niall Gleeson, says: “Irish Water remains committed to ensuring that all our customers have safe, clean drinking water and that all wastewater is treated and returned safely to the environment. The work we do is essential in order to support

SustainabilityEmbedding

“Together with our stakeholders, the SDGs will continue to serve as a blueprint for how we behave as a responsible water utility and to focus resources for delivering the most 450 WATER STEWARDS HAVE BEEN TRAINED TO DATE, WITH OVER 1,000 NEW WATER CONSERVATION PROJECTS PUT IN PLACE BY BUSINESSES”

SAFE AND RELIABLE

economic growth, housing and jobs and in 2021 we continued to support the delivery of the Government’s Housing for All programme, with over 32,000 offers of new housing connection made.”

OVER

Irish Water are rising to the challenge of climate breakdown and the biodiversity crisis, integrating and embedding sustainability, significantly improving the sustainability of water services

aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), taking a proactive approach to sustainability across Ireland’s water and wastewater assets. The UN SDG’s have set an ambitious framework, with water having an individual goal within the SDGs. SDG 6 aims to “ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all”.

Irish Water’s approach supports sustainable development, working with communities across the country, understanding their different needs, and building strong relationships that deliver impactful changes in economic growth, social inclusion and environmental stewardship.IrishWater is playing its part in building a more sustainable future by implementing policies and strategies

sustainable functioning ecosystem, fundamentally supported by a diversity of plant and animal life.

18 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE IRISH WATER

Irish Water’s mission is to ensure that all its customers receive a safe, reliable and sustainable supply of drinking water and have their wastewater collected and safely returned to the environment. Its ability to take drinking water from the environment, and return treated wastewater requires a healthy and

Irish Water continues to progress a number of initiatives taking a circular economy model for the management of sludges (organic matter that has been removed during the water treatment process), which provide a sustainable source of precious finite materials. “Our approach focusses on productive reuse and recycling of sludges as a product, providing an alternative or complement to current raw materials being used, thus entering the circular economy,” says“WeCoakley.viewwater sludge as a valuable resource particularly in the context of the circular economy model. This model is in direct contrast to the current linear model of ‘take, make, consume, dispose’, with landfill being the primary endInpoint.”2021Irish Water reached a key milestone with almost 90 per cent of water sludge going to circular economy outlets, from a starting point in 2016 of 70 per cent going to landfill. “We are well on our way to reach our target of zero waste to landfill by 2030. We have plans to install nature-based solutions, such as innovative sustainable, lowcarbon, sludge reed beds and integrated constructed wetlands, at a further 30 sites, biodiversity enhancement on 60 sites and 30 ha of woodland planting in 2022 to help achieve our sustainability

significant and positive sustainability impacts,” states Niall Gleeson CEO.

As one of Ireland’s largest public sector energy consumers, energy efficiency improvement is a key mitigation measure of Irish Water’s climate change policy. Its sustainable energy

19 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE

CIRCULAR ECONOMY

IRISH WATER

“Our strategy and energy management encompasses numerous Energy Action Plans and discrete energy projects, including energy efficient design, innovation, energy retrofits, renewable energy, lighting and heating, energy audits and planning, process optimisation, staff awareness andIrishtraining.”Water is implementing Energy Efficient Design (EED) for all new and existing assets in collaboration with the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI). “Our strategic agreement with SEAI helps to design for energy efficiency from concept, avoiding locking in inefficiencies whilst also helping to transform the industry at a national level,” explains Charlie Coakley, Sustainability Policy Lead.

strategy takes a proactive, business-wide approach including concept design, new projects, retrofits and people.

CLIMATE ACTION

Lough Guitane Landscape, Kerry

On site collaboration - enginner, regional support and construction

Irish Water’s significant improvements in energy efficiency delinks its energy use from its carbon emissions; it is at the forefront in installing renewable energy sources, providing a low carbon, renewable and secure energy supply for its assets.

Plans for net zero carbon include further development of solar PV, hydro, wind and biogas across Irish Water’s asset base, which already boasts 20 PV solar sites undergoing statutory planning consultation.

“In 2021, we made significant progress on the journey to become a low carbon, sustainable water utility, achieving over 34 per cent improvement in energy efficiency performance against a 2009 baseline, saving 120,000T carbon,” Sean Laffey, Director Asset Management and Sustainability.

SBIA PARTNER PROFILE

WATER STEWARDSHIP

IRISH WATER

The innovative programme is the first of its kind globally. It is an international best practice certification, accredited by the European Water Stewardship Standard (EWS). The initiative is being implemented with the endorsement of key business stakeholder groups including Chambers Ireland, Ibec, IDA Ireland, Origin Green, BIM and Enterprise Ireland.

Protection of ecosystem is fundamental to Irish Water in order to provide a safe, secure and sustainable water supply. Irish Water’s assets are located within a range of habitats including species-rich grassland, woodland, scrub and wetlands, and its infrastructure interacts directly with freshwater, estuarine and marine habitats through abstraction of water or discharge of wastewater.Tocelebrate World Environment Day on Saturday, June 5, 2021, Irish Water launched its Biodiversity Action Plan which sets out a national programme of measures to protect and enhance Ireland’s biodiversity. In 2021, Irish Water planted 18,500 native trees at Lough Guitane in Co. Kerry. These trees form a riparian woodland along the shores of Lough Guitane, protecting the source of drinking water for Killarney whilst also providing carbon sequestration. Irish Water also implemented Biodiversity Management Plans and Enhancement Measures for 140 sites nationally.

NATURAL CAPITAL

Ballymore Eustace Biodiversity

The specialised training provides business owners with the knowledge and expertise to lower water consumption and reduce operating costs while protecting the environment. Small changes such as identifying water waste on site, setting a baseline for water use, raising awareness amongst staff and customers or upgrading to water efficient devices can help to save water and money. Over 450

Water conservation and water stewardship for business is becoming very important in Irish Water’s drive to become a more sustainable utility. It is working in partnership with businesses to safeguard our water supply now and into the future with the Irish Water Certified Water Stewardship Programme providing water stewardship training for business customers.

target of net positive biodiversity by 2030,” notes Coakley.

Operated by An Taisce’s Clean Coasts programme in partnership with Irish Water, the campaign is promoted across the country. As part of the 2021 campaign, 5 national events and 30 regional activities were run throughout the year. Many events were modified as a result of the ongoing pandemic, with the majority being delivered online and through socialAnothermedia.important sponsorship for Irish Water is the An Taisce Green Schools programme, which aims to inform tomorrow’s water advocates today. Across Irish Water staff from many functions contribute to the programme, speaking directly to children who are the future engineers, scientists and communicators, teaching them about water as something that needs to be conserved and protected. In total 269,802 students, 29,185 staff and 752 schools participated in the Water theme last year, with a focus on online and virtual and Sustainabilityengagement.isatthecore of everything we do at Irish Water as we progress on our journey to becoming a low carbon, sustainable public water utility. We are committed to the provision of safe, clean water services to a growing economy and population in a sustainable manner, for now and into the future and we aim to enhance and protect the environment an while supporting the social and economic development of the communities we operate in.

Irish Water partnered with An Taisce on the ‘Think Before You Flush’ awareness campaign about problems caused in our marine environment and wastewater systems by the thousands of unsuitable items that are flushed down toilets every day, causing blockages in our homes and businesses, leading to sewer overflows in our communities and plastic pollution in rivers, beaches and the ocean.

water stewards have been trained to date, with over 1,000 new water conservation projects put in place by businesses.

CLEAN COASTS

Community Power is working to enable Ireland to run on renewably sourced energy and allow communities to take ownership and control of their supply

21 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE COMMUNITY POWER

Community Power is assisting urban and rural communities throughout Ireland to become involved in the Renewable Energy Support Scheme programme (RESS). RESS is a State-funded programme which now enables communities to become involved in energy generation projects. Signiﬁcant revenue streams, up to six ﬁgure sums, can accrue to communities annually via such projects.

COMMUNITIESASSISTING TO SUCCESSFULLY NAVIGATE THE RESS PROGRAMME AND PROCESS ENABLES US TO DELIVER ON OUR MANDATE. WE ENVISION 100 PER CENT OF OWNERSHIP, CONTROL AND REVENUES RESIDING WITH THE COMMUNITIES

“We are a partnership of community energy groups working for a sustainable energy future for Ireland,” explains Sarah Fogarty, Operations Manager, Community Power Ireland. “We grew out of Ireland’s ﬁrst community owned wind farm, Templederry Wind Farm in Co Tipperary, and now are working with Irish communities to develop more renewable energy projects owned by people.”

farm, and it has been operating from the foothills of Slieve Feilim since November 2012. Its two turbines are generating about 15 GWh of electricity every year, which is about the amount of electricity used by the town of Nenagh. Now Community Power is buying renewably generated electricity from a handful of small and micro hydro and wind generators across Ireland and selling it to customers to use in their

It took almost 12 years to build Community Power’s ﬁrst, and only wind

“Communityago.

SUPPORT SCHEME

Power to the People

homes, businesses, farms and community buildings.“Ourmission is to support Ireland to run on clean, renewable power, but as if that’s not enough, we also think people should also have a real stake in it and own it for themselves,” says Fogarty.

ommunity Power is Ireland’s ﬁrst community owned electricity supplier.

Community Power helps communities to generate their own large renewable energy projects and 100 per cent of the proﬁts of each project goes back into thatCommunitycommunity.Power’s Circular Economy highlights renewable energy as a sustainable business model that is resilient and people focused. It is energy regenerative by design and aims to promote environmental enhancement and energy community“Communityownership.Powerbelieves in a holistic vision of the energy system,” states Fogarty. “We support a local, integrated and responsible energy system where we can collectively manage our energy production and consumption in a way that is accessible and understandable for local people.”

“The ﬁrst RESS program commenced in 2020 and we are delighted that Community Power has been successful in assisting Claremorris Energy Co-op in Mayo and Dunmore Energy Community in Galway to get through the auction.”

Power serves the common good, and as such we believe communities should seek to enable and empower each other in a socially responsible and sustainable way. Assisting communities to successfully navigate the RESS programme and process enables us to deliver on our mandate. We envision 100 per cent of ownership, control and revenues residing with the communities.”

Sarah Fogarty, Community Power

In 2022, Community Power helped two more community projects to get through the RESS program; Streamstown, Co Mayo and Tipperary Solar Farm. These communities will own their own renewable energy generation projects just like Templederry Windfarm, in Co Tipperary succeeded in doing many years

yanair is working hard to reduce its environmental impact and become carbon neutral by 2050 while leading aviation sustainability on its Pathway to Net Zero.

Ryanair’s Pathway to Net Zero emissions by 2050 aligns with the Paris Agreement and the aviation industry’s Destination 2050 initiative. Ryanair’s pathway shows

Ryanair believes that aviation must play a leading role in addressing climate change and is placing an increased emphasis on mitigating how its business impacts the environment. To date, Ryanair customers have contributed over €3.5m to these environmental projects.

Trinity Partnership Announcement

22 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE RYANAIR

Ryanair is working hard to reduce its environmental impact and become carbon neutral by 2050 while leading aviation sustainability on its Pathway to Net Zero

Flying High

that decarbonisation and alignment with EU climate targets is possible. This strategy outlines four core strategic pillars to achieve net carbon zero by 2050: 34 per cent decarbonisation through the increased use of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF); 32 per cent decarbonisation through technological and operational improvements; 24 per cent decarbonisation through offsetting and other economic measures; and 10 per cent decarbonisation through the introduction of better Air Traffic Management.

Ryanair understands that aviation plays a pivotal role in tackling climate change and its Pathway to Net Zero will help reduce CO2 emissions and impact on the environment. The company continues to work tirelessly with its team and strategic partners to lead the way in making aviation more sustainable, and was delighted to be upgraded to a ‘B’ rating by the CDP this year, recognising Ryanair’s commitment to reducing its environmental impact.

One third of decarbonisation is to come from the increased use of SAF and to accomplish this Ryanair is working

closely with the EU and fuel suppliers to accelerate the supply. Ryanair continues to invest in new technology and purchased 210 Boeing 737-8200 ‘Gamechanger’ aircraft—which carry 4 per cent more passengers, are 16 per cent more fuel and CO2 efficient and lower noise emissions by 40 per cent.

RYANAIR’S LEADING ROLE IN EUROPEAN CONNECTIVITY MADE IT A NATURAL PARTNER FOR THE ERASMUS PROGRAMME, AND RYANAIR HAS CARRIED OVER 10 MILLION ERASMUS STUDENTS SINCE THE LAUNCH FIVE YEARS AGO

23 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE SUSTAINABLE PR

also prides herself on being a Climate Ambassador, an initiative coordinated by the Environmental Education Unit of An Taisce with support from the Department of Communication, Climate Action and Environment.

Partnering with smart eco-conscious brands, Sustainable PR is leading the field in green marketing

donating 1% of Sustainable PR’s annual revenue to environmental causes like rewilding Ireland and planting hundreds of native Irish trees. Donnellan streamlines her unique blend of PR so that she and her clients are minimising their impact on the planet whether that’s reducing the number of events, opting for less travel or other wasteful practices associated with the

in this area. My PR services mean SMEs who have a brand or product in the sustainability space are getting their stories out there and heard on a national level.”

WHEN I STARTED OUT ON THIS JOURNEY, I WANTED MY BUSINESS AND MY CLIENTS TO HAVE A POSITIVE IMPACT, AND THIS IS RECOGNITION THAT WE’RE ON THE RIGHT PATH

What sets Sustainable PR apart from the other agencies operating in Ireland is that Donnellan works with smart, eco-conscious brands that care about the planet, providing simple and effective PR strategies to enhance a brand’s Sustainablereputation.PRhelps each brand tell their unique story through social media, brand strategy, press releases, events, photocalls, influencer marketing and everything creative.

Sustainable PR isn’t all talk when it comes to sustainability. Donnellan is a member of 1% for the Planet,

Fiona Donnellan, Founder, Sustainable PR

ustainable PR is a public relations agency based in Sligo, Ireland. Fiona Donnellan started the company in 2019, with over 11 years of experience working in PR, journalism and communications. She describes her expertise as, “Working with Irish businesses, large and small, who want to have their story heard and grab consumers’ attention.”

Donnellanindustry.

POSITIVE IMPACT

NewReachingMarkets

“Consumer public relations is how businesses communicate with the public or their customers. So, yes it can lead to buying and decimating the planet’s resources, however, Sustainable PR wants their communication around brands and products to be about not only responsible production but responsible consumption, giving customers an option to buy better— buy the bamboo toothbrush instead of the plastic one,” Donnellan advises. “Done right, PR can benefit everyone involved, working with the planet and the people and promoting climate action. PR with purpose.”

Donnellan says: “When I started out on this journey, I wanted my business and my clients to have a positive impact, and this is recognition that we’re on the right path. Sustainable PR is the first and only PR agency in Ireland promoting sustainable brands. We’re a leader

Sustainable PR’s impressive client list includes a zero-waste store, an electric car brand, an eco-friendly toy store and B Corp certified Oat Milk company (B Corp Certification is a designation that a business is meeting high standards of verified performance, accountability, and transparency across a range of factors, such as employee benefits, charitable giving, supply chain practices and input materials, to name a few.)

Mware, the leading provider of multicloud services for apps, is shortlisted in ﬁve categories at this year’s SBIA awards, for initiatives ranging from those that bring a distributed global workforce together, such as its Future of Work programme, to those that leverage the unique skills and talents of its workforce to impact the wider community, such as the tech skills training programme TechStart.

24 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE VMWARE

In a partnership with charity, VMware Ireland launched an App and published a book to promote intergenerational connections with all proceeds going to Age Action. VMware have been working with Age Action since 2017, and were keen to strengthen the ties even further, with

andEmpoweringinnovating

AT THE HEART OF EVERYTHING WE DO LIES THE RESPONSIBILITY AND THE OPPORTUNITY TO BUILD A SUSTAINABLE, EQUITABLE AND MORE SECURE FUTURE FOR ALL

Mark Fitzgerald, Sr. Director of Service Delivery, Global Support, VMware

VMware’s Citizen Philanthropy programme encourages all employees to give to the community in a way that is meaningful and important to each individual. The programme celebrates the collective impact of all its people’s individual actions, encouraging the ﬂexibility for people to give to the community in a way they are genuinely passionate about. The main aim of the campaign was to engage more VMware colleagues and show how easy it is to give to the community, and to promote the use the 40 Service Learning hours each VMware Ireland Employee

Through its Future of Work initiative, VMware has established 11 regional communities to drive an inclusive One VMware culture, to amplify corporate strategy on a local level, and to ensure everyone in the regions is enabled and empowered, regardless of where and how team members choose to work.

The team curated content celebrating children and adults alike reaching across generations, telling and immortalising stories from the older people in their lives in the app and book, eﬀectively capturing and honouring a moment in time forever. Through the development of the app

CITIZEN PHILANTHROPY

“Shifting to a ‘distributed ﬁrst’ work model has heightened the importance of staying close as a community, retaining our strong VMware culture and the rich interactions we have with one another,” says Karen Egan, SVP, GlobalUsingSupport.avariety of communications platforms, VMware tracks all its communications through newsletter, links, surveys and VMsocial analytics, regularly evaluating what is working for its employees and making changes, where needed, to make sure

everyone is beneﬁting from the correct communication platforms and technologies.

VMware Ireland has empowered its employees to make positive impacts in the community, through a range of innovative initiatives

FUTURE OF WORK

gets annually. Each employee who completes their 40 hours can direct a grant of over €500 to a non-proﬁt of their “Thischoice.initiative has resulted in our employees making positive impacts to the community in personally important ways, resulting in a collective monetary impact of over €180,000 in 2021,” reveals Egan.

AGE ACTION

a goal of contributing towards Age Action’s mission of making Ireland the best country in which to grow old.

25 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE VMWARE

and publishing of the book VMware raised almost €5,000 in the first 6 months of the project while also raising awareness for Age Action Ireland, achieving the dual goals of raising awareness and funds for Age Action, and to share in Age Action’s efforts to promote and celebrate intergeneration connections.

TECHSTART

Ultra-learning programme TechStart provides unemployed women with a path into a career in hightech regardless of background or experience. The initial training programme runs over 12 high intensity weeks, followed by 12

Employees taking part in Cork Pride Parade 2022

Employees at our quaterly event to welcome new hires

further weeks of highly structured, well ‘scaffolded’ mentoring and work experience. The programme, tailored to suit Cloud Computing companies, in its present incarnation, comprises of intense technical training combined with a number of focussed soft skills modules. The collaboration between VMware Ireland and Digital Skillnet has seen over 400 people, many without prior IT background trained and successfully obtain jobs in the IT “Thissector.program disrupts the homogeneity of standard tech hiring programs and has delivered a very rich vein of talent for VMware. We have people that were nurses, care

In collaboration with the University College Cork Disability Support Service (UCC DSS), VMware provides mentorship to students with a disability to support their successful transition from education to employment. “There is a mutual benefit for mentors and mentees. Mentees build confidence and skills to support their transition and mentors build awareness and understanding of the area of disability,” explains Egan. VMware Ireland has completed three years of engagement in the UCC DSS mentorship programme with 40 employees, including senior leadership, involved as mentors throughout.“Attheheart of everything we do lies the responsibility and the opportunity to build a sustainable, equitable and more secure future for all. I see the passion and integrity our employees have for each other, our customers, and our community every day.”

VMware Employees doing service learning with Ballincollig Tidy Towns.

workers, physiotherapists, chefs, bar tenders and many other professions that have forged very successful careers with our company,” says Egan.

MENTORSHIP

VMware Employees gather before a charity walk

“Elave Sensitive Renew products have moved to 100 per cent aluminium packaging, which means the packaging can be endlessly reprocessed with low emissions without losing any quality, while redesigned smaller caps use 80 per cent less plastics.

“Across the product ranges, single use packaging has been

AN 85 PER STANDARDSANDHIGHESTADHERINGACHIEVEDLANDFILL,WASTEWITHCARBONREDUCTIONCENTINFOOTPRINT,0PERCENTOFGOINGTOHASBEENWHILETOTHEEUROPEANGLOBAL

skincare for sensitive skin conditions.

SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTS

Among their top-selling global markets are the UAE, Gulf States, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the Middle East,

During the Covid-19 pandemic the business refocused eﬀorts with new selling and marketing activation strategies that have driven omnichannel growth throughout all markets.

The company is based in Dundalk and manufactures all its skincare to the highest globally recognised Pharma Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards.

Proud members of Guaranteed Irish, Elave Skincare appreciate the enduring support and trust of pharmacists, pharmacy assistants, and healthcare professionals who recognise and recommend their formulations.

GLOBAL MARKETS

A major brand renovation earlier

Joseph Gardiner founded Ireland’s ﬁrst family apothecary in 1934 to create dry sensitive skincare formulations under the Ovelle brand, including the iconic Ovelle Silcock’s Base.

Elave won the 2022 Guaranteed Irish Business Awards for Best Home, Beauty, and Lifestyle business, as well as being awarded Global Health & Pharma’s Best Sustainable Skincare Brand and Best Cruelty Free Skincare Brand.

in the year is being accelerated this autumn with a six-ﬁgure promotion of Elave Sensitive to include prime time advertising across multiple TV channels, including RTÉ, Sky, Channel 4 and TG4.

Under Joanna Gardiner’s stewardship, eﬀorts have been ramped up and global steps taken to make products, manufacturing processes and distribution even moreGardinersustainable.reveals, “As a result, an 85 per cent reduction in carbon footprint, with 0 per cent of waste going to landﬁll, has been achieved while adhering to the highest European and Global standards, including SEDEX Ethical Supply Chain Standards and ISO14001 Environmental Standard.

Later on, as the business grew, Elave Sensitive skincare was created to provide a daily regime of facial skincare, shampoos, lotions and creams that work to reduce the risk of ﬂare-ups of eczema, rosacea and other sensitive skin conditions.

“We are exceptionally pleased that dedication has been recognised with a host of awards from Guaranteed Irish Business Awards, OTC Pharmacy Awards, Global Health & Pharma, and Green Parent Awards,” says CEO Joanna Gardiner, granddaughter of the founder.

UK, Hong Kong, and USA. Gardiner Family Apothecary are targeting the United States as an area of huge potential for growth going forward.

Sensitive to Environmentthe

26 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE GARDINER FAMILY APOTHERCARY

Gardiner Family Apothercary, makers of sensitive skincare brand Elave, are making products, manufacturing processes and global distribution more sustainable than ever before

o far, 2022 has been a high performing year for Gardiner Family Apothecary, SensitivemanufacturewhoElavespecialist

27 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE

In partnership with Reforest Nation, who aim to plant one million native trees by 2024, Elave Essentials packs are offered online minus the outer carton and sleeve. Each time a customer chooses the ‘Unboxed – Plant a Tree’ option for their cart, one tree is donated to help reduce environmental impact, fight climate change and restore biodiversity.

Gardiner Family Apothecary boasts product lines which are ECOCERT certified as Natural and Organic, meaning that 99 per cent of the total ingredients are of natural origin and 20 per cent of the total ingredients come from organicRemainingfarming.true to their core beliefs in doing what is right, no product has ever been tested on animals and all are PETA CrueltyFree, PETA Vegan (apart from a small number containing beeswax and Manuka honey)

Althoughused.Gardiner Family

GARDINER FAMILY APOTHERCARY

Both production and packaging processes have been reconfigured in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 12 (responsible consumption and production) and Goal 13 (taking urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts).

Apothecary exports over 55 per cent of their output, they are committed to keeping supply chains short to reduce their impact on individuals at one end of the scale, and the global environment at the other end.

“Your skin is the body’s largest organ and you have got to look after it. Elave skincare is where you can satisfy all your skincare needs for even the most sensitive, eczema or rosacea prone skin.”

minimised with all plastic being 100 per cent recyclable. More bottles come in larger sizes to reduce frequency of purchase, and new metal-free pump packs use 60 per cent fewer parts than traditional dispensers.”

An installation of 220 solar panels at the fully integrated research and GMP manufacturing facility at Dundalk contributes to 100 per cent of the site lighting and therefore also contributes to a decrease in energy

As well as contributing hugely to the local economy in Dundalk, Gardiner Family Apothecary supports local sports organisations, particularly rugby and soccer, selected Irish cancer charities, including the Cancer Fund for Children, and Northern Ireland premature baby charity, Tinylife.

Joanna insists they are still a family values business at heart, boasting deep roots in the community going back three generations. It is a philosophy which has served the business well – but, at the end of the day, she says it’s what’s in the bottle that matters.

and 100 per cent gluten-free.

MANUFACTURE AND DISTRIBUTION

FOREST FRIENDS

“While bees are busy collecting nectar and pollen from flowers to feed themselves and their families, they disperse pollen that enables plants to produce fruits and seeds. These are essential to maintain plant communities and beautiful landscapes, as well as supporting other wildlife, including birds, mammals and other insects. In addition, fruits and seeds contribute to a huge amount of the world’s food supply, with more than 75 per cent of

POLLINATOR FRIENDLY

“As a community retailer, sustainability is very much part of the SuperValu DNA. It has been a core belief within SuperValu since its inception over 40 years ago and is at the heart of our work. While many of us want to do more to play our part when it comes to biodiversity and sustainability, often we are at a loss where to start. Indeed,

During the campaign, every single primary school in Ireland received a Save the Bees Pollinator Pack. This pack was co-created with the AllIreland Pollinator Plan and contained guidebooks, posters, bookmarks, and pollinator friendly seeds to allow every school to create their own pollinator friendly patch.

28 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE SUPERVALU

COMMUNITY CAMPAIGN

Save the Bees

research shows that if we engage young people in primary school, we can empower them to take informed conservation action which will stay with them for life and as such have a lasting impact for generations,” says Maighread Cremin, Community & Sponsorship Manager, Musgrave.

ith 30 per cent of Irish bees under threat of intheSuperValu’sextinctionSaveBeescampaignassociationwith

SuperValu wants to help local communities, schools and families lead the way in creating an Ireland where pollinators thrive. “At

SuperValu’s Save the Bees campaign partnered with the biodiversityandimportanceraiseaPollinatorAll-IrelandPlantocreateschools’programmetoawarenessoftheofpollinationsupportlocal

SuperValu TidyTowns partnered with the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan to create a schools’ programme to raise awareness of the importance of pollination and support local biodiversity in Irish communities.

leading food crops benefitting from animal pollination. We can help reverse the decline in bees by doing something as simple as returning the favour and making sure their habitats are rich with flowers to forage on and free of harmful threats, which is why this SuperValu Save the Bees campaign is so important,” says Professor Jane Stout, Deputy Chair of the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan, who worked with SuperValu on the campaign.

was supported by a number of Irish TikTokers. The Save The Bees ad supported the campaign across social, TV, radio and cinema.

To promote awareness and action, families could collect a Save the Bees card in SuperValu, with every spend over €30. They were then added to each school’s Save the Bees poster, which could then be entered into a draw to win a share of €50,000 for the school.

With the launch of the event covered by over 30 news outlets—including Irish Independent, Irish Times and Agriland—and the social reach from the media drop and social inﬂuencer collaborations reaching over 750,000, the campaign brought the issue to the forefront. The Save the Bees TikTok campaign had a reach of over 1 million and every school in Ireland received

“The objective of the campaign was to create a lasting impact and while the launch of the campaign received a large amount of coverage the overall objective of educating children in schools around Ireland and changing the way Irish people think about pollinators will be the greater measure of success,” Cremin concludes.

29 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE SUPERVALU

“It goes without saying that our Save the Bees campaign would not be possible without the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan and the work of Prof Jane Stout and Dr Una Fitzpatrick. Both doing great work with the researchers with the National Biodiversity Data Centre,” Cremin adds. The work of the National Biodiversity Data Centre and the other research centres play a key role in Ireland’s response to climate change and the changing face of biodiversity.

“As part of the entry form, we asked them what they would like to spend the money on and there was a lot of common themes such as sensory gardens, planting of trees, and many were looking to set up gardens to grow their own veg and learn more about the food chain,” notes Cremin.

ENGAGEMENT

the pollinator packs. The team working on the All-Ireland Pollinator plan are constantly measuring bee population in Ireland and will be able to report any further change in bee population that may have occurred as a result of the work of this campaign. There has also been an uptake in entries to the schools category of the Tidy Towns competition since the campaign.

RESEARCH SHOWS THAT IF WE ENGAGE YOUNG PEOPLE IN PRIMARY SCHOOL, WE CAN EMPOWER THEM TO TAKE INFORMED CONSERVATION ACTION WHICH WILL STAY WITH THEM FOR LIFE AND AS SUCH HAVE A LASTING IMPACT FOR GENERATIONS

The campaign with was supported by SuperValu TidyTowns launched in March by Minister Heather Humphries and Mr Ian Allen. It not only helped schools understand pollinators but also helped them make Ireland more pollinator friendly and introduced them to the SuperValu TidyTowns competition.

To engage a younger audience SuperValu worked with Irish inﬂuencer Miriam Mullins to create a Save the Bees TikTok dance which encouraged people to do the Save The Bees dance on their own channels and

SuperValu, we are huge supporters of Irish producers and suppliers. We source as much as possible from Irish suppliers, and we want to keep buying and supporting Irish and local, which is why we are so committed to protecting pollinators,” explains, Ian Allen, Managing Director, SuperValu. “There are simple steps we can all take to make Ireland a habitable ecosystem for bees and our SuperValu Save The Bees packs will provide support awareness, education and action for children across the country.”

groups who were trying to highlight labour rights issues at its farms, listening to their concerns and working to change the approach to managing its melon operations. To accompany this strategy and transformation, Fyffes needed a communications plan.

30 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE FYFFES

ENGAGING WITH ISSUES

or over 130 years, Fyffes has provided a selection of tropical produce to millions of people around the world. Fyffes, located in Ireland, is the largest importer of Fairtrade certified bananas in the world, one of the largest importers of bananas and pineapples in Europe, and the largest importer of melons in North America.

The corporate affairs team, led by Caoimhe developed a plan to address the underlying issues and communicate transparently with all stakeholders, including consumers, communities, retailers, suppliers, media and non-governmental organisations. Fyffes needed to provide information on its advances in human rights, its community needs assessments and produce its first ever Sustainability Report and Human Rights Report. To achieve this, Fyffes needed a website that was easy to navigate, to profile these important reports and provide the accessibility and transparency to restore trust with stakeholders. To develop a new website, the company needed to update the 15-year-old brand guidelines. Fyffes global marketing team worked with Caoimhe to develop the new brand guidelines and website, which were launched in April 2021, after 18 months of intensive consultation across the company and with external stakeholders.

Investing CommunicationsSustainabilityin

Fyffes was the first fruit company in the world to put a label on their produce back in 1929. The blue label combined with the founder’s name, Edward Wathen Fyffe, was a brand that became synonymous with quality as Fyffes developed innovative cooling methods to bring bananas in perfect condition to consumers in Europe.

Caoimhe Buckley, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer

Fast forward to 2019 and Fyffes blue label still existed but it had been subsumed by the proliferation of alternative logos that, coupled with modest marketing efforts, diluted brand recognition and reduced the strength of the original iconic blue logo.

At the same time, Fyffes was facing a negative publicity campaign about trade union and labour rights at its melon operations in Honduras.

Fyffes initially delayed its reaction, hoping the negative publicity would go away on its own. When this campaign started to impact beyond Honduras, the company reacted by investing in sustainability and communications. Initially two people, the Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Caoimhe Buckley and reporting to her, Julie Cournoyer, the Global Director of Sustainability respectively chaired and directed a global sustainability steering committee, made up of a broad cross-section of people from diverse farming, functional and commercial roles to develop the sustainability strategy. At the same time, the team grew from two to three, Assistant Manager of Sustainability Stella Davis began to engage with the

A negative publicity campaign made Fyffes take a look at their sustainability communications and work to improve

The new website, the front door to Fyffes, places sustainability up

The photos and brand assets are all hosted on a new company asset bank, so that creative partners and other stakeholders can easily access this material.

Fyffes would like to thank Irish creative design company Friday for the development of their new website and brand guidelines.

The new brand guidelines restored the preeminent position of Fyffes historical blue logo but with brighter colours and a sideways slant, to reflect ‘energy’ – one of Fyffes core values and also to bring to mind the fact that the labels are lovingly placed on the bananas by hand, reflecting the important role played

rights and community needs assessments. It also created a space on the website to highlight all the certifications and standards that apply to its fruit and farms. The company also worked with the GRI methodology on the Sustainability Report, which was produced using the new guidelines. The company applied with the Science Based Target initiative to come up with the most ambitious greenhouse gas target in the sector, aligned to the Paris Climate Agreement and limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial temperatures.

CORE VALUES

front so that all stakeholders, from suppliers to consumers can access the information they need to know to ensure they can enjoy Fyffes fresh produce knowing the company is behaving ethically and sustainably. The website was reconfigured to support the B2B nature of Fyffes business, as well as support stakeholder engagement while

SHARING NEWS

To restore trust, Fyffes clearly communicated the fact that it had worked with independent third parties to provide the human

allowing flexibility to increase direct consumer engagement in future years. For the first time, the website was made available in Spanish, the language of majority of Fyffes employees, communities and suppliers.

FYFFES NEEDED TO PROVIDE INFORMATION ON ITS ADVANCES IN HUMAN RIGHTS, ITS COMMUNITY NEEDS ASSESSMENTS AND PRODUCE ITS FIRST EVER SUSTAINABILITY REPORT AND HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT

Fyffes CEO supported the sharing of both the bad as well as good news and published the company’s 13 human rights commitments and 13 sustainability targets so that stakeholders can hold the company to account. To make this possible, the website was enhanced to ensure search engine optimisation and a simple navigation bar. To accompany this website and the reports, Fyffes would need new photographs and so the corporate affairs team commissioned two photo shoots, in Costa Rica and Honduras working with local photographers to hero the people who work on our farms, to showcase the communities surrounding the farms and tell the fresh produce story more clearly.

31 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE FYFFES

by Fyffes people and their skilled handling of this delicate fruit. The guidelines were updated to reflect the increasingly digital nature of communications, while providing employees with a new power point presentation template, business cards, e-signatures and virtual backdrops for the large number of virtual meetings now taking place during the pandemic.

“Sustainabilityvalue.at

CARBON GOALS

In 2020 Sisk launched its 2030 Sustainability Roadmap, ‘Building Today, Caring for Tomorrow’, in which Sisk committed to being a Net Zero business by 2030.

Leading construction company John Sisk & Son is committed to being carbon neutral by 2030, and is partnering with Green Restoration Ireland on the rewetting of 50 acres of bogland in Co Mayo

Building Today, Caring for Tomorrow

isk is an acrosshigh-qualityexperiencedandinternationalinnovative,constructionengineeringcompany,indeliveringprojectsIreland,theUK

32 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE SISK

Sisk is committed to being carbon neutral by 2030. “It is at the heart of our business strategy,” says Cawley. “It will inform everything we do as a business as we grow and expand the services we offer. Sustainability was front and centre on the agenda in 2021 as we started to operationalise our 2030 Roadmap and ramped up

SUSTAINABILITY AT SISK HAS EVOLVED OVER THE YEARS TO WHAT IS NOW A HOLISTIC APPROACH WHERE WE IMPLEMENT SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS PRACTICES IN EVERYTHING WE DO, UNDERPINNED BY OUR VALUES

staff to meet their full potential, while always innovating and looking to the Employingfuture. over 1,800 people, Sisk continues to grow and expand the business, and has become the employer of choice for many in the construction industry. Through embracing an exciting and innovative culture, Sisk continues to futureproof its strategy, looking beyond its core business to develop new opportunities alongside trusted clients. At the same time, it has made targeted investments in businesses that deliver natural synergies to its own, such as in the facilities management market through Sensori FM, and the off-site modular construction market with Vision Built.

our engagement with key stakeholders.

In the delivery of complex projects, Sisk works collaboratively with clients and stakeholders to understand key project drivers, enabling the development of solutions that fulfil these needs and provide best

Sisk has evolved over the years to what is now a holistic approach where we implement sustainable business practices in everything we do, underpinned by our values,” says Alan Cawley, Senior Sustainability Manager, John Sisk & Son. “Sustainability means managing our company to deliver long-term positive impacts for all our stakeholders effectively serving future generations We want to ensure that Sisk is tackling the challenges that lie ahead for our industry and wider society and we are at the heart of change.”

“Sustainability at Sisk brings together Society (our people), Environment (our planet) and Economy (our performance),” Cawley explains. “Our ambition is to lead the industry with the sustainable management of our operations throughout their entire life cycle, whilst upholding our core values of Care, Integrity and Excellence that deliver for our people and our planet.”

In the Roadmap Sisk committed to 21 stretch targets that are aligned to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and is working collaboratively with supply chain partners, clients and a range of stakeholders to help deliver on those targets and play its part in reducing carbon emissions.

and Europe. With a group turnover of approx. €1.5bn and an industry leading balance sheet, Sisk has the strong financial platform, track record and capacity to be a total solutions provider.

“As Ireland’s largest construction company, we take our responsibilities very seriously and construction is a sector that needs to play its part in reversing the climate crisis by fundamentally changing how we go about our business.”

Since its beginning, in 1859, the family business has stayed true to founder John Sisk’s guiding principles of providing exceptionally high levels of construction expertise and customer service through investing in its people by employing, training, and inspiring

are impacted by the drainage ditches and an estimated 11 kilometres of drains need to be blocked for the full restoration works to be completed. Ongoing monitoring by GRI will confirm the long-term ecological success of this work.

“Our objectives and targets are regularly reviewed with the necessary information and resources available to drive sustainable improvement and successful delivery of social value outcomes.”

33 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE SISK

These local bogs feed into a tributary of the Owengarve, part of the Moy River. Emissions of Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC) in Lackaduff currently range from 1.4 to 2.14 tonnes per year. This will be reduced by 90 per cent as a result of the work carried out by Sisk and its partners.

In line with Sisk’s Zero Philosophy, the aim is to achieve Zero Waste and Zero Carbon.

Ireland is home to 50 per cent of the last remaining raised bogs in Western Europe. As a direct consequence of this bog rewetting project, 36,000 tonnes of carbon will be permanently locked into the Lackaduff bog and 20-30 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions will be avoided annually. A team of Sisk volunteers have been donning their wellies to start the process of re-blocking the drains and bring life back to the bog.

Bog restoration is one of the innovative ways Sisk is bringing the strategy to life. In partnership with Green Restoration Ireland (GRI) and a local farmer Sisk has begun the rewetting of 50 acres of bog at Lackaduff, Doocastle, Co Mayo.

BOG RESTORATION

Of the 20 hectares of raised bog at Lackaduff approximately 8.24 hectares

GRI is helping landowners to set a positive precedent and take action to restore their bogs while generating new income streams including through the creation of carbon credits in the long run. GRI’s goal is to achieve equitable, innovative and sciencebased solutions to the restoration of peatlands for farmers and landowners.

“We believe that all our stakeholders have a part to play in ensuring its

delivery, supported by our policies and procedures in our management system. This journey involves measuring, monitoring and assessing our operations to achieve continual improvement and to enhance performance in line with our objectives and targets, whilst meeting our compliance obligations,” states Cawley.

land regeneration and biodiversity through afforestation, restoration and education. Their vision is the restoration of Ireland’s ancient wildwood and aim to create a landscape in which people and forests flourish, together. By helping to restore biodiversity and regenerate the land, people’s wellbeing and engagement with the natural world is improved.

Lasting Difference

sustainabilitynvironmental is an important part of William ResponsibleFry’sBusiness programme. The firm has identified its most significant environmental impacts and has set targets to improve its environmental performance. However, with the constraints of being a tenant in a building in a city, it needed to look further afield for an opportunity to positively contribute to the environment and find ways for staff to engage in a meaningful way beyond the commitment to reduce carbon emissions, paper use and waste production.

After engaging with Hometree through the donation of trees at the AmCham event in 2019, and with Hometree joining William Fry’s pro bono programme, William Fry gained a deeper understanding of Hometree’s aims and ambitions and was inspired to make a positive and lasting difference by contributing to the protection and recovery of Ireland’s biodiversity. The inspiration resulted in the establishment of William Fry’s first environmental partnership, with

the expansion of the partnership to more than just pro bono support, but staff awareness and engagement, firm donations, fundraising and education. What started as simply a donation to Hometree has grown into a multifaceted meaningful partnership which encourages authentic engagement between William Fry and Hometree in promoting and supporting the protection of Ireland’s biodiversity. Through the partnership, William Fry has provided over 400 hours of legal and non-legal pro bono support through its Social Impact+ programme across various departments; contributed to the funding of an education centre which has already seen over 400 visitors since build completion in late 2021; raised monies for the planting of over 1,000 native Irish trees; and seen more than

Just over 1 per cent of that original forest cover remains. To combat this problem, William Fry is supporting Hometree, which works to establish and conserve permanent native woodland in Ireland, encouraging

Law firm William Fry is committed to making a positive and lasting difference in its community, workplace, marketplace and environment

At one time, up to 80 per cent of Ireland was covered in native wildwood. Yet today, Ireland is the most deforested country in Europe.

WILLIAM FRY

34 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE

WILLIAM FRY

FRYTY PROGRAMME

their career opportunities when forming their impressions of what is possible in their future careers.

SBIA PARTNER PROFILE

WILLIAM FRY IS SUPPORTING HOMETREE, WHICH WORKS TO ESTABLISH AND CONSERVE PERMANENT NATIVE WOODLAND IN IRELAND, ENCOURAGING LAND REGENERATION AND BIODIVERSITY THROUGH AFFORESTATION, RESTORATION AND EDUCATION

William Fry trainees wanted to create a sustainable programme with which they, and all trainees to follow, could positively impact the community. They came

The course runs over a 6-week period, during which a different area of the law is explored each week, ranging from Constitutional Law to Criminal Law and more. The sessions include informal debates, quizzes and problem solving, and allows students to build confidence in legal topics and express their opinions.

With the trainees involved in all aspects of the programme from creating the curriculum, training and teaching, each session is created to be thought provoking and relatable to everyday life so students can understand how areas

across life are controlled and greatly impacted by laws. Trainees tailored the programme to the relevant Covid-19 restrictions, carrying out all sessions online, which allowed the programme to be expanded to include rural Developed,schools.designed and delivered by trainees, the FryTY programme has enabled over 45 trainees to make a positive and lasting difference to over 100 transition students since 2021— a unique way of honouring William Fry’s commitment to supporting diversity and inclusion in law and to increase access to careers in law for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

FryTY is a trainee-led Responsible Business initiative, inspired by the principles of Street Law and Junior Achievers, which educates Transition Year students in DEIS and rural schools on the potential impact of law in their lives and as a career. The overall aim is to increase the diversity in law.

120 staff engage in fundraising and education opportunities with Hometree, and which is now expanding to include client engagement opportunities.

up with the idea of approaching disadvantaged local schools where the trainees could help young people think more intentionally about their careers and to show students who would not have considered a career in law that it is an exciting possibility in their future.

With a focus and desire to take steps to increase diversity in law, FryTY specifically targets DEIS schools and children in the rural communities and seeks to empower the students with information on how law impacts life and the feasibility, practicality, and possibility of a career in law. The goal was to ensure transition year students were better informed of

CLUB TOGETHER

fter successfully pivoting to virtual programmes at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, KPMG is now pushing forward with its efforts and employees are delighted to be able to again reach out to their local community in the real“It’sworld.been a challenging couple of years, and we’ve adapted like every other organisation and did the best we could in terms of engagement online,” says Karina Howley, Head of Corporate Citizenship & Diversity, KPMG. “But definitely, there’s a distinct enthusiasm from our people to get back to in-person classroom activities.”Nowhere was this more evident than in KPMG’s involvement with Children’s Books Ireland, a longstanding partnership which has seen KPMG volunteers go out to schools to give of their time for reading and discussion with school kids, to develop their interest in books.

IT TICKED ALL THE BOXES, IN TERMS OF A COMMUNITY IN-NEED ON OUR DOORSTEP, AND OUR EMPLOYEES THAT WERE ABLE TO VOLUNTEER THEIR TIME, EFFORT AND ENERGY TO WORK WITH DISADVANTAGED YOUTH

The KPMG volunteers were delighted to be able to go out to Junior Juries in 50 different schools across the country to help them get them excited about reading through interactive sessions and activities. “We had to adapt during the pandemic to doing things online, getting volunteers to make videos that we distributed to schools; this year was the first time we’ve been able to go out and build on

Another exciting new project, which was one of many pitched by teams of colleagues internally and chosen by Howley with Managing Partner Seamus Hand and other senior leaders, is the KPMG LEGO® Club for North-East

As part of the partnership with Children’s Books Ireland, 80 KPMG people volunteered in schools across Ireland to support the KPMG Children’s Books Ireland Awards

For KPMG volunteers, making a difference starts with engaging directly with children, through reading, discussion and play

the work that we’d done in the previous two years and get real traction on it.”

“You’re out in the classrooms, you’re directly talking to the kids; as brilliant as technology is, and it has been fantastic, there is nothing like going out into schools and having that hands-on engagement of picking up physical books and doing practical activities in-person.”

Inner City (NEIC) primary schools, within a 1.5km radius of KPMG’s Harbourmaster office in IFSC. For Howley, it was a clear winner among the projects pitched.

Junior Juries. Hundreds of young people signed up to be on Junior Juries throughout Ireland for the Children’s Book Awards. They read some of the best Irish children’s books of the year, and scored the titles to decide the winner of the Junior Juries Award, giving the young people a sense of empowerment that their opinions matter.

36 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE KPMG

“The team had done a needs assessment and really demonstrated that there was a huge need for this in the community. It ticked all the boxes, in terms of a community in-need on our doorstep, and our employees

Children are the Future

some amazing feedback from teachers involved in the programme, saying children in their classes are so excited to see kids like themselves that they wouldn’t normally see reflected in books,” Howley notes.

storage, cleaning equipment and staff training, and volunteers engaged in a four-week challenge assisting the children to build original creations with a sustainable twist.

Run in partnership with local community youth centres and school completion programmes, the LEGO® club involves instructor-led LEGO® therapy, a social skills intervention for school-age children based around collaborative LEGO® play. It motivates children to improve their emotion recognition skills, and their social interaction, as well as logistical and problem-solving skills. KPMG has provided funding to go towards the purchase of LEGO® pieces,

The Free To Be Me reading guide contains over 360 book

Another innovative new programme with Children’s Books Ireland was the Free To Be Me programme. It celebrates diversity, representation, and inclusion in books for children, showcasing the rich diversity of modern Ireland and ensuring that every child can see themselves reflected in a book while learning about the lives of others whose experiences and perspectives may differ from their own.

FREE TO BE ME

recommendations compiled by a team of expert reviewers, each title chosen for its portrayal of diverse characters, themes, and experiences. Throughout the year, KPMG volunteers hosted workshops in schools across the country schools to spread the Free To Be Me message and donated Little Libraries of 100 books from the guide to each participating school.

“Through this project we hope to stimulate conversations around the issues, and develop young people’s values, attitudes and knowledge,” explains Howley. “By achieving these aims we hope to better prepare young people to help shape and be part of a more equitable society. We imagine an Ireland where all children and their families feel welcomed, valued, celebrated, and respected. By supporting young people, we hope to help achieve this vision.”

As part of the programme 30,000 copies of the Reading Guide which were sent to every school on the island and every public library in the Republic of

“We’veIreland.got

For the teams whose projects are chosen to move forward, seeing the fruits of their ideas make a real impact in the community is profoundly gratifying. “They definitely have that sense of ownership and responsibility, and a pride in terms of seeing the results of their hard work and endeavours,” says Howley.

37 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE KPMG

were able to volunteer their time, effort and energy to work with disadvantaged youths.”

Sustainability is a key focus of Arthur Cox’s business strategy. Reporting annually is a useful way of communicating what the firm is

At Arthur Cox, sustainability is at the heart of its purpose across its varied projects shortlisted for this year’s awards

38 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE ARTHUR COX

2020/21 in the ‘Communications’ category; for its work with Free Legal Aid Centres (FLAC) in the ‘Community Programme’ category and for a collaborative project with other law firms supporting the Afghan community in the ‘Partnership with a Charity’ category.

COMMUNICATING IMPACT

community – our charity and volunteering partners and our pro bono clients. Annual reporting is a useful way of communicating what the firm is doing to its own people, its clients and the wider business.

The Arthur Cox Sustainable Business Impact Report also provides a platform for the wonderful organisations and individuals in the community that the firm works with, to demonstrate the work that they do, but also how Arthur Cox has assisted them in various ways – be that financially, through manpower in volunteering activities or through the provision of pro bono legal expertise.

Geoff Moore, Arthur Cox

rthur Cox is shortlisted in three categories of this year’s Sustainable Business Impact Awards – for its BusinessSustainableImpactReport

want to ensure that we continue to grow and develop each pillar of our Sustainable Business programme and to build on our successes year on year,” continues Moore. “Our first report was a celebration of the work that we do in partnership with many organisations in the

AS A FIRM WE ARE COMMITTED TO CONTRIBUTING TO THE COMMUNITIES IN WHICH WE OPERATE IN A MANNER THAT IS BOTH IMPACTFUL AND SUSTAINABLE

to take responsibility for the firm’s impact on society and to integrate sustainable and responsible business practices into all of its decision-making as a firm. “We

Sustainability at Heart

“In 2020 we took the decision to evolve our CSR programme into something more”, says Geoff Moore, Managing Partner at Arthur Cox. “The firm wanted to intentionally integrate social and environmental concerns into our decision-making and our mainstream operations. Our first Sustainable Business Impact Report for 2020/21 examined the firm’s achievements and progress for the financial year 2020/21. It maps activities across the four internationally recognised core dimensions of a sustainable business programme: Community, Workplace, Marketplace and theArthurEnvironment.”Coxstrives to continue

for corporate responsibility and sustainability have evolved in business, so too has Arthur Cox’s approach. The firm wants to build on the solid foundation of its rich heritage of giving back to the community. As a forward looking firm, it is keen stay ahead.

Arthur Cox published its inaugural Sustainable Business Impact Report 2020/21 in July 2021. The objective of this report was to provide a benchmark for the firm’s sustainable business activities and the development of the firm’s programme going forward. As conceptual frameworks

ACCESS TO JUSTICE

Arthur Cox collaborates with the Free Legal Advice Centres (FLAC), a human rights NGO, through the firm’s Pro Bono practice. The firm provides free legal information to support the FLAC Information Line to empower communities as they navigate the legal system.

39 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE

doing to its own people, the firm’s clients and the wider business community. “We hope that our Sustainable Business reporting is not only a showcase and benchmark for our own activities, but that it may also inspire others to establish and strengthen similar impactful relationships in their communities,” continues Moore.

ARTHUR COX

Arthur Cox offered assistance and a new collaborative project was established in July 2021. Arthur Cox volunteers underwent training with FLAC to assist with answering calls to its information line. The project has been a great support

During the height of the pandemic, the information line became completely overwhelmed and many calls went unanswered.

The FLAC phone clinic framework was developed with Arthur Cox to ensure that marginalised communities could continue to access legal information during the pandemic.

Traditional face-to-face FLAC clinics were forced to close as a result of COVID restrictions.

to FLAC and an opportunity for Arthur Cox lawyers to assist members of the community who might not otherwise have had access to answers to their legal queries. To date Arthur Cox volunteers have answered 1,000 calls for FLAC – these calls simply would otherwise have gone unanswered without the firm’sCommentingassistance.on the project

The Arthur Cox Sustainable Business Impact Report is specifically designed to be an electronic document that can be easily read on screen. The firm is mindful of not wanting to waste paper by printing the report –particularly at a time when many people are working in a hybrid work environment.

Moore says, “As a firm we are committed to contributing to the communities in which we operate in a manner that is both impactful and sustainable. The firm’s pro bono work is directly aligned

with FLAC’s work which aims to promote equal access to justice for all where everyone can access fair and accountable mechanisms to vindicate their rights.”

Following the success of the project, some other law firms are also exploring opportunities with FLAC to follow suit with the work that Arthur Cox is doing. The project continues to expand by increasing the number of Arthur Cox lawyers involved in the initiative. An increased level of engagement further strengthens the firm’s culture of giving back to the community and helping people in need to access justice.

Vodafone Ireland Foundation’s community programme which, in partnership with Active Retirement Ireland and ALONE, works to empower older people to enter the online world through online and in-person courses

• Reading, watching and listening to news and entertainment

• Online banking

• Planning hobbies and travel using the internet

The free Hi Digital training course covers basic and essential digital skills, which help older people manage everyday things, which younger digital natives take for granted—such as reading the news online or managing their banking.

In person Hi Digital classes run by Active Retirement Ireland’s own Digital Ambassadors are run across the country. Active Retirement Ireland links in with various community centres throughout the country to ensure everyone who wants to has the opportunity to access the internet to learn online skills.

• Online safety and more

Bridging the Digital Divide

Hi Digital face-to-face digital skills training class at Tyrrelstown Community Centre

reland has one of the lowest digital literacy levels among older people in the EU, with only 19 per cent of over 65’s having basic digital literacy skills, compared to an EU average of 25 per cent. The pandemic exacerbated the digital divide, as more services and communities suddenly moved online. Everyone has the right to a digital life; the comprehension and confidence to explore all the possibilities the internet has to offer. That’s why Vodafone Ireland Foundation, in partnership with Active Retirement Ireland and ALONE, created the Hi Digital, a first-of-its-kind programme, to help digitally upskill older people, giving

EVERYDAY SKILLS

• Using your phone to take and share pictures or videos

• Online shopping

them the essential tools needed to become digitally independent.

Not only does Hi Digital offer free digital skills training, inperson classes are there to offer further support with plenty of other Active Retirement Ireland Digital Ambassadors offering similar services around the country. The community groups bring people together and offer a fantastic opportunity to socialise and forge new relationships offline, in the real world.

• Keeping in touch with family and friends (e-mail, social media, WhatsApp)

The beauty of the online course is that it can be completed at home, either independently or with help from friends, family or other people in the community. And it can be done at whatever pace suits.

• What the internet is and what you can do there

There is also a mentor guide for friends and family who want to help a loved one through the training at home.

40 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE VODAFONE

A simple, user friendly online learning platform has been created at hidigital.ie to start learning basic and essential online skills including:

• How to use your smartphone

• Looking up information for hobbies or travel

ALONE is also training individuals

MAN ON A MISSION

Eugenebehind.”isspearheading in-person

technology training. “I figured what Hi Digital did for me it could do for others, and I wanted to show my peers that getting online is not too big a task for anyone even if they feel they have been left

classes in his own area to support the Vodafone Ireland Foundation Hi Digital platform. “I am looking forward to guiding and supporting people to show them that they really can do it just like me.”

The aim is the same: bridge the huge digital divide in Ireland by supporting more than 230,000 older people to learn basic and essential digital skills.

Eugene Phillips

41 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE VODAFONE

Ambassadors appointed by the programme. Eugene was inspired by the simplicity of the tuition to share what he learned with others. “I had done some courses over the years, but I found I didn’t learn enough because the people doing the teaching were speaking to me at a level I didn’t understand. With Hi Digital, the

Now he is one of the first Active Retirement Ireland Digital

improve basic digital skills among over 65’s in Ireland. This includes demonstrating to others the basics of modern technology which many of us take for granted – the likes of video calls, e-mails and searching for information online. It’s not long since the Co. Clare man completed Vodafone Ireland Foundation’s Hi Digital programme, designed with the support of partners, Active Retirement Ireland and ALONE.

from organisations that support older people to become Digital Champions through online and in-person workshops.

WITH HI DIGITAL, THE EMPHASIS IS ON THE BASICS WHICH IS WHAT BEGINNERS ONLY WANT TO KNOW, AND IT TEACHES PEOPLE IN A LANGUAGE THAT IS ON THEIR LEVEL AND EASY TO UNDERSTAND

emphasis is on the basics which is what beginners only want to know, and it teaches people in a language that is on their level and easy to understand.”Researchshows that 64 per cent of older people would be more comfortable learning new internet or digital skills if they had someone to help them and Eugene is doing just that. The 75-year-old – who is the Regional Development Officer for Active Retirement Ireland in the mid-west – has undergone intensive

Hi Digital is helping Clare man Eugene Phillips connect his peers. His goal is to do all he can to

OUR PURPOSE IS TO IMAGINE AND CREATE A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE FOR OUR CUSTOMERS, AND THAT STARTS WITH US. WE’RE PROMOTING A CULTURE WHERE TALENT IS DEVELOPED AND CREATIVITY AND LEARNING ARE VALUED

BTA also places a focus on ensuring that its policies and practices fit the needs of its team and use demographic data to inform inclusive supports.

“We’re in the driving seat,” says Sharp. “We have taken it upon ourselves to be the future-focussed

“Our purpose is to imagine and create a sustainable future for our customers and that starts with us,” explains Julie Sharp, People Director, Brown Thomas Arnotts. “We really believe in taking care of our people. A great customer experience starts with a great people experience, so we’re promoting a culture where talent is developed and creativity and learning are

Many of the initiatives are based on feedback received from employees. It builds on a commitment to provide

DRIVING INNOVATION

Tovalued.”support a sustainable future for their team members, BTA is focusing on a robust Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) agenda and prioritizing team health and wellbeing through the introduction of new experiences, benefits, policies and programmes that support team members wherever they may be on their life or career journey.

42 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE

ast year, Brown Thomas Arnotts introduced a new Vision, Purpose and Values (VPV) and embarked on an ambitious journey to reinvent its team member workplace experience. With a new store opened in Dundrum in February 2022, BTA is one of the few retailers expanding in bricks and mortar in a challenging sector.

Putting People First

As part of the evolution of its workplace experience, BTA has launched a refreshed Future Leaders Programme and is developing career and capability frameworks. They will provide clear pathways for talent development in the business.

Sustainability is embedded across all areas of the business and, from new circular services to charity fundraisers, team members are actively engaged in driving positive change for people and planet. “We have been leading Irish retail for over 175 years and continuously reimagining the way we work is the only way to ensure we are here for the next 175 years,” says Donald McDonald, Managing Director, Brown Thomas Arnotts.

BROWN THOMAS

a supportive, inclusive environment where voices are heard, and everyone belongs. For BTA, taking team member feedback on board ensures programmes are meaningful and have a long-term impact; many of the new initiatives introduced this year were taken directly from feedback in the last employee survey.

For example, the recently introduced assisted fertility, pregnancy loss and menopause policies were inspired by its majority-female workforce.

leaders driving innovation. To borrow a phrase, we are ‘being the change we want to see in the world’. This ambition is having an immediate effect on our team members, and a wider impact on our society and community as a whole.”

Brown Thomas Arnotts (BTA) believes that a great customer experience starts with a great team experience.

“Water conservation is a vital part of our daily operations and through the successful observation of staff and customer behaviour; we have been able to implement processes which ensure our water consumption is reduced.”

43 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE THE ROSE HOTEL

all bulbs to LED across the hotel; installing sensor lighting; replacing seals in all windows; collaborating with a local garden centre to dispose of coffee; provide training to all employees; forming a green team; and actively monitoring their utilities and CO2 emissions every month. In August 2021 The Rose Hotel was the first hotel in Kerry to complete the 50 Shades Greener Programme and became an approved Green Business. In April 2022 Lucey became the first person in the world to successfully complete a

Through the programme, the hotel identified three areas where the hotel could improve its sustainability: waste disposal, the cost of energy, and climate change (making an impact through reducing water consumption).

ralee’s Rose Hotel has undertaken vigorous training to implement an environmental management system to reduce the hotel’s carbon emissions from an environmental and financial perspective, achieving a reduction in energy of 16 per cent and reducing food waste by 26 per cent since implementing the new system.

The 50 Shades Greener programme is an action-based programme, with implementable, concrete steps that guide businesses through the easiest way to understand, control and reduce business impact on the environment, improve their social sustainability and green their supply chain.

The Rose Hotel is blazing a trail for sustainability in the hospitality industry through its engagement with the 50 Shades Greener programme

The Rose Hotel Executive Head Chef, Odran Lucey, was the driving force behind the hotel’s initiative. Engaging with 50 Shades Greener was the first step; this fully funded Green Business programme helped the team realise significant savings on energy, water and waste costs.

THE ROSE HOTEL IS COMMITTED TO STRIVECONTINUALLYTOCREATE A MORE ONCARBONREDUCTIONTHEOPERATIONSUSTAINABLETHROUGHCONSISTENTOFOURFOOTPRINTAYEARLYBASIS

“Our green journey is far from over,” says Lucey. “We will continue to engage with the Fifty Shades Greener Programme and strive for the Gold and Emerald Certificate. The Rose Hotel is committed to continually strive to create a more sustainable operation through the consistent reduction of our carbon footprint on a yearly basis.”

The Rose Hotel established the industries baseline of use of energy, water and waste, and then identified opportunities for cost savings and reduction of utilities—easily defined by using the Fifty Shades Greener methodology.Inearly2021

GREEN JOURNEY

Shades of Green

“We actively aim to reduce our waste including landfill and food waste and to consistently better our achievements year on year. Energy reduction and savings through the efficient monitoring of our lighting, equipment and heating system is forefront in the business priorities.

Odran Lucey, Executive Head Chef, The Rose Hotel

Lucey implemented the environmental management system at The Rose Hotel with the suite of different reduction initiatives including: changing

brand-new qualification for Environmental Sustainability Management in Hospitality.

Thirdly, this initiative had a positive impact on the environment as it helped Altada employees play their part in reducing carbon created by commuting less to the workplace.

Technology Solutions brought in a fourday week/three-day weekend to embed self-care into the company culture.

The first phase of the pilot ended at the end of February 2022, at which point the senior leadership team assessed how it was going, and it was agreed to continue the initiative until at least June 2022, given the benefits the three-day weekend had provided to employees.

The short-term impact was already obvious with increased productivity and reduced absenteeism, and it was hoped the long-term impact would follow.

The company partners with VHI Healthcare and offer health insurance benefits to employees, including an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), which they or the dependants living in their homes aged 16 or under can avail of.

ALTADA’S FOUR-DAY WEEK EMBEDDED SELFCARE INTO THEIR CULTURE. THIS INITIATIVE PRIORITISES SELF-CARE BY SUPPORTING THE MENTAL, PHYSICAL AND SOCIAL PILLARS OF THEIR EMPLOYEES’ WELLBEING

44 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE ALTADA TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS

With very few companies in Ireland who have yet adopted a four-day working week or taken the practical approach of giving back vital time to employees, the team at Altada saw the initiative as aligning with their vales of Fun and Future-focused.Alongwiththis initiative, Altada’s partners Spectrum Optimise provide mental health and physical health assessments, as well as ergonomic

Secondly, it allowed employees to enable a better distribution of caring responsibilities at home, whether as parents or caregivers. It also helped families reduce childcare costs.

Work Life Balance

Start-ups are fast paced working environments, so the goal of this initiative was to prioritise self-care by supporting the mental, physical and social pillars of their employees’ wellbeing, and create a happy and supportive environment for its Theemployees.reasons for beginning the pilot of the four-day week initiative, which started in December 2021, were threefold. Firstly, the company was conscious of its employees’ wellbeing and wanted to provide them with a practical way to ‘make time’ by giving them time back so that they could increase their wellbeing by having a three-day weekend to participate in health-improving activities.

Cognate Health provide occupational health services should managers or employees require any wellbeing assistance, and Workvivo drives Altada’s social wellbeing pillar to ensure its employees can connect and network no matter where they are located in the world. The company’s centralised ‘Social, Health and Wellbeing’ Space allows employees drive much of the content themselves, sharing wellbeing tips andAltadaideas.also rolled out a wellbeing app, called Empeal, which allows employees monitor their step count, hydration, nutrition etc, as well as avail of a variety of personal coaching services, and content tailored to their wellbeing objectives. The app is used to promote interdepartmental physical health challenges, such as a hydration challenge, or to push out virtual coffee connects between employees.

ith a belief andemployeethoseworkplacessustainablethatarethatsupportwellbeinginclusion,Altada

Altada Technology Solutions’ Self-care Initiative gave their employees a three-day weekend to provide a better work-life balance

assessments for remote-working employees to ensure that their working wellbeing is catered for physically.

Marino

45 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE MARINO SOFTWARE

“Being able to keep your own voice as close as possible to the real thing is something that hugely helps with the trauma of losing your voice,” says Keith Davey, Managing Director. “Fortunately, we had a lot of records of Charlie Bird’s voice, which is crucial to building a realistic-sounding voice.”

Bringing Charlie’s Voice Back

whether from an underlying progressive condition such as Multiple Sclerosis (MS) or Motor Neuron Disease (MND), from accident/injury or due to age. It also addresses the needs of people that have deteriorating conditions where they lose their hands or legs strength.

“We fed his data into a Machine Learning algorithm, and through a process of iteration, we generated Charlie’s digital voice: not only a voice that allows him to communicate but a voice that sounds like himself. Machine Learning was then able to use this base foundation to allow Charlie to dynamically create audio words, sentences, paragraphs, etc.”

Working with broadcaster Charlie Bird, who was losing his voice due to Motor Neuron Disease, the team needed a way to clone his voice as quickly as possible. There is existing technology to clone voices, however, it sounds robotic and loses the person’s unique character.

Most importantly, Charlie was able to send a message of resilience to the rest of the world. Inspiring millions to join him on ‘Climb with Charlie’ and fundraising over €3m for charity, going towards The Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association (IMNDA) and Pieta House.

AS A BROADCASTER, CHARLIE HAD ENDLESS AMOUNTS OF AUDIO AVAILABLE, SO WE WERE ABLE TO USE THIS TO SYNTHESISE HIS VOICE AND GET AS CLOSE A MATCH AS POSSIBLE

The team at Marino Software give these people their voice back by using AI and Machine learning technology to capture, categorise and facilitate using their own voices in everyday situations.

sounds (intakes of breath and so on). As a broadcaster, Charlie had endless amounts of audio available, so we were able to use this to synthesise his voice and get as close a match as possible,” explains Garrett Sheridan, Principal UX and Product Designer.

DIGITAL VOICE

againNeuroneBird,helpsinnovativeSoftware’stechnologybroadcasterCharlieandotherswithMotorDisease,tospeakwiththeirownvoice

were stunned, while others couldn’t believe this new digital voice wasn’t something Charlie had previously recorded.Theresult has been a digital voice that has enabled Charlie to communicate easily and authentically with both his loved ones and the rest of the world. Thanks to this tool he was able to go for lunch with his daughters, meet the Taoiseach and now feels able to converse with everyone around him with confidence. He even spent one day in the pub with his close friends again and ordered a few beers with his new digital voice.

“We worked on finding the pieces of audio that best represented Charlie’s voice and cleaned them of all ambient

By the end of the year, the team had developed what they thought was a good Charlie Bird voice. This was confirmed when they provided samples. Charlie and his wife Claire

Keith Davey CEO and founder of Marino Software and Trevor Vaugh from NUI Maynooth

arino Software have created an haveneedswhichtechnologyassistiveplatformaddressestheofpeoplethatvocalissues,

“We wanted a programme that would reflect the changing priorities and values of our employee and customer base. The goals include enhancing our inclusive workplace; to include equity in hiring, pay and progression; and be recognised

hree Ireland is committed to embedding a culture of equity through its accredited diversity, inclusion and belonging programme which aims to foster an engaging and inclusive culture throughout theSinceorganisation.2019,Three Ireland has been working hard to enhance its culture of diversity, inclusion and belonging activities within its organisation.

Three employees had to complete mandatory Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Training. This was a half day training course which covered topics of relevance to Diversity, Inclusion & Equity as well as unconscious bias training. The programme is ever evolving and now has three key focus areas; Gender (including sexual orientation), Ethnicity, and Disability (including neurodiversity). Three Ireland’s work has achieved the Investors in Diversity Gold accreditation and is only one of six companies in Ireland to have achieved this recognition.

Three Ireland has been working hard to enhance its culture of diversity, inclusion and belonging activity; taking guidance from the Irish Centre for Diversity, the company has built a best-in-class programme

Building Belonging

“The initial aims of the programme were to retain, attract and develop our employees ensuring that we provide a great place to work where everyone feels included and allows them to flourish, grow and develop,” says MacManus.

International Men’s Day, or Black History Month. The members on the committee represent all areas of the business across Three’s head office in Dublin, Our Customer Experience Centre in Limerick and retail stores nationwide.In2021all

Eóin MacManus, Chief Business Officer, Three Ireland

among our employees both current and future as being committed to Diversity, Inclusion & Equity. The three goals were informed by insight collected through employee surveys and focus groups.”

The programme is owned by Eóin MacManus as executive sponsor and led by a proactive employee committee. Taking guidance from Irish Centre for Diversity, the company has built a bestin-class programme of activities, which includes diversity training, dedicated innovative events, new policies,

DIVERSE COMMITTEE

46 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE THREE

“There has always been a culture of Diversity & Inclusion within Three Ireland,” states Eóin MacManus, Chief

WE HAVE AN INCREASINGLY DIVERSE EMPLOYEE BASE AND WE WANTED TO BE A GREAT PLACE TO WORK TO ATTRACT, DEVELOP AND RETAIN THE BEST TALENT

partnership with Trinity College for 25 STEM scholarships for women, new supplier code and mentoring.

There is a dedicated Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging volunteer committee in place which creates, communicates, and drives the programme internally. The committee meets monthly and sub-groups meet more regularly when working on events and specific tasks, such as to mark an occasion such as International Women’s Day, Pride, World Mental Health Week,

Business Officer, Three Ireland and executive sponsor of the programme. “However, as part of our employee engagement programme it was felt that we could do more in this space to formalise our approach. We have an increasingly diverse employee base and we wanted to be a great place to work to attract, develop and retain the best talent.”

riest Press are a print and design company with a difference—a non-profit or more specifically a ‘profit for purpose’ enterprise with a growing social impact that is making a real difference in people’s lives. Namely, people with intellectual disabilities that have faced barriers to access employment. Triest Press pride themselves on their diversity and dedication to equity and social inclusion along with their commitment to keeping traditional print methods alive.

Although Triest Press has done a lot to bridge the gap of barriers to employment for people with intellectual disabilities, the passionate drivers behind the businesses’ success believe that there is still a lot of work to be done.

In a bid to help combat some of these barriers, the company launched an integrated training and work experience program whereby participants gain a solid block of real work experience and transferable skills training over a two-year period. Participants are paid and given access to the same employee benefits as existing staff members and are exposed to all the regular

Deborah, Business Development Officer, Project Lead, Triest Press

Staff members are assigned a support person and mentor when they join the team and following a period of training and work experience, they themselves can become mentors to new employees. The level of responsibility and autonomy given to each employee lends greatly to a sense of ownership and investment in the company.

Roscommon print and design company Triest Press is bridging the gap of barriers to employment for people with intellectual disabilities

ins and outs of a busy and vibrant workplace. At the end of the program

Unlike other commercial printers, Triest Press are romantics when it comes to tradition and believe

TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE

a portfolio of proven skills learned.

“The hope is that participants can challenge mainstream employers’ perceptions and maybe even misconceptions in what it means to be wholly inclusive in their hiring practices and in doing so can pave the way for others to be accepted more easily into our labour market – and maybe in time, making the Irish labour market a forerunner in Europe as an equal opportunity landscape to aspire to be like,” explains Deborah Tierney, Business Development officer with Triest Press.

THE HOPE IS THAT PARTICIPANTS CAN CHALLENGE MAINSTREAM EMPLOYERS’ PERCEPTIONS AND MAYBE EVEN MISCONCEPTIONS IN WHAT IT MEANS TO BE WHOLLY INCLUSIVE IN THEIR HIRING PRACTICES

Triest Press support participants into competitive employment that meet their work goals. From potential employer’s perspective, candidates are fully trained in digital skills, customers service and general office duties with two years’ experience and

that the creativity involved in old style print methods such as hand finishing, screen printing and letterpress are what makes them stand out from the crowd. These original print processes are then blended with the latest and most environmentally sustainable modern print technology on the market to create a unique finished product that when purchased goes directly toward meaningful employment opportunities.Theemployment model adopted by the Roscommon print and design company is that of tiered support.

Inclusive Hiring

Ireland’s rate of employment among people with disabilities is half that of the European average and people still face discrimination in the workplace to a worrying degree.

47 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE TRIEST PRESS

Since the onset of Covid-19 and the cost of living crisis, Barnardos experienced a substantial increase in the number of young families seeking help to meet basic meal requirements. As a family retailer, ALDI has always championed equal access to affordable and nutritious food through initiatives such as Super 6 to give families on a budget quality, fresh ingredients at the lowest prices. However, some families need extra support, and that is where ALDI’s work with Barnardos plays an instrumental role.

ALDI Ireland is working to be Better Everyday across three core pillars—Greener, Fairer and Healthier

Last year, ALDI proudly launched a new branded corporate responsibility strategy. The aim of the strategy is to be better for its customers, the society and the environment. Called ‘Better Everyday’, the strategy has three pillars—Greener, Fairer and Healthier. ALDI is Greener Everyday through sustainable sourcing, the use of green electricity, the achievement of food waste reductions, the planting of trees and reductions in packaging. ALDI is Fairer Everyday in many ways, whether it’s supporting Irish farmers, protecting human rights, or raising money for amazing charities. ALDI is also Healthier Everyday, as it is constantly improving the nutritional value of its products to help customers shop and live healthy lifestyles.

ALDI Better Everyday

ALDI BETTER EVERYDAY

48 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE ALDI

With a network of 150 stores and a workforce of over 4,650 employees, ALDI operates in every county in the Republic of Ireland. In keeping with its belief that business growth and a robust corporate responsibility strategy go hand in hand, the retailer has introduced a wide range of projects and initiatives to support local communities and deliver its services in an environmental and sustainable manner.

ALDI IS GREENER EVERYDAY THROUGH SUSTAINABLE SOURCING, THE USE OF GREEN ELECTRICITY, THE ACHIEVEMENT OF FOOD WASTE REDUCTIONS, THE PLANTING OF TREES AND REDUCTIONS IN PACKAGING

This partnership is an inclusive initiative not only for ALDI staff and customers but also the wider community. ALDI enables its customers to easily donate through a variety of initiatives such as on pack donations, for example, all profits from the sale of ALDI and the IRFU ‘Home’ cookbook were donated to Barnardos. Other events such as The Barnardos Big Active proudly supported by ALDI provide the community an opportunity to get involved in a health and wellbeing initiative. The Barnardos Big Active is primarily run through schools which are at the heart of any community. This initiative provides an outlet to local communities across Ireland to get involved in positive physical, mindful, and charitable activities. The synergy between ALDI and Barnardos is inimitable and allows for innovation throughout all campaigns which has contributed to the success of the partnership.

BARNARDOS PARTNERSHIP

LDI has a number of shortlisted initiatives in this year’s awards programme, which range from improving communication of its corporate responsibility strategy both internally and externally, to its commitment to raise €1m for its charity partner Barnardos which is being delivered through a two-year programme of staff, store, customer and community fundraising and engagement.

ALDI Ireland is committed to raising €1 million for Barnardos Early Years and Families Services. The partnership was formed based on the common interest in helping local communities, families, and children. The goal of raising €1m was set as it directly benefits families by providing 10,000 warm meals to vulnerable children at Barnardos centres as well as a range of other essential supports.

The LiveLifeWell programme celebrates the power of good health by connecting employees, and their family, with innovative, on-demand, health promotion campaigns and resources. Developed from employee feedback and needs assessments in addition to reviewing health metrics, Abbott Ireland created a new holistic approach to employee health and provided innovative ways for employees to get involved, regardless of age, location or physical abilities. In addition to this programme, Abbott also offers an Employee Assistance Programme for all employees and their family members as well as flexible work options, so employees can succeed at work and at home. An online culture navigator celebrates diversity by assisting employees working with international partners. With more than 30 nationalities represented across Abbott’s sites in Ireland, the company values diversity of perspectives, experiences, and skills. This diversity is key to its global competitiveness, both here and at Abbott locations around the world.our water consumption is reduced.”

Living Life Well

bbott, first established in Ireland in 1946, now has 11 sites across the country, including six manufacturing plants. Since 2005, Abbott has invested almost €500m in its operations in Ireland. Abbott employs almost 3,000 people across 11 Irish sites, with six manufacturing facilities, located in Clonmel, Cootehill, Donegal, Longford and Sligo and a third-party manufacturing management operation in Sligo. It also has commercial and support operations in Dublin. Abbott serves the Irish market with a diverse range of healthcare products including diagnostics, medical devices and nutritionals.Abbott’smission is to help people fulfill their potential through health. To help its own employees, Abbott offer health programmes, workplace flexibility and benefits. Abbott in Ireland

Abbott is committed to providing a great place to work for its employees. Some of the programmes include the shortlisted LiveLifeWell intiative, which inspires, engages and empowers employees to take a holistic approach to their physical and mental health. The programme offers a calendar of events focused on weight management, physical fitness, cancer awareness and mental well-being. A community of 2,910 Abbott employees engaged in LiveLifeWell health and well-being programmes in 2021. The LiveLifeWell programme champions positive well-being by connecting employees, and their families, with opportunities and resources that enable them to live healthier, fuller lives.

MISSIONABBOTT’SIS TO HELP PEOPLE FULFILL THEIR THROUGHPOTENTIALHEALTH. TO HELP ITS ANDWORKPLACEPROGRAMMES,OFFEREMPLOYEES,OWNABBOTTHEALTHFLEXIBILITYBENEFITS.

provides a complete benefits package with opportunities for professional growth, learning and development, and educational support, as well as competitive pay, pension, healthcare, flexible work hours, holidays, sports and social activities. To support employees to succeed at work, Abbotts invests heavily in annual training and development for all its people.

GREAT PLACE TO WORK

Abbott’s LiveLifeWell programme inspires, engages and empowers employees to take a holistic approach to their physical and mental health

49 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE ABBOTT

staff to save as much CO₂ as possible by registering daily eco-friendly activities and making small changes in their lifestyles. Over a three-week campaign, participants undertook an average take of 162 eco-friendly actions each, for example switching off unnecessary lights, taking shorter showers and using public transport in place of car journeys. The first campaign saw 200 participants log 12,780 different sustainability activities which resulted in 19,290 kgCO₂e being saved over the duration of the campaign. 2021 THE INTEL MATCHING GRANT PROGRAM SAW 382 COMMUNITY ORGANISATIONS AND SCHOOLS FROM ACROSS IRELAND RECEIVE GRANTS TOTALLING €1,493,328

In 2021 Ronald McDonald House were selected as one of Intel Ireland’s signature charities. The partnership with the charity focused on providing funds and expertise to support the development of a room in their new house, which is currently under construction on the grounds of the new children’s hospital in Dublin. Throughout the year Intel employees volunteered their time to provide practical, skills-based

50 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE INTEL

The Intel volunteer programme is supported by an innovative ‘Matching Grant’ scheme, whereby, for every hour that an Intel employee volunteers at an approved organisation, there’s a ‘match’, or grant, of $10 paid by the Intel Foundation to the organisation where they give their time. In 2021 the Intel Matching Grant program saw 382 community

assistance to the charity in areas such as safety, engineering and innovation in order to support design work on the new house.

talent, and passion with schools and other non-profits around the world.

Despite the continued impact of the global pandemic, Intel Ireland employees have volunteered more hours in recent years than ever before. For example, in 2021 more than 182,900 hours were volunteered by Intel employees across Ireland. Its global corporate volunteer programme —Intel Involved—matches volunteers with opportunities for community volunteering, and encourages Intel employees to share their experience,

In October 2021 Intel and the County Kildare Chamber announced Ireland’s first ever climate action championship, Sustainable Kildare. The championship invited small and medium businesses in the county of Kildare to sign up to participate in an interactive environmental challenge. The three-week campaign encouraged

SUSTAINABLE KILDARE

ntel has a long history of leadership in corporate responsibility, and a track record of setting ambitious goals and transparently reporting on both progress and challenges. For decades, Intel has worked to advance progress on complex issues together with its customers and other stakeholders. With Intel’s 2030 corporate responsibility ‘RISE’ strategy and goals, it aims to create a more responsible, inclusive, and sustainable world, enabled through its technology and the expertise and passion of its employees. Intel’s strategy not only raises the bar for the company itself, and its supply chain, but also increases the scale and global impact of its work through new collaborations with customers and a broad range of stakeholders.

organisations and schools from across Ireland receive grants totalling €1,493,328.

PASSIONATE COMMITMENT

With Intel’s 2030 corporate responsibility ‘RISE’ strategy and goals, it aims to create a more responsible, inclusive, and sustainable world

Rising to the Challenge

THE GREATEST GIFT

Guided by Values

“It was, ﬁrstly, a thank you to the people within our organisation, and then highlighting that by living our company values—closeness and appreciation—that is the greatest gift.”

The Liberty Digital Way (LDW) is the company’s go-forward working model, which advances on the company’s transformation process to becoming a fully digital organisation.

51 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE LIBERTY INSURANCE

LDW means all staff work primarily remotely, with the option of spending up to two days per week in the office for specific activities. The pilot schemes on this commenced even before the pandemic, which then accelerated the uptake across the company, with 93 per cent of employees expressing a preference for continuing digital work post-pandemic.“AtLiberty,we wanted to live by our value of Putting People First and give employees the freedom and flexibility they desired and deserved. We also operate as a multi-market company, so that means that we operate as one team across Spain, Ireland and Portugal. The digital model really enables collaboration in this,” notes Roseanne Regan, Sustainability Manager for Europe.

In 2021 Liberty Insurance set up its ﬁrst Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Council, consisting

of focus: LGBTQ+, Gender, Cultural Dexterity, and Disability. Each group is responsible for identifying actions to implement aligning with the objectives of the DEI Council and the company’s DEILibertyframework.Insurance’s support of the Irish Wheelchair Association’s Run ‘n’ Roll race to promote an inclusive society for people with disabilities is an example of these actions. It took place in St Anne’s Park on 4th September, with an accessible route ensuring runners, walkers, wheelchair users and buggies were all safely catered for.

are not material, and to remember to care for each other, thank each other and protect the emotional well-being of loved ones. Liberty Insurance wanted to emphasise that ‘we have in our hands immense power to give aﬀection and help others feel included, protected and safe’.

Roseanne Regan, Sustainability Manager for Europe, Liberty Insurance

of employees themselves, with a mandate to advance the Global Strategy of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, guaranteeing that it is successfully executed locally. “DEI is a journey,” says Regan. “We strive to be a place where everyone feels included and that they belong.”

The video campaign, executed in three diﬀerent languages, was based on a neuropsychological experiment to demonstrate, with the aim of technology, that aﬀection and love have a much greater emotional impact than material gifts.

LIBERTY DEI COUNCIL

iberty Insurance is shortlisted in three categories in this year’s Sustainable Business Impact Awards: for the Liberty Digital Way in the Workplace category; for The Greatest Gift in the Communications category; and for the Liberty DEI Council, in the Diversity, Inclusion and Equity category.

WE WANTED TO LIVE BY OUR VALUE OF PUTTING PEOPLE FIRST AND GIVE EMPLOYEES THE FREEDOM AND FLEXIBILITY THEY DESIRED AND DESERVED

The Greatest Gift campaign promoted a Christmas message to staﬀ, stakeholders and partners: that the greatest gifts

Guided by its values of Putting People First and Making Things Better, Liberty Insurance is creating purposeful initiatives for its employees, customers, parters and society

The 15 employees on the council work across issues including gender equality, disability inclusion, LGBTQ+ issues and cultural diversity, and DEI training is going on across the whole company. Within the DEI Council there are four working groups, one for each area

52 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE CANADA LIFE INSURANCE

An initial project supporting a cycle bus programme, which encourages children cycling to school, led to the development of a partnership with the team in Bloomin Crumlin.

“Canadatime.

“Over the course of 40 years we would expect each tree to sequester 1 tonne of carbon each which equates to approximately 1,200 tonnes,” says Fergus Cooney, Head of Sustainability, Canada Life Reinsurance.

The concept of Community Orchard was to offer and support residents from Crumlin with planting native fruit trees in their gardens, in many ways bringing the estates back to former times when they were established with an abundance of apple trees which have disappeared over

anada Life Reinsurance has been supporting local communities in Dublin since 1992 and working with Crumlin community groups for the last four years.

A partnership with Bloomin Crumlin saw Canada Life Reinsurance contribute to a community

supplies directly for a project rather than making monetary donations. With that in mind, the 1,200 trees and supporting equipment were directly purchased from a small North Dublin tree supplier.

BLOOMIN CRUMLIN

Recently a cargo bike has been sourced and handed over by Canada Life Reinsurance to help reduce journeys in the community that use fossil fuels. There are plans to roll out the tree planting project out across further communities in Dublin. Already a small project has been completed in Cabra in 2022 with a similar sized project to Crumlin planned for 2023.

collectively develop a vision and long-term strategy or a greener area.

Canada Life Reinsurance adheres to a CSR policy of investing by purchasing

Whilst the project was a significant logistical exercise the benefits are significant.

“Canada Life Reinsurance are delighted and honoured to be a partner with Bloomin Crumlin; their ability to bring a diverse group of highly motivated volunteers together to generate innovative ideas has made this an amazing experience for staff at Canada Life Reinsurance. With collaboration challenges are quickly turned into solutions.”

Fruits of Labour

THE PROJECT WILL CONTINUE TO PROVIDE FRUIT, IMPROVE AIR QUALITY, INCREASE BIODIVERSITYLOCALAND HELP TACKLE CLIMATE CHANGE FOR YEARS TO COME

Life Reinsurance’s partnership with Bloomin Crumlin on the Community Orchard project was instrumental in its success, allowing the community to dream big in what could be achieved,”

COMMUNITY ORCHARD

states Trevor Clowry, Co-ordinator, Bloomin Crumlin. “The Community Orchard project included over 1,200 fruit and native trees planted in private gardens and tree workshops to educate residents. The project will continue to provide fruit, improve air quality, increase local biodiversity and help tackle climate change for years to come.”

Bloomin Crumlin is a community-led greening initiative focused on enhancing streets, green infrastructure (parks, green spaces, grass verges etc.) and biodiversity in the Crumlin and Kimmage area. The group, run entirely by volunteers, works to enhance existing green spaces and look for further greening opportunities on streets that are accessible by all. They work using a bottom up approach and address areas of inadequate public greenery first. They are enhancing the biodiversity of the area by improving habitats for native flora and fauna, creating environmental education resources for local schools, groups and adult training initiatives and working with residents to

“At Lidl, we have the scale to reach communities across the country, and really aren’t afraid to back issues and challenge the norm to build a better workplace, a better environment and ultimately a better society for us all.”

PeriodCombattingPoverty

product is distributed through a donation programme to the Simon Community and Lidl’s partnership with the Ladies Gaelic Football Association.

the need for change at government level. Aligning Lidl at the forefront of societal change, the campaign earned national and international praise, catapulting the issue into the public forum and making Lidl synonymous with support for female and societal issues.

The first six months of the campaign saw Lidl donate more than 80,000 period products – 65,000 of those through the Lidl Plus app – “the highest redemption of any offer we’ve ever seen,” notes O’Sullivan. The remaining

Lidl Ireland’s ‘Combatting Period Poverty with Dignity’ campaign—which involved distributing free period products in stores nationwide—is the world’s first period poverty initiative run by a retailer. The campaign was designed to distribute products, reduce the stigma of periods, and highlight

Speaking about the campaign, Senior Communications Manager for Lidl Eimear O’Sullivan says, “At Lidl, we were closely watching progress of the issue in New Zealand and Scotland and monitoring the progress of legislation in Ireland. In learning more about period poverty, and as one of the biggest retailers in the country, we felt we could a real impact on this key issue that’s affecting society and the communities we operate in.”

Speaking about the campaign Claire Hunt, CEO of Homeless Period Ireland commented: “Lidl’s support for eliminating Period Poverty in Ireland has created a lightning rod of conversation across the media, political sphere and indeed across the country. Over half of all Irish adults are aware of Lidl’s campaign which launched last year. This means that one in every two people know the issues that we face when it comes to accessing period products in Ireland for those who are struggling.”

Jennifer Kitson (Simon Community) Carla Rowe (LGFA player) Aoife Clarke (Lidl) Claire Hunt (Homeless Period Ireland)

53 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE LIDL

eriod poverty–the lack of access to sanitary products, menstrual hygiene education, toilets, hand washing facilities, and/or waste management—is a growing issue in Ireland, particularly since the onset of the pandemic. A Plan International study on young females in Ireland found that almost 50 per cent of girls aged between 12 and 19 found it difficult to pay for sanitary products.

AT LIDL, WE HAVE THE SCALE TO REACH THEISSUESAFRAIDANDACROSSCOMMUNITIESTHECOUNTRY,REALLYAREN’TTOBACKANDCHALLENGENORM

“When devising this campaign, we wanted to partner with a credible organisation who could help us effectively drive the message and ensure that all activity was impactful. Claire Hunt from Homeless Period Ireland was an invaluable source of support in helping us bring this campaign to life. The response was absolutely phenomenal.”

Lidl Ireland’s ‘Combatting Period Poverty with Dignity’ campaign is the world’s first period poverty initiative run by a retailer, which involved distributing free period products in stores nationwide

PARTNER ORGANISATION

BENEFITS FOR ALL

WineLab’s wine-on-tap technology supplies hermetically sealed litres of wine (and increasingly, cocktails), which can be served by the glass from taps, to the bar and restaurant trade. The solution offers benefits both for those in the hospitality business, who can offer a greater selection of wines by the glass, or serve up quality pre-mixed cocktails quickly in a busy bar environment. Customers get to enjoy fresh wine that hasn’t been sitting oxidising in an open bottle, or heavily loaded with preservatives to keep it in a single serve bottle. The litres are fully recyclable, and in 2019 WineLab took things one step further by launching a closed-loop recycling system, meaning used litres are collected and shipped back to the manufacturer to make fresh ones.

ineLab was founded in 2013 by Ronan Farrell, a graduate of the UC WinemakingDavis Certificate Programme with 15 years’ experience in the Irish wine trade and Richie Byrne, a draught technical services manager with over 20 years’ experience in Ireland.

Drinking Responsibly

of the smaller wineries they work with; the winemakers can easily fill them with no specialist equipment needed, and it saves them having to send wine out to a bottling plant when they do not have the facilities themselves on site.

solution is enjoying well-deserved success. Next, expect to see alcohol-free wines launching later this year, the result of four years of planning and testing to perfect the desired quality and taste.

“We’ve achieved something premium, organic, with close to zero sugar as well—a high quality Albariño, sparkling wine and Cabernet.”

WE HAD BECOME AWARE THAT THE LITRES WE WERE SUPPLYING INTO TRADE FULL OF WINE WEREN’T BEING RECYCLED, DESPITE BEING MADE OF VERY HIGH VALUE PRODUCTS

With 13 employees in the company and looking at figures approaching half a million litres of wine this year, the WineLab’s unique and sustainable

WineLab operates an islandwide closed-loop recycling system for litres of wine and cocktails it distributes, reducing the carbon footprint of those products by 45 per cent

The system they devised doesn’t make any work for their customers; as they deliver litres to restaurants and bars, they collect the empties and bring them back to WineLab’s warehouse in Kildare, where they are manually separated, baled,

Ronan Farrell, Co-founder, WineLab

and sent back to the manufacturer in the Netherlands. “They’re 81 per cent circular in design and 100 per cent recyclable, so 81 per cent of the litre is turned back into new litres and 19 per cent goes to be recycled into secondary use.”

product that has a few different elements to it, we found that processers here just weren’t recycling them and they were being sent for incineration, so we decided we would create our own closed loop recycling system.”

“We work with a lot of people who are interested making wines with a ‘hands off’ philosophy, trying to produce a very natural or organic wine.”

“After two years of research, we settled on the key litre because of its recyclability. Over the years, we had become aware that the litres we were supplying into trade full of wine weren’t being recycled, despite being made of very high value products, such as high-quality clear PET that’s very valuable in a secondary market,” explains Farrell. “Because the litres are a complex

WineLab send empty litres out to their wine suppliers across Europe and America to fill, which has been a boon for some

54 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE WINELAB

“Corporate social responsibility is a natural fit with the way we do business. We invest in our society and communities through a range of focused programmes, including the Engage & Educate Programme,” Black notes. “We have long held the belief that education is one of the most powerful tools in tackling disadvantage in Ireland. Our lawyers have developed their careers and lives as a result of opportunities available to them to access education. If members of our community experience barriers and restrictions to accessing education, they won’t reach their full potential or contribute fully to society. To this end, our CSR Committee focuses the firm’s related activities on education and access projects, working with schools and community groups in our local area and beyond to reduce barriers and disadvantage.”

with disabilities, and people with migrant status.

“We have significantly increased our program of charitable donations in recent years. This included doubling our investment in the Engage & Educate Fund. The 2021-2024 Fund will see the largest ever amounts awarded this year since the project began.”

• Care After Prison: provides support and pathways to education, training, and employment for those with lived experience of incarceration

he Engage & Educate Fund 2022 is a €1.2m fund, created by Rethink Ireland, Mason Hayes Curran (MHC) and the Department of Rural and Community Development via the Dormant Accounts Fund, to back innovative projects that empower young people and adults through education, enabling marginalised communities to access game-changing education programmes.TheFund,established in 2017, aims to work with organisations that break

• Youth Horizons: responding to the needs of the disadvantaged West Tallaght community

• Galway Traveller Movement: an ‘Educate to Empower’ project comprising a peer-led education programme•

the negative cycle of poverty through education, opening up opportunities to people and assisting them to achieve their full potential and contribute to theirThecommunities.2021-2024Fund, supported by MHC, will see the largest ever amounts awarded since the project began, with five organisations receiving grants and non-financial supports packages. Among the successful projects this year are organisations that provide education opportunities to people experiencing marginalisation, young people from the Traveller community, young people

“As a firm, we are very pleased to be shortlisted in this category,” says Declan Black, Managing Partner, Mason Hayes Curran. “The COVID-19 pandemic has widened the gap in educational opportunities between different socioeconomic groups. As a result, the negative impact on young people and adults who left the education system early, or are now at risk of doing so, is growing.

The 2022 Fund beneficiaries are:

• Blossom Ireland: provides skills-based training for young people, aged 14 and above, with an intellectual disability, preparing them for and supporting them during the transition from school to the next stage in their lives

Mason Hayes Curran has partnered with Rethink Ireland and Department of Rural and Community Development to back innovative projects that empower young people and adults through education

Engage & Educate

55 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE MASON HAYES CURRAN

IF MEMBERS OF OUR TOORTHEIRTHEYACCESSINGANDEXPERIENCECOMMUNITYBARRIERSRESTRICTIONSTOEDUCATION,WON’TREACHFULLPOTENTIALCONTRIBUTEFULLYSOCIETY

Declan Black, Managing Partner, Mason Hayes Curran

Cultúr Migrant Centre: a Midlandsbased community organisation working with migrants, asylum seekers and refugees

enabling low carbon generation and demand; and championing a fair and just energy transition). In addition to its sustainability goals, it has a strong relationship with Business in the Community (BITCI) and have committed to Inclusion and Diversity and BITCI’s Elevate Pledge.

Another purpose of the programme was to provide a networking opportunity for the participants amongst themselves. Feedback from participants who took part noted that the presence of speakers from diverse positions within SSE “enabled the participants, who were from different backgrounds, to relate with the company,” and several noted that the discussions around climate change were particularly enlightening and beneficial.

“The women who participated were highly qualified in engineering or environmental roles within

“Several of the women who took part in the programme have gone on to find work more suited to their area of expertise. This is owing to their determination and refusal to let the barriers they experience stand in their way,” says Fahey McCarthy. After finishing the programme, four of the women have found employment in their fields, one as an engineer.

review participant CVs. Members of Engineers Ireland provided advice on getting overseas qualifications recognised in Ireland.

SE’s vision is to be a leading energy provider in a lowcarbon world, and its strategy is strongly based on a foundation of sustainability. SSE is committed to four core 2030 business goals, aligned to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), designed to drive faster decarbonisation across the next decade (cutting carbon intensity by 80 per cent; increasing renewable energy output fivefold;

EVEN IF THE NUMBER OF EMPLOYED MIGRANT WOMEN SEEMS HIGH, THAT THE DATA SUGGESTS THAT MANY OF THOSE WHO ARE EMPLOYED ARE EITHER UNDEREMPLOYED OR WORKING IN AREAS UNRELATED TO THEIR STUDIES

Mia Fahey McCarthy, Head of Sustainability, Ireland- SSE

Last year, SSE ran a Knowledge Sharing Programme with support from Business in the Community, Ireland. The programme focused on women from migrant communities living in Ireland and had representation from countries including Brazil and India.

energy companies or similar in their home countries but since arriving in Ireland had found difficulties in obtaining employment in these sectors resulting in some taking up roles in the care or hospitality sector which did not match their skill set,” explains Mia Fahey McCarthy, Head of Sustainability, SSE Ireland.

“It is important to notice, however, that even if the number of employed migrant women seems high, that the data suggests that many of those who are employed are either underemployed or working in areas unrelated to their studies.”

56 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE SSE IRELAND

‘Employability of Migrant Women in Ireland, 2020’—a survey commissioned by New Communities Partnership and part-funded by the Department of Justice, notes that,

The participants in the Knowledge Sharing Programme took part in six sessions with colleagues across the business imparting knowledge of the context of the energy sector in Ireland on topics such as Irish energy policy, biodiversity, windfarm operations and grid operations. Human Resources also gave advice on applying for roles and offered to

LEARNING EXPERIENCE

SSE ran a Knowledge Sharing Programme with support from Business in the Community, Ireland, for women from migrant communities qualified in engineering or environmental roles Sharing Knowledge

One of Stillgarden’s most popular products is its Social Gin, which was created with its social botanist community. For this innovative project, Stillgarden recruited a group of budding botanists and gave them hydroponic grow boxes to grow botanicals at home. Once ready, these were transplanted into Stillgarden’s community garden. “When the botanicals were harvested, the social botanists were invited to taste various iterations of the gin and decide on the final flavour profile, and so, a community sourced gin was born,” explains Baird. Stillgarden also make the Sidecar Gin for the Westbury Hotel and have collaborated with several other Irish businesses.

Stillgarden Distillery’s Social Botanist Project brings together a community of like-minded individuals who care about the environment and shared spaces

tillgarden Distillery is a new independent distillery based in Dublin 8. “With an aim to bring science, nature and community together, Stillgarden is constantly striving to develop exciting, sustainable, socially sourced beverages and has developed 14 different spirits, cocktails and aperitifs since its launch in 2020, as well as a range of gifting sets,” says Viki Baird, Managing Director, Disruptive Spirits, aka BossWithLady.akeen focus on sustainability and reuse, Stillgarden have been recognised with awards from both Dublin City Council and MODOS (the circular economy training programme for micro, small and medium size

enterprises run jointly by Dublin City Council and the Eastern-Midlands Regional Waste Management Planning Office). They recently were delighted to become a certified Origin Green member.

“Stillgarden Social Botanist Project is a community of like-minded individuals who care about the environment and spaces people share together. The Social Botanist Project educates people on the importance of biodiversity, sustainability and our natural ecosystem through weekly outdoor workshops and activities,” says Baird.

57 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE STILLGARDEN DISTILLERY

In 2020, Stillgarden cleared debris and rubbish from an unloved green space to create a 450sq m (4,844sq ft) public space for a community.

Social Botanist Project

THE SOCIAL BOTANIST PROJECT EDUCATES PEOPLE ON THE IMPORTANCE OF BIODIVERSITY, SUSTAINABILITY AND OUR NATURAL ECOSYSTEM THROUGH WEEKLY OUTDOOR WORKSHOPS AND ACTIVITIES

SOCIAL BOTANISTS

Members of the community were given pre-seeded botanical grow kits to take home and learn a new skill. Stillgarden also grew a community garden with plants that had been grown by the social botanists. The aim was to build community spirit (no pun intended!) and this has since grown into a much bigger project. “Since then, the group has grown from 10 members to 150 people, and over 100 trees have been planted in the Inchicore area,” Baird reveals. They also run community gardening groups with regular meetups to forage, tend the garden and take wildlife walks to drive awareness about urbanStillgardenwildlife.has also committed to the all-Ireland pollinator plan, launched monthly community clean-ups, and introduced wormeries to the distillery grounds to aid composting in the garden there.

Viki Baird, Managing Director Stillgarden Distillery

organisations were unable to provide direct supports in all cases, as needed.

URGENT NEED

A&L Goodbody, Arthur Cox, Matheson and Philip Lee support members of the Afghan community in Ireland with pro bono legal assistance, helping to reunite families

The efforts of the law firms involved resulted in greater access to legal representation in discretionary family reunification applications and latterly through the Afghan Admission Programme (AAP) than could otherwise have been reached by the law centres acting alone. While some results of applications are still pending, at

CLIENTS HAD ACCESS TO LEGAL REPRESENTATION AT A CRITICAL, DEEPLY STRESSFUL POINT IN TIME, WHEN THE LIVES OF THEIR MEMBERSFAMILYWERE AT SIGNIFICANT RISK

he world watched in horror as heart-breaking scenes played out with desperate Afghans trying to leave Afghanistan at Kabul airport in mid-August 2021 after the Taliban claimed power in the country. By December 2021, an estimated 3 to 4 million people had left Afghanistan, with hundreds of thousands more on the Withmove.existing commitments and the small size of their legal teams, the Irish Refugee Council (IRC) and the Immigrant Council of Ireland (ICI) were struggling to meet the enormous demands placed on their services by the new wave of immigration.

of law. This resulted in direct client referrals being placed by law centres within a matter of days following the takeover of the Taliban.

The IRC and ICI both operate expert independent law centres providing specialist legal advice in refugee and immigration law, including family reunification. The fall of the Afghan government resulted in several thousand queries from Afghans in Ireland to both organisations seeking support in bringing family members to safety. This involved advising individuals on possibilities and required documentation and submitting visa applications with detailed written legal submission. In the absence of any civil legal aid available to assist in family reunification applications, individuals struggle to navigate the complex application procedures and

least five families have been reunited through the efforts of this project and applications made for discretionary visas. Without question the result has been life changing for these clients and their family members.

58 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE A&L GOODBODY

Reacting to the urgent need, A&L Goodbody, Arthur Cox, Matheson and Philip Lee quickly assembled legal teams to assist the Afghan-Irish community. It meant clients had access to legal representation at a critical, deeply stressful point in time, when the lives of their family members were at significant risk.

AfghanReunitingfamilies

RTECredit:Photo

One of the lasting outcomes of the projects has been the ongoing collaboration amongst law firms working together to support unmet legal need in the community; the same law firms are now collaborating on a collective response to meet the legal needs of Ukrainians arriving in Ireland, with three firms seconding a staff member on a part-time basis into the law centres on a weekly basis.

The law centres quickly developed training packs for the law firms and delivered specialist training which enabled commercial lawyers to quickly pivot their legal skills to a new area

The aims of Techies Go Green revolve around education and action – creating awareness of and encouraging action on practical steps to make businesses in the IT and tech sector more sustainable. All businesses who join the community sign up to the Three Year Carbon Pledge. Whilst not compulsory, the goal here is that each new corporate member would aim to have their business achieve carbon neutral status within three years. It starts with each business measuring their own carbon footprint and once they know where their CO2 emissions are coming from, they can then identify the positive actions necessary to reduce them.

Leading IT distributor DataSolutions co-founded a movement called Techies Go Green to help educate the wider tech sector and support like-minded IT businesses to embark on their sustainability journeys

Techies Go Green has grown its signatory base to more than 250 members, including Presidio, Ergo and Folens. The three-year goal is to grow the number of members to 2,500 by 2025.

Techies Go Green signatories are encouraged to measure their carbon emissions as the starting point in their journey. Practical steps are then highlighted, such as moving to green electricity and refurbishing IT. Techies Go Green also aims to shed light on the larger issues at play in this space, including the role of carbon offsetting, the move to the circular economy and the importance of safeguarding biodiversity. Discussions are had by signatories around how companies can align with the UN’s sustainability goals.

AS PART OF THE TECHIES GO GREEN MOVEMENT, DATASOLUTIONS ITSELF HAS ELIMINATED 60 METRIC TONNES OF ITS ANNUAL CO2 EMISSIONS AND REDUCED ITS REAL CARBON FOOTPRINT BY MORE THAN 50 PER CENT

n March 2021, leading IT distributor DataSolutions founded Techies Go Green, a movement with two main goals: firstly, to build awareness around the need to be more sustainable, and secondly to drive action, making every participating organisation carbon-neutral by 2030.

Director, has become a leading voice in the IT sector on sustainability. As part of the Techies Go Green movement, DataSolutions itself has eliminated 60 metric tonnes of its annual CO2 emissions and reduced its real carbon footprint by more than 50 per cent compared to its 2019 figures.

Techies Go Green

59 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE DATASOLUTIONS

www.techiesgogreen.com

Michael O’Hara, Group Managing Director, DataSolutions

DataSolutions has a number of planned activities and defined goals

for the next stage of the Techies Go Green journey. These include growing the membership base to more than 300 signatories in 2022. It is also planning to launch a Sustainability Ambassador programme for Techies Go Green members and roll out an online Members Only portal for all companies signed up to the movement. Techies Go Green will also be establishing a dedicated Sustainability Lead Forum—after its surveys revealed that most businesses have appointed a Sustainability Officer or Manager in theirMichaelbusinesses.O’Hara, Techies Go Green co-founder and DataSolutions Managing

“This will lead to continued growth and additional employment

Within the National Hair Loss & Scalp Clinic the salon owner, Annmarie Comerford, has identified and developed a niche market. By becoming a HSE approved vendor she is striving to make hair replacement systems and wigs a financial possibility for all.

The team uses a 30 degree wash

heveux Hair Salon is a state of the art, awardwinning hair salon located in Tullamore, Co. Offaly. The team of 20 at Cheveux provide a wide range of hairdressing services from colour and highlights to extensions and wedding up styles. What really sets this salon apart is the National Hair Loss & Scalp Clinic, which provides services to Oncology patients across the Midlands.

UNIQUE EXPERIENCE

Cheveux offer clients CNC System, which is a non-surgical, non-invasive, dermatologically tested hair replacement system. The custom-made hair prosthetic system, produced in Italy, is the result of innovative research and made using a patented production process. It is ethically produced and certified according to high ISO quality, environmental, and worker safetyCheveuxstandards.Salon employs a specialist Trichologist to assist clients with hair loss or scalp issues. They also provide Oxygen Therapy to help boost hair growth and restore scalps to a healthier state.

60 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE CHEVEUX HAIR SALON

Work is underway to expand the National Hair Loss & Scalp Clinic.

“From careful product selection, to ensuring services are financially accessible, the team at Cheveux take carefully planned steps to be sustainable and reduce their carbon footprint. We actively seek to protect our environment wherever possible,” Annmarie adds. “We also use recycled plastics in our product lines, and ensure we separate and recycle our waste in salon.” Annmarie and the team at Cheveux strive to continue learning and working in a sustainable manner which befits the awardwinning salon and its clientele.

“When clients step into our salon, they can expect a unique hairdressing experience. We keep up with the latest trends by updating our skills and continuously training our staff to the highest standard—our clients deserveAnnmarieit.” and her team strive to work in a sustainable manner. “For example, our hand towels are fully compostable and made from recycled paper,” she notes. “Our hair colour range of choice is Alfaparf, which boasts the lowest ammonia rates in the world. Our specialist Kemon product line is derived from 90 per cent natural ingredients and its packaging is made from recycled plastics.”

Salon Sustainability

for towels, and utilises wind energy for drying, reducing the carbon footprint and saving energy. Several of the staff car pool to get to work, reducing carbon emissions. All areas of the salon are utilised to their fullest, the back garden made available for relaxation as colour processes with beautifully selected flowers for the bees to pollinate and trees housing wildlife.

opportunities within the team at Cheveux and the National Hair Loss & Scalp Clinic,” she says.

The team at Cheveux hair salon in Tullamore strive to be sustainable but what really sets this salon apart is the National Hair Loss & Scalp Clinic, which provides services to Oncology patients

Annmarie Comerford, Owner, Cheveux Hair Salon

department has an action plan which they work from. They also introduced Just A Minute (JAM) cards to the hotels. All team members are trained on these cards, which allow them to identify when someone needs extra time and how best to respond to them. Trigon were the first hotel group in Ireland to introduce these.

WE HAVE ADAPTED HOW WE TRAIN, TO A BLENDED APPROACH USING THE SKILLS OF JOB COACHES, VIDEO AND EASY READ FORMATS FOR THE MEMBERS THAT HAVE ACCESSIBLE ISSUES

also wanted to become more aware and educated on how best to adapt our practices to make our working environments more inclusive and accessible for all,” notes Mansworth. Now the group’s onboarding process, advertising of positions, and training process are all done using easily readable methods. “We have adapted how we train, to a blended approach using the skills of job coaches, video and easy read formats for the members that have accessibleAccessibilityissues.”has been incorporated into Trigon Hotels’ overall five-year strategy and each

They also came up with the idea of a sensory garden at Cope. Over the past number of months both participants from Bonington Training Centre and Trigon Hotels have been working on this project. The sensory garden is growing produce that will be used in the hotel kitchens, which feeds into one of their goals of sourcing more products locally and contributing to decarbonisation.“Thegardenhas been a labour of love and team members throughout all of our properties have given up their time to work on it. Our chefs have also been involved teaching students about what best to plant for a busy production kitchen and sharing their knowledge on food with the“Westudents.haveplans to further develop the sensory garden. It is located beside Root’s Café and the Beech Hill Garden Centre at the Cope Foundation. We hope that people coming to both businesses will avail of the garden and get enjoyment from it, as it is an oasis of calm.”

bility@Work is a dedicated employmentsupportedservice, run by the Cope Foundation and funded by the Government and the European Social Fund. It aims to bring young people, aged between 18-29 years, with intellectual disabilities and/or autism, closer to the labour market.

Trigon Hotels, in partnership with the Cope Foundation and its Ability@Work service, worked to highlight inclusion and foster lasting relationships

Aaron Mansworth, Managing Director, Trigon Hotels

SENSORY GARDEN

Aaron Mansworth, Managing Director, Trigon Hotels, recalls, “Initially our HR Director was asked to speak at an event hosted by Ability@Work, on an accessibility project she had previously worked on. From that day, friendships were formed, and we began to engage withThroughthem.”lockdown Trigon Hotels continued to support Ability@ Work by a variety of means, which included taking participants on the hotel group’s induction and getting feedback on how to make it more accessible. This led to a review of workplace practices within the hotel“Thegroup.aimof this project was to provide employment and training opportunities to people that quite often would find employment opportunities challenging. We

HighlightingInclusion

61 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE TRIGON

“A key thing we do is ‘connect the dots’ – helping to broker relationships and alliances between established businesses, start-ups, public sector organisations, financial sector players, policy makers etc. We’re always looking for ways to bring people together to create change,” adds Deignan.

“From the outset our goal was to achieve maximum impact through our work, despite being a boutique firm. To achieve this, we combine traditional consulting work (working on specific projects for individual businesses or representative bodies) with ‘common good’ initiatives that we believe can move the needle and accelerate or scale change at a systemic level,” explains Karen Deignan, who brings strategy, communications and behaviour change expertise to the team. Sustainability Works is nominated in two categories this year, firstly for its monthly newsletter, SW News, where it communicates sustainability issues and insights in an easy to digest way. “With the sustainability agenda moving at such a pace and spanning so many topics, we see these communications as an important tool in progressing the climate and

SustainabilityWorks Co-Founders (from left to right): Laura Heuston, Aideen O’Hora, Karen Deignan

Moving the Needle

IN PRACTICAL TERMS, WE DEVELOP SUSTAINABILITY AND ESG STRATEGIES AND HELP BUSINESSES TURN THOSE STRATEGIES INTO ACTION THROUGH THE CREATION OF POLICIES, ROADMAPS AND PRACTICAL ACTION PLANS

MOVING THE NEEDLE

Boutique andcomesIrishconnectingSustainabilityWorksconsultancyisthedotsforbusinesseswhenittosustainabilityclimatechange

“In practical terms, we develop sustainability and ESG strategies and help businesses turn those strategies into action through the creation of policies, roadmaps and practical action plans, and through training and engagement with Boards, executive teams and employees. We also work with industry associations and representative bodies to develop sectoral programmes that aim to drive progress across a whole sector,” adds Laura Heuston,

ustainabilityWorks is one of Ireland’s leading, independent sustainability and ESG consultancies. Established in 2019 by Aideen O’Hora, Laura Heuston and Karen Deignan the company is on a mission to accelerate Ireland’s shift to a sustainable future. Working with businesses, the financial sector and public sector bodies, SustainabilityWorks provides expert advice to help organisations embed sustainability into how they operate and manage ESG risks and opportunities. The team has established a strong reputation as the go-to place for trusted, insight-driven work on all things sustainability- and ESG-related.“Wefounded SustainabilityWorks in early 2019 as we felt there was a need for a different kind of sustainability consulting firm in Ireland—one that brings together financial, business, and communications know-how to create strategies and solutions that unlock opportunity and mobilise action,” explains co-founder Aideen O’Hora, whose background is an environmental scientist with expertise in policy, programme design and innovation.

sustainability conversation in Ireland and in keeping sustainability professionals up to date on the latest information and trends,” says O’Hora.

It is also shortlisted for Climate R|O, its Climate Change Adaptation: Risks and Opportunities for Irish Businesses report, and five practical sector guides for key sectors of the economy, which were published in April 2022. It was the result of a year-long research project, funded by the EPA, that looked at how Ireland’s private sector needed to adapt to climate change. Climate R|O created simple guides to engage Irish businesses on climate change by highlighting the financial risks and opportunities.

62 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE SUSTAINABILITYWORKS

a chartered accountant by background and an expert in sustainable finance.

VolunteerismHighlighting

hevron College is a QQI accredited provider of further and higher education deliversprogrammes,trainingwhichcareer-focused

In recognising the expansive volunteer needs of local charities and not-for-profit organisations and to actively address the recruitment challenges which they faced, the Volunteer Expo Wexford provided a showcase of the local volunteer-led organisations and the valuable services which they provide to the community. In conjunction with the Rotary Club of Wexford, Chevron College was responsible for project managing the event, which included utilising its internal marketing, and operational resources to promote the event to exhibitors and attendees, securing media partnership arrangements and engaging with relevant stakeholders in the community to ensure that the event was a resounding success.

“Furthermore, in creating powerful community relationships between businesses and the volunteer-led organisations across County Wexford, community-based buy-in for sustaining this initiative into the future has now been firmly established,” added Mr.Critically,Fitzpatrick.the success of Volunteer Expo Wexford has prompted Fitzpatrick (who is a proud Rotarian and a member of the organisation’s District Council) to encourage Rotary Clubs throughout the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland to establish their own Expo events, thus emphasising the potential to create a concerted campaign to sustain the volunteerism movement across the island of Ireland.

training to learners throughout Ireland via online and blended learningChevronchannels.College is fully committed to initiatives which both ‘give back’ to the community of Wexford and promote issues pertaining to sustainability. The Volunteer Expo Wexford is a prime example of how the company’s involvement encouraged leading voluntary and business organisations within the county, to develop an event which achieved both of these goals.

63 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE CHEVRON COLLEGE

Karl Fitzpatrick, President of Chevron College, in evaluating the significant role which the Volunteer Expo Wexford played in the Wexford community stated that, “In paying homage to the adage that ‘You make your life from what you give’, the Expo facilitated an environment which clearly demonstrated that selflessness and commitment to the betterment of the community are still values that people hold close to their hearts.

Karl Fitzpatrick, President of Chevron College

EXPONENTIAL BENEFITS

In highlighting the work of 40 local volunteer-led organisations, the Expo delivered exponential benefits to the 531 attendees. Principally, by providing remote workers with a valuable connection to their local community, promoting volunteerism to a young demographic by partnering with local secondary schools, assisting retired members of our society to use the free time in a meaningful and productive manner, and as a platform for businesses to identify suitable organisations to partner with for their respective ESG and CSR commitments, the community has benefited immeasurably from this Importantly,initiative.the post-event survey highlighted overwhelming support for the Expo, both from the perspectives of attendees and exhibitors, with the participating volunteer-led organisations emphatically highlighting the need for it to become an annual event.

BASEDCOMMUNITY-BUY-IN FOR SUSTAINING THIS INITIATIVE INTO THE FUTURE HAS NOW BEEN FIRMLY ESTABLISHED

Through Volunteer Expo Wexford, Chevron College supported a showcase of the local volunteer-led organisations and the valuable services which they provide to the community

Jiminy Eco Toys don’t have a sustainability project, per se—the whole business is the project

plastic- free. But it is not necessarily the stereotypical expensive, hand-carved wooden toy—it can also be cardboard, paper, bioplastic, or recycled plastic. The range available includes everything from hammocks to board games, bioplastic frisbees to biodegradable nail polish.

PEOPLE WANT THE KIDS IN THEIR LIVES TO BE HAPPY, HEALTHY, AND SAFE. THEY DON’T WANT TO THATUNDERMINEWITHTHE TOYS THEY BUY FOR THEM!

64 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE JIMINY ECO TOYS

for their children. Keilthy is now one of the leading experts in the world on sustainability in toys; she is a faculty member on the world’s only toy design degree at the prestigious Otis College Los Angeles, has started a global toy sustainability learning community for toy professionals, and sits on the American Toy Association Sustainability Committee.

Keilthy ‘s vision is that one day “eco” will be the norm for toys, and and Jiminy exists to make that happen by supporting innovative makers, and showing other toy retailers (and the public) that it is possible to stock an entire toy shop without resorting to petro-plastic toys.

CLIMATE KIND

iminy Eco Toys is an award-winning Irish social enterprise retailing and wholesaling over 650 climate-neutral, minimalwaste toys, made in Europe from plants or recycled materials. “We didn’t have a sustainability project to submit to these awards,” says Sharon Keilthy, founder of Jiminy Eco Toys. “Our entire business is the project— Jiminy exists to inspire a playfully sustainable world, not for any otherThereason.”inspiration for Jiminy hit Keilthy in 2018: “I went looking for a fourth birthday gift for my daughter. I wanted something sustainable, locally-made and plastic-free, but I came away empty-handed.”Lookingintoit further she later learned the shocking figures and statistics which made it clear why it had been so difficult to source the type of sustainable toy she had been hoping to buy. “Toys is the most plastic-intensive industry in the world, with 90 per cent made from petroleum, releasing so much CO2 we’d have to plant 1 billion trees to absorbKeilthyit.”felt strongly that there was a market for something better for the planet and better for children. “People want the kids in their lives to be happy, healthy, and safe. They don’t want to undermine that with the toys they buy for them! They want products with a positive impact on the planet and those kids’ futures...but how can they choose such products, if they’re not on the toystore shelf?”

Playfully Sustainable

Jiminy now stocks over 750 eco toys and books, for all ages from babies through teens, selling to the public on the jiminy. ie website and selling wholesale to about 40 retailers.

While the first thing that springs to mind when you think of eco-toys is wooden toys, only 25 per cent of Jiminy toys are wooden. A sustainable toy is first and foremost kind to our climate, being made locally from plants or recycled materials. Secondly, it minimises waste, being packed

She set up Jiminy to make it easy for parents to choose sustainable toys that they can feel great about buying

TELUS International team members volunteered to create an organic community garden – the first publicly accessible food growing space in Cork city

achievement made by our volunteers on the day. We’re excited to hold more transformative projects like this one in the future.”

In another initiative, working with

The garden, designed in collaboration with local horticulture students and Ciara Parsons, resident Horticultural Therapist & Sustainability Representative at TELUS International Ireland, will now serve as an asset to students of the neighbouring special school St Gabriel’s and the local Tidy Towns group, as well as nearby residents and visitors.

Miriam Manning, HR Director (far right), and volunteer team members at the Eco TELUS Days of Giving event in November 2021

In another new volunteering initiative in July, TELUS International Ireland volunteers worked with Cork- based charity Cope Foundation on a project that benefits the community as well as the environment. Cope Foundation supports over 2,800 children and adults with

Ciara Parsons, Horticultural Therapist

“At TELUS International Ireland, our corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities reflect what’s important to team members in our focus on social impact, sustainability and wellness. Our team is empowered to take the lead on CSR initiatives, with collective decisions made on charity partners and community projects,” says Miriam Manning, HR Director, TELUS International Ireland. “We are hugely proud of our very first Eco – TELUS Days of Giving and the incredible

and painted picnic benches. Thousands of wildflower seeds were sown on the day.

“Together with Cope service users, we worked in their allotment style garden in Ballincollig, a vital space to learn, socialise and connect with nature. We had a fantastic day working alongside a great group of people,” recalls Parsons.

beekeeping services company An Beach Dubh, TELUS International Ireland introduced approximately 60,000 native Irish honey bees to the Mahon, Cork“Theheadquarters.nativehoney bees have been such a great addition to our campus, helping with the pollination of our plants and enhancing the biodiversity of our garden space, while we do our bit for conservation of the native Irish honey bee,” says Parsons.

“Our goals included: educating people locally on growing their own food whilst also reducing their carbon footprint; providing a rewarding volunteering opportunity; and strengthening our bond with the local community to embody our company ethos of ‘We give where we live’,” notes Parsons.

The team planted 20 fruit and nut trees, built 18 large raised beds and compost bays using upcycled pallets from the office— some of which were specially designed to be wheelchair accessible—installed bug hotels and bird feeders, and upcycled

REFLECTING WHAT’S IMPORTANT

THE HONEYNATIVEBEES HAVE BEEN SUCH A GREAT ADDITION TO OUR CAMPUS, HELPING WITH THE POLLINATION OF OUR PLANTS AND ENHANCING BIODIVERSITYTHEOF OUR GARDEN SPACE

Growing Gardens

intellectual disabilities and autism.

65 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE TELUS

n November 2021 the team at TELUS International Ireland in Cork held the first ever Eco – TELUS Days of Giving, a day to focus on environmentally beneficial projects within the community. A team of 50 volunteers worked to create an organic community garden – the first publicly accessible food growing space in Cork city.

Through utilising the expertise of two key roles instore, — the Boots Irish Cancer Society Information Pharmacist and the Boots Cancer Beauty Advisor roles, Boots can help support and offer advice to those who are going through cancer treatment. Team Members in both of these roles receive additional training in conjunction with the Irish Cancer Society and the services are free to avail of.

“Boots Ireland’s partnership with the Irish Cancer Society began back in 2012 and we have recently celebrated 10 years of partnership,” notes Ryan. The aims of the partnership are to help increase awareness and early detection, providing support to those affected by cancer as well as fundraising, with all funds raised going to the Irish Cancer Society Night Nursing service.”

To date Boots have raised over €2.5 million through the support of team members, patients, and customers, which has helped to provide 7,200 nights of care. “This is done through a range of fundraising activities with

up to 10 nights free end of life care and the role of the Night Nurse enables patients to be comfortable, and in an environment where they can spend their final days with their loved ones, as well as giving respite to the family at a time when they need it most.

The Night Nursing service provides

Boots Ireland recently celebrated 10 years of partnership with the Irish Cancer Society and also continues working as a parnter on the Dementia Understand Together campaign

Over 2,000 of Boots team members have completed a dementia awareness e-Learning training which is included as part of induction.

Boots Ireland is one of 40 partners on the Dementia: Understand Together campaign and are the only retailer to have offered this awareness training to all of our Team Members,” notes Ryan.

Health and Wellbeing

66 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE BOOTS

Since joining the Dementia: Understand Together campaign on its launch in October 2016, Boots has helped to provide an inclusive experience across its stores for those affected by dementia. There are currently over 64,000 people living with dementia and over 500,000 people whose families have been affected by Dementia in Ireland. Staying socially active and engaged supports the independence, health, and wellbeing of those living with the condition and engage in everyday activities, such as shopping.Sincepartnering on the campaign, Boots has carried out a range of activities in helping to promote awareness and build a dementia inclusive experience in-store.

s a health & and wellbeing pharmacy, Boots have a vision to help customers lead more joyful lives through better health.

OVER 2,000 OF BOOTS TEAM MEMBERS HAVE COMPLETED A DEMENTIA AWARENESS E-LEARNING TRAINING WHICH IS INCLUDED AS PART OF INDUCTION

the largest event of the year being the annual 5km Boots Night Walk for Night Nurses which last year, despite COVID-19, saw our virtual Night Walk raising over €107,000, in walking together but from afar,” explains Ryan.

DEMENTIA - UNDERSTAND TOGETHER

Boots Ireland and the Irish Cancer Society Teams

“With 92 stores spread across the country within the heart of local communities, we are ideally placed in doing so and our partnerships below are an example of how we do this,” says Martha Ryan, Head of Human Resources and CSR Lead.

SCHOOLS WORKSHOP

it comes to drug education we can offer more than the ‘just say no’ approach because it also provides teenagers with information on how to keep themselves and their friends safe if and when they encounter substances,” explains Nicole.

67 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE ALEX’S ADVENTURE

The new programme costs less than the price of a schoolbook per year to give a child lifesaving education that is

THE NEW PROGRAMME COSTS LESS THAN THE PRICE OF A SCHOOLBOOK PER YEAR TO GIVE A CHILD LIFESAVING EDUCATION THAT IS FUN, INTERACTIVE AND DELIVERS A CRUCIAL MESSAGE THAT WILL STAY WITH THEM FOREVER

youth clubs and businesses and delivered this workshop to nearly 10,000 students nationwide.Overthelast three years Alex’s Adventure has been developing a brandnew programme that aims to not only help students learn more about substance misuse but also to upskill people in the community and empower them to be able to replicate what Nicole does.

fun, interactive and delivers a crucial message that will stay with them forever. The innovation behind the ‘Build your own Ed-Venture’ programme makes Alex’s Adventure the first drug education programme in Ireland to have a virtual tutor. Each lesson is animated, interactive, and guided by Nicole, meaning that all the teacher has to do is log in and press play.

Nicole’s story began in January 2016 when her younger brother Alex went to a house party in the Greenmount area of Cork City and ingested a synthetic substance believing it to be a less potent drug called 2-CP. Alex had thought he had done his research on the substance he was trying, but in fact he ended up taking a huge dose of the lethal drug known as N-bomb, with catastrophic results. He was brought to Cork University Hospital, but never regained consciousness, and was subsequently pronounced brain dead. Four days after that fateful night, Alex sadly passed away, aged just 18.

A brand new programme will empower teachers and people in the community to replicate the work of Alex’s Adventure founder Nicole Ryan, with a virtual tutor

Founder Nicole Ryan is both an addiction counsellor and a business owner as well as a business development advisor for Social Impact Ireland.

Alex’s Adventure drug education programme for schools

Nicole Ryan, Founder, Alex’s Adventure

“Alex’s Adventure is rooted on the principals of Harm Reduction which is part of Ireland’s National Drug & Alcohol Strategy 2017-2025. This innovative new process allows us to understand that when

OPEN THE CONVERSATION

The programme aligns with the Junior SPHE Curriculum, hitting many of its learning objectives, meaning that this programme is of massive value to both students, teachers, and the school. This service helps both the teacher and student open the conversation and learn about substance misuse which is an evergrowing issue in all communities and towns across Ireland.

lex’s Adventure provides a complete end-to-end solution that addresses the entire range of needs associated with drug education.

From this life changing experience Alex’s Adventure, the drug education programme was born. His devastated sister Nicole gave up her career as a Marine & Plant Engineer to build Alex’s Adventure in his memory. Over the last six years she has travelled the length and breadth of the country visiting schools and delivering the ‘Drug Talk’ workshop educating young people and sharing her experience of how our choices can impact our lives forever. To date Nicole has visited over 70 schools, colleges,

“Our boxes are made from recycled cardboard and even the eco fibre is from recycled materials. Our labels, stickers and branded tape is also ecofriendly and we’ve just sourced eco fragile tape for shipping too,” Carroll Kelly states.

BEING SUSTAINABLE HAS BECOME MORE OF A PRIORITY TO THE BUSINESS AND WE HAVE DISCONTINUED NON-FRIENDLY PACKAGING AND PIECES—NO MORE BUBBLE WRAP OR FOIL PADDED ENVELOPES FOR ORDERS

had any money, things weren’t replaceable, and it is always my default way of thinking when trying to repurpose something or come up with an alternative solution to a problem.”

“The building is insulated and secure and needs very little heat. We got to decide the number of power

SHOCK OF GREY

ormerly a design and digital media lecturer, Sarah Carroll Kelly founded ofjewellerysustainablecompanyShockGreyin2019.With

The jewellery pieces are made mainly from wood, acrylic and brass. “Acrylic comes from Ebay. Large panels are expensive, so we buy smaller ones that are offcuts from other projects. We buy in as large quantities as we can afford to minimise the carbon footprint for shipping. Brass is sourced from a family run business, and we purchase via Etsy.”

outlets, locations and angle of light intake that works just for our business as it was a bespoke build,” Carroll Kelly“Beingexplains.sustainable has always been important to me. I live in a house that’s over 115 years old and is full or restored, upcycled, and preloved furniture. I grew up in the 1980s in the countryside in Meath when nobody

EMBEDDING SUSTAINABILITY

“Being sustainable has become more of a priority to the business and we have discontinued non-friendly packaging and pieces—no more bubble wrap or foil padded envelopes forTheyorders.”also create their own shredded paper for packing and have zero emissions for their deliveries which are made either by hand,

Jewellery with a Conscience

Shock of Grey has also fundraised for the Ukrainian Red Cross and gave 100 per cent of profits from a key retailer to it. This October sees the launch of two bespoke pieces created for The Scoop Foundation, with 100 per cent of the profits going towards aiding people affected by the crisis in Ukraine. The sunflower (or soniashnyk) earrings and pin represent the national flower of Ukraine and will be available to buy on both Shock of Grey’s and the Scoop Foundation’s websites.

48 stockists across Ireland, USA, Canada—and more coming soon in the UK and Australia—the business operates from a bespoke garden room, built behind the founder’s Dublin city home.

68 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE

Sarah Carroll Kelly, Founder and Designer, Shock of Grey

www.shockofgrey.com

brought by trolley to the local post office, and as of 2022, by electric car. Their eco-friendly, recycled, bespoke packaging is beautifully designed to create a unique and sustainable unboxing experience.

Over the past year, Shock of Grey has actively worked to do less harm to the environment and source local materials and services as much as possible, mostly from the neighbourhood in Dublin 8. Otherwise, some materials come from family-run, responsible businesses.

Shock of Grey uses local, sustainably sourced materials in their jewellery, and collaborates with charities, making bespoke pieces to financialawarenessheightenorgivesupport

representatives are allocated to each ‘See Green, Be Green’ workstream. Sustainability performance is on equal footing with quality, safety, plant performance and customer delivery. Each site has a sustainability plan to help the company reduce carbon emissions and reach carbon neutrality in its operations by 2025. Each site has an approved plan to help support the goal to become carbon neutral for Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas emissions in line with MSD’s global corporate goals (Scope 1 covers direct emissions from owned or controlled sources. Scope 2 covers indirect emissions from the generation of purchased

MSD Ireland’s ‘See Green, Be Green’ campaign is an enterprise-wide initiative to embed sustainability in operations to create a green and healthy future

vershoot Day marks the date when humanity has used all the biological resources that Earth regenerates during the entire year. In order to contribute towards reversing the damage done and move to a future where humankind operates within Earth’s ecological limits, MSD have targeted their activities with the ‘See Green, Be Green’ initiative, which launched on Earth Day 2021 and was followed by a special webinar held to mark Ireland’s Overshoot Day in May‘See2021.Green, Be Green’ has four key strands to address environmental concerns: culture, carbon transition, biodiversity, and waste and water. The sustainability strands are sponsored by the MSD Ireland country leadership team, consisting of plant and/or site directors across all six MSD Ireland locations. Sustainability teams have been formed at each site and

See Green, Be Green

During the year, MSD Ireland partnered with Grow It Yourself (GIY) to educate all employees on living sustainably. MSD sponsored the provision of Grow Boxes, enabling employees to grow their own vegetables at home during 2021. In all, 350 employees availed of the offer to grow many different vegetables. MSD sites competed for points using the GIY app by completing growing challenges and quizzes. All employees were invited to monthly GIY online seminars to learn about food sustainability, food packaging waste, sustainable shopping, and farming challenges. These activities created a buzz and employees shared their pictures and stories helping to raise sustainability awareness in MSD Ireland. This year, MSD have kicked off their webinar series in an effort to highlight individual case studies of employees’ sustainability caseandsustainabilityGreen,thoseNoeventsvolunteeringyearareFurthermore,stories.allemployeesentitledto40paidhoursperforapprovedcommunityandlitterpickingareorganisedwithLeaveTraceandCleanCoastsforallwhowishtoparticipate.‘SeeBeGreen’hastakenMSD’sgoalstothenextlevelIrelandisnowabestpracticeintheglobalMSDgroup.

LIVING SUSTAINABLY

69 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE MSD

electricity, steam, heating and cooling consumed by the company. Scope 3 includes all other indirect emissions that occur in a company’s value chain.)

n 2018, Applegreen partnered with the Irish Youth Foundation (IYF), a national charity dedicated solely to meeting the needs of children and young people from disadvantaged Throughbackgrounds.thispartnership, Applegreen launched the Blossom Fund and pledged to raise over €100,000 yearly to enable the IYF to expand their services which provide supports to where they are needed most—be this educational projects or health and wellbeing programmes for young people nationwide. Applegreen has a comprehensive, target-led Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy and wants to give back to communities in which it operates and has demonstrated this since 2009 by raising €4.7m for charities across Ireland.

This need was identified by working closely with the IYF. In the summer of 2021 the charity released its ‘Generation Pandemic’ report which told a worrying story of the effects of the pandemic on Ireland’s most marginalised children. Included in this was an indication of a stark increase in early school leaving which is tied to much higher levels of unemployment in later life and other poor life outcomes. Augmenting this were the findings from the ‘Annual Report of the Special Rapporteur on Child Protection 2021’, which reached similar findings.

Applegreen partners with the Irish Youth Foundation on the Blossom Fund, which supports thousands of marginalised young people from disadvantaged areas

Funding Education and Wellbeing

The 16 successful groups were selected from a total of 100 applications by the IYF, in consultation with the Applegreen charitable fund team. In addition to Saplings in Rathfarnham, other notable recipients include Narrative 4 which is based in Limerick, home of prominent IYF supporter, Greg O Shea. Narrative 4 brings young people together and builds their confidence via the narrative of storytelling. Other recipients include Galway-based Venture Out Wilderness, a nature-based health and wellbeing programme for young people in disadvantaged communities.

70 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE APPLEGREEN

Since asking employees in 2018, a direction became very clear that they wanted to support young people. Since the partnership launch employees across 124 stores and head office have gotten behind the Blossom Fund. Each store has a fundraising target to reach every year and nominate a charity hero who takes ownership over the fundraising activities for their team organising everything from customer facing donations at

SUPPORTING YOUNG PEOPLE

The Applegreen Blossom Fund is designed to target young people at risk of early school leaving by supporting them at times of key educational transitions. This will not only benefit the young people themselves but also their peers, their families and wider communities.

Taking this into account Applegreen made the decision to change the focus of the 2021 Blossom Fund to support programmes working to stem this tide. The projects chosen were varied in their

methodology but it is hoped all will have long lasting effects on their community by keeping children in school, increasing their employment prospects later in life, and increasing their self-esteem.

One of the groups that has been allocated funding is Saplings School in Rathfarnham, Dublin, a co-educational school that provides specialist education for pupils with autism and complex needs. Commenting on the funding, Michael Wood, Principal at the Saplings Rathfarnham school, explained: “Our pupils here in Saplings have very complex needs and the funding provided by the IYF Applegreen Blossom Fund will be vital in helping us to meet those needs.”

the tills, bake sales, static cycles and getting involved with the charitable fund activities.

Helen Nolan, CEO, Spraoi agus Spórt

71 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE INISHOWEN CO OP

Spraoi agus Spórt is based in Carndonagh , a rural town with a population of 2,500, in the heart of the Inishowen Peninsula, County Donegal. Their initiative, the FabLab, brings high

Inishowen Co-Op General Manager Gareth Whitmore says, “By supporting

Spraoi agus Spórt

OF DIGITAL SKILLS AND RESOURCES TO OUR YOUNG PEOPLE WE HOPE TO ENCOURAGE THEM TO PURSUE CAREERS IN STEAM WHICH IN TURN WILL LEAD TO SUSTAINABILITY OF THE AREA

“We bring high end digital creative technology to schools across the peninsula to bridge the digital divide and ensure the children and young people of Inishowen have every opportunity to access the latest technology. Often access to digital technology is limited to those who can afford it, however with our model we bring the skills and resources to the schools, so everyone has an opportunity to take part.”

“We are ensuring our rural future is bright and it is so important that organisations such as Inishowen Co-Op work with their local social enterprise so we can all make it happen together,” says Helen Nolan, Co-founder and CEO of Spraoi agus Spórt. “We are delighted that the team in Inishowen Co-Op are being recognised for their support of the work that we do together.”

It brings the region to the forefront in terms of providing easy access to all types of digital technologies and is helping to regenerate the community and ensure that it is sustainable into the future.

ollaboration between business and community has always been part of life throughout Ireland and never more so than within the Inishowen peninsula in County InishowenDonegal.Co-Op group have been supporting and serving the Inishowen community for almost 60 years. They continue to expand with branches in Donegal, Sligo and Northern Ireland and are one of the largest employers in the region. In 2021, the Co-Op stepped forward as one of the primary sponsors of award-winning social enterprise, Spraoi agus Spórt.

the availability of digital skills and resources to our young people we hope to encourage them to pursue careers in STEAM which in turn will lead to sustainability of the area and decent work and economic growth.”

Inishowen Co-Op is supporting award-winning social enterprise Spraoi agus Spórt to bring high end digital creative technology to schools across the peninsula

Both Spraoi agus Spórt and Inishowen Co-Op are united in the belief that their union will offer their community a foundation for technological advantages in the future. They are focused on building a sustainable model and approach, one that can be embraced by other communities.

BRIGHT FUTURE

Building on the principle of “leaving no one behind”, both organisations aim to achieve sustainable development for all in their region. “As a disadvantaged area and one which has high unemployment, high youth emigration and now faced with the MICA humanitarian crisis it is more important than ever that our children and young people are supported with a quality education,” says Nolan.

end digital technology to the Inishowen community. One of only nine FabLabs across the country, it has its origins in MIT in Boston and links to the crossborder Nerve Centre in Derry.

BY THESUPPORTINGAVAILABILITY

Helen Nolan, CEO, Spraoi agus Spórt and Gareth Whitmore, General Manager, Inishowen Co-Op

Examples of this include the Bank’s ongoing commitment to building affordable family homes through its partnership with Ó Cualann Cohousing Alliance, and support of the humanitarian relief efforts in Ukraine through a €250,000 donation to the Irish Red Cross and UNICEF.

In 2021, the Bank was proud to announce Women’s Aid, Royal National Lifeboat Institution, Solas Cancer Support, Irish Guide Dogs For The Blind, Oranmore Maree Coastal Search Unit and Breast Cancer Ireland as its new partners, chosen by the public with c. 150,000 votes cast through the website and mobile app. Numerous fundraising events were organised by the Bank’s employees, including the ‘Dive for Donations’ - a fundraising skydive which saw colleagues jump from a plane in support of Permanent TSB’s Community Fund Partners. All money raised was match funded by the Bank for an overall donation of €210,000.

John O’Leary, Head of Growth and Performance, and Courtnee Kyle, Senior Manager Sustainability and Sponsorships at the Community Fund Launch outside the Bank’s Flagship location on Grafton Street in Dublin

The Community Fund supports the work of Irish-based charities by providing funding to community organisations that are having a positive and meaningful impact on the ground.

Given the pandemic, a lot of in-person volunteering was paused to ensure the safety of the Bank’s colleagues, customers and communities; Permanent TSB is delighted to be relaunching its employee volunteering programme later this year, which includes opportunities with their 2022 Community Fund Partners.

COMMUNITY SUPPORTING COMMUNITY

ince its establishment in 2020, the Permanent TSB Community Fund has contributed more than €1 million in funding to support local community organisations across the country.

Each year, the Fund extends its reach by providing funding and support to programming that addresses some of Ireland’s most important social issues.

Permanent TSB Community Fund

People have always been at the heart of Permanent TSB’s business; the Bank has a long history of supporting its customers and communities and it is committed to building upon this legacy. Through its Sustainability Strategy the Bank is focused on delivering on its purpose of working hard every day to build trust with its customers and playing an active role in communities across Ireland. Permanent TSB considers itself a community serving the community and building strong community partnerships is a demonstration of its purpose in action.

The relationship with the Bank’s partners reaches beyond fundraising. On becoming a Community Fund Partner, each organisation is on-boarded and, where applicable, introduced to the employee volunteering programme, allowing Permanent TSB’s people to engage in volunteering initiatives with a partner of their choice and enabling them to spend time building relationships with the people behind the charity.

ADDRESSING SOCIAL ISSUES

Hugh Brennan, Founder and CEO of Ó Cualann Cohousing Alliance and Eamonn Crowley, CEO of Permanent TSB, pictured alongside Minister for Housing, Darragh O’Brien TD at thelaunch of Ó Cualann’s second development at Cranogue Islands, Ballymun, Dublin

an enduring project that has a long-term impact. Each year it launches a new call for nominations (and subsequent public vote) ensuring that it includes a diverse representation of organisations within its

Established in 2020, the Permanent TSB Community Fund supports Irish communities by providing funding to local community organisations that are working hard to make a difference

SINCE ESTABLISHMENTITS

The Community Fund is designed to be

partnership model, while maximising the reach of its impact.

72 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE PERMANENT TSB

IN 2020, THE PERMANENT TSB COMMUNITY FUND HAS THECOMMUNITIESSUPPORTINGORGANISATIONS,TOMILLIONMORECONTRIBUTEDTHAN€1INFUNDINGIRISHCOMMUNITYLOCALACROSSCOUNTRY

At factory, carbon is linked to energy use. With c. 96 per cent energy consumption covered under ISO 50001 Energy Management System, Dairygold have put in place an annual 3 per cent energy intensity reduction target. Dairygold has been operating on renewable electricity since 2020 evading c.14,000 tCO2e and c.10% biogas, evading c.4,000 tonnes of carbon annually.

Farming for the Future

This was followed in 2019 by a new Sustainability Bonus unique to Dairygold producers who participate in a dedicated Milk Recording and Herd Health programme. Dairygold view this as a longer-term initiative to improve overall Herd Health and performance across their milk supply—maximising milk solids per cow and ultimately leading to a more sustainable milk production base, improving the financial and environmental sustainability of its primaryDairygold’sproducers.‘Green Grow Soil Health’ programme provides tailored soil health maps, localising chemical fertiliser spread and its reduction by c.20 kg/ hectare/year. In 2020, Dairygold set a minus 40 per cent intensity target by 2030 and developed 10 signpost farms. In 2021, 40,000 native trees were planted, improving farm biota, and aiming for net zero carbon. The cumulative impact enabled low carbon against peers for three consecutive years.

airygold’s carbon reduction plans aim to reduce emissions at source (with targets to achieve 40 per cent reduction intensity on farm by 2030 and a 3 per cent annual reduction at factory), achieve net zero, provide economic structures for technology access and changeDairygoldbehaviours.isIreland’s largest CoOperative processing over 1.4 billion litres of milk annually and supporting thousands of farmers, with a long and proud history over 150 years of producing quality-assured, sustainable gold standard cheese and dairy ingredients.

Over 90 per cent of Dairygold’s total emissions originates from farms, specifically cows and farming practices like fertiliser use. As sustainability is a key factor in the purchasing decisions of the global food companies that Dairygold supply, demonstrating sustainable farming practices is critical to Dairygold’s future success.

73 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE DAIRYGOLD

“Dairygold’s carbon reduction roadmap acknowledges our operational attributes to climate change and identifies reduction strategies that deliver impactful results. As a local food business involved in infant milk nutrition, our imperative is to protect our Munster ‘Golden Valleys’ while nourishing our future generations. As a co-operative, our local community is the backbone of Dairygold operations,” says Keerti Krishnan-Murphy, Sustainability Manager, Dairygold.

SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION

In 2013, the Board introduced the Sustainable Dairy Assurance Scheme (SDAS)—a national project designed

Dairygold’s carbon reduction plan addresses emissions at source and sets ambitious targets to achieve 40 per cent reduction intensity on farm by 2030 and a 3 per cent annual reduction at factory

to guarantee the highest quality milk production standards and encourage suppliers to farm more sustainably. Dairygold now has full participation on that scheme.

Nicola Woods, Chief Transformation Officer, An Post

Throughout the pandemic An Post maintained sustainable action, keeping Ireland connected and supporting communities by looking after the vulnerable; supplying essential services; providing support to SMEs; and encouraging children to develop literacy skills. During the pandemic, An Post

OUR FOCUS HAS BEEN ON ENSURING THAT OUR EMPLOYEES UNDERSTAND THEIR ROLE IN OUR ENSURING A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE, AND WHAT THEY CAN DO IN THEIR OWN LIVES TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

positive actions at work and at home, to be more sustainable. In 2021, An Post ran an employee survey which indicated that employees wanted to make positive contributions to sustainability in work, at home and in their communities, but that a lack of information was a barrier. Based on that insight, they developed and launched the campaign to motivate and inspire employees to take positive practical actions, focused on monthly themes such as eco-transport, renewable energy, and biodiversity. It is accessible to all employees and the content caters for all learning types.

is core to An Post’s decarbonisation strategy. SEAI verified an energy saving of 33.4 per cent by end 2020, which is a significant step to 2030’s net zero target.

74 SBIA PARTNER PROFILE AN POST

An Post held webinars and support sessions on financial wellbeing, mental health, resilience and healthy eating for its employees and introduced an Employee Assistance Programme with a confidential digital platform provides access to advice, information and support on health, financial, wellbeing, and social issues.

CHALLENGING YEAR

An Post has a purpose: to act for the common good and to improve the quality of life in Ireland, now and for generations to come Sustainable Service

n Post is shortlisted across four initiatives in this year’s Sustainable Business Impact Awards. According to Nicola Woods, Chief Transformation Officer, An Post: “Sustainability is truly at the heart of everything we do across our business and corporate strategy. As well as progressing our action plan, our focus has been on enabling our employees to understand their role in ensuring a sustainable future, and what they can do in their own lives to make a difference. CSR initiatives, whether large scale or localised ‘helping hands’, are governed by our purpose ‘to act for the common good and to improve the quality of life in Ireland, now and for generations to come’.”

For An Post, it is a top priority to ensure employees are healthy and happy, while also ensuring that services remain operational, particularly as they managed an extraordinary increase in parcel volumes during the pandemic.

With An Post’s Employee Sustainability Campaign, developed with external partners Change by Degrees, An Post aim to motivate and inspire colleagues to take

“We believe in Decent Work and have publicly denounced the excesses of the Gig Economy,” states Woods. “We have found that even while chasing targets with global implications, we can deliver real benefits for An Post’s people on the ground.”

delivered 375,623 antigen test kits and provided SME discounts to a total of “With€2.8m.morethan 10,000 full and parttime staff, our retirees and all our staff families, we have deep roots and powerful connections in every Irish community. Working for the greater good works for

business, for communities and for the nation as a whole,” notes Woods.

As the operators of one of Ireland’s largest vehicle fleets and with over 2m square feet of property under management, the transition to a sustainable fleet and renewable energy

CHY7220 When a child loses their home, they lose their entire world. There 1850focusireland.ieDonateinchildrenalmostare4,000homelessIreland.now.204205

This is the second year that the Department of Rural and excellenceEnterprise’.ofAwardsIrelandcollaboratedDevelopmentCommunityhaswiththeChambersSustainableBusinessImpactsponsoringthecategory‘PartnershipwithaSocialThisawardrecognisesinmainstreambusiness

Social enterprises provide solutions to the challenges society faces –and public policy is behind them.

Social EnterpriseSocial impact and sustainability in their DNA

DEPARTMENT OF RURAL AND COMMUNTIY DEVELOPMENT

supporting social enterprise, raises awareness of the benefits that social enterprises bring, and improves access to business-tobusiness opportunities for social enterprise.

It is focused on three key objectives: building awareness of social enterprise, growing and strengthening social enterprise, and achieving better policy alignment.

In parallel, the DRCD has engaged the OECD to conduct an in-depth international review of the implementation of the National

Social enterprises are natural champions of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); it is impossible to be a social enterprise and not have the SDGs in your DNA. The inclusion of the ‘Partnering with a Social Enterprise’ category in the Sustainable Business Impact Awards will focus on collaboration while at the same time bringing more awareness of the potential of social enterprise across many areas of society.

National Policy

DEPARTMENT OF RURAL AND COMMUNTIY DEVELOPMENT

Together, the results of the OECD Review and the Baseline Data Gathering Exercise will be valuable resources when developing the successor to the Social Enterprise policy that is due to be published in 2023.

In 2021 an awareness strategy was developed, in association with stakeholders, to highlight the critical role social enterprises play in responding to challenges facing Irish Society, and to emphasise their potential to shape a more sustainable future.

In 2019, the Department of Rural and Community Development (DRCD) published the first National Social Enterprise Policy for Ireland, with a vision to support the growth and impact of social enterprise in Ireland.

Social Enterprise policy. This fully independent exercise will provide recommendations to government on the OECD’s view of progress and where we need to do more.

Implementing the Policy

Social Enterprise

They often play a role in providing employment to disadvantaged groups, those who are long-term unemployed, or those with a disability. In addition, they also frequently address social issues such as food poverty, mental health, equality, housing or climate action. There is a wide spectrum of social enterprises in Ireland, from local community-based enterprises to larger internationally trading enterprises.Examples of prominent social enterprises include FoodCloud, who redistribute surplus food from supermarkets to charities such as Vincent de Paul; Bounceback Recycling, who recycle mattresses and provide employment and training to Travellers; and Speedpak, who provide customised packaging and distribution services for other companies as a means of providing work experience and training to the long-term unemployed.

Social enterprises are businesses that work primarily to improve the lives of people. Their core objective is to achieve a social, societal, or environmental impact. Like other businesses, social enterprises pursue their objectives by trading in goods and services on an ongoing basis.

In 2022 the DRCD has commissioned a Baseline Data Gathering Exercise of Social Enterprise. For the first time, we will know the extent of social enterprise in Ireland, the areas in which social enterprises operate, the sectors or sub-sectors they operate in, the numbers of staff they employ and this will give us a fuller understanding of the contribution they make to society.

Growing together

Henderson reiterates, “We are committed to reducing our impact on the earth’s climate and natural resources, as well as ensuring that our activities leave a lasting legacy for local communities. Around the country, our teams collaborate with public and private sector clients to deliver a sustainable built environment providing long-lasting social value for the communities we live and work in. You visit our project sites, and our people say they want to leave the community in a better position than when they arrived.”

with the Irish Green Building Council helps us create solutions to reduce our impact on climate change, prevent biodiversity loss and move our business to a circular economic model.

78 BAM

As part of the BAM UK and Ireland Division of Royal BAM Group of the Netherlands, we adopt a collaborative approach, working closely with our clients and industry partners to identify new solutions, that deliver environmental, economic and social value.Alasdair Henderson, BAM Ireland Executive Director, comments, “To date, the construction industry has had significant environmental impacts, but many opportunities exist to reduce them.”In2021

through our projects and operations. Besides our focus on decarbonisation, we are currently updating our targets and approach for circularity, climate adaptation, and biodiversity.

BAM launched the strategy ‘Building a sustainable tomorrow’ focusing on markets and projects assuring a solid platform for sustainable growth. To help us deliver projects and services in a lean, green, and more efficient way our diverse highly skilled workforce utilises the latest digital technologies and modern construction methods. We are also supported by expert partners and a highly valued supply chain of specialist subcontractors.BAMhas been involved in the CDP global ranking since 2014 and has maintained a leadership position on the prestigious CDP climate A-list for three consecutive years. Also, our partnership

Postive, sustainable development for Ireland is a core principle of BAM Ireland

A key feature of our sustainability strategy is to reduce the carbon emissions associated with how buildings and infrastructure are designed built and managed over their lifecycle. BAM has set ambitious sustainability goals to get on track for sustainable, low-carbon, and future-proof growth. Overall, our construction and office waste has had reductions of 50 per cent for total volumes and 79 per cent for waste intensity volumes since 2010. Since 2009 total CO2 emissions have reduced by 65 per cent while CO2 intensity (in terms of turnover) has also reduced by 80 per Withcent.good progress in reducing our carbon emissions, we’re well underway in the transition to a lowcarbon economy that will stimulate the development of new technologies

As a leading construction and civil engineering company, BAM Ireland is delivering for customers who are ultimately delivering for the rest of society. With a broad spread of customers, we are contributing to many important areas from public sector infrastructure, public buildings, schools, hospitals, and housing, to major commercial developments.

1PEDALLING IS A BREEZE

Whether you’re travelling to the oﬃce by car, train, or bus, those costs can easily add up and have become more apparent since returning to the oﬃce. With Cyclescheme, e-bikes and associated equipment can be purchased for up to €1,500 free of any Tax, PRSI,

2HEAD FOR THE HILLS

One4all Rewards’ Cyclescheme oﬀers a perfect solution for employees looking to upgrade their commute. For information, email info@cyclescheme.ie

5ENJOY YOURSELF

or USC. In addition to the tax savings with Cyclescheme, the cost of recharging e-bikes is minimal, and, with proper care, maintenance costs (such as tyres, chains, and brake pads) are infrequent.

79 ONE4ALL

to cycling is a simple but impactful way to do your part to ﬁght climate change and work toward climate action. E-bike batteries can be easily recharged with renewable energy, making it a great eco-friendly commuting alternative that won’t slow you down.

We’re no stranger to strong gales in Ireland and oftentimes the greatest obstacle to getting outside can be braving the elements on your bike. E-bikes can make it easier to power through harsh, windy conditions, facilitating a smooth commute no matter the weather. Thanks to the additional boost from the motor, pedalling through gusts of wind is a thing of the past.

Vehicular transport is responsible for over 20 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions in Ireland. Making the switch

As businesses across Ireland return to the oﬃce, it’s a great time to rethink your commute. If you’re in the market for a new bike, an e-bike could be just the ticket to a faster, more eco-friendly commute. Here are ﬁve great reasons to opt for an e-bike.

5 reasons to commute on an e-bike

For many, hills can be a stumbling block to cycling, particularly for those considering it as a pre-work commute. This is another great reason to switch to an e-bike as the trusty motor helps to remove any additional eﬀort required to brace challenging hills and climbs while keeping the speed to get you to your desk on time without feeling overexerted.

4SAVE MONEY

3GO GREEN

Purchase e-bikes and safety equipment up to the value of €1,500 tax-free with Cyclescheme

In addition to the boost in endorphins from the exercise, commuting on an e-bike is generally a more enjoyable option than sitting in traffic on the way to or from the office. Getting some fresh air, zooming past traffic jams, and taking on hills with ease can work wonders for both the mind and the body.

An Post An Post CampaignEmployee

As conceptual frameworks for corporate responsibility and sustainability have evolved in business, so has Aurthur Cox’s approach as a firm. They want to build on the solid foundation of their rich heritage of giving back to the community.

Arthur Cox Sustainable Business Impact Report 2020/21

As a forward looking firm, they are keen to stay ahead. In 2020 they took the decision to evolve their CSR programme into something more. They want to voluntarily integrate social and environmental concerns into decision-makingtheirand their mainstream operations.

In 2021, An Post ran an employee survey wantedemployeesindicatedwhichthatto make contributionspositive to sustainability in work, at home and in their communities, but that a lack of information was a barrier.

Excellence in CSR Communication LIC

The Arthur Cox Sustainable Business Impact Report 2020/21 examines their achievements and progress for their financial year 2020/21. It maps their activities across the four internationally recognised core dimensions of a sustainable andWorkplace,programme:businessCommunity,Marketplace,theEnvironment.Their

An Post

In 2021, An Post ran an employee survey which indicated that employees wanted to make positive contributions to sustainability in work, at home and in their communities, but that a lack of information was a barrier. Based on that insight, they developed and launched the campaign with external partners Change by Degrees to motivate and inspire employees to take positive practical actions. The yearlong campaign is rooted in the An Post purpose‚ to act for the common good and to improve the quality of life in Ireland, now and for generations to come. It focuses on monthly themes such as tobiodiversity.renewableeco-transport,energy,andItisaccessibleallemployeesanduses multiple channels. The content caters for all learning types. The campaign also highlights what An Post is doing under the themes, reinforcing the message that sustainability is a core part of An Post’s purpose and strategy.

2021AIB AIB ConferenceSustainability

first report was published in July 2021 and their next report, for the financial year 2021/22, will be published in July this year.

Arthur Cox

The fifth Annual AIB Sustainability Conference was held in November 2021, with the theme ‘Beating the Climate Deadline’. The conference is the inaugural event for Climate Finance Week Ireland, for which AIB are the lead sponsors. The core objectives were to continue to build on sustainability leadership positioning underpinned with tangible proof points in advance of COP26. Work with recognised leaders (Global/Local) to inspire and reflect on the growing pace this issue is gathering in a post-Covid world (top down), galvanising consumers and businesses alike to take action, democratising Sustainability. Enable a ‘local’ conversation where our customers/ communities can be part of the conversation concerning tangible and workable solutions (bottom up). Increase the profile and reach of the conference through expanded use of AIB social media channels through the invite process which was open to the public free of charge for the first time.

80 *Large Indigenous Company | **Multinational Company

Since consciouswithSustainable2019PRhaveworkedsmart,eco-brandsthatcareabout

Newsletter

Sustainable PR

SustainabilityWorksWorksSustainability

SW News is a free monthly sustainable business and finance publication. It provides updates on trending hot topics in sustainability and ESG; SW’s latest thinking; ideas to inspire; information on events; and current sustainability and climate job opportunities. It has been running for two years and has almost 1,000 subscribers. Through SW News, they communicate sustainability and ESG issues in an easy to digest way. Given the sustainable business and finance agenda is moving at such a pace and spans so many topics, people often feel overwhelmed by it. Through carefully considered content curation, with SW News they aim to cut through the noise and bring their audience‚ Ireland’s business and finance community‚ the best and most important information and insights, delivered in a straight-talking, accessible way. They see the newsletter as an important tool in progressing the conversation and accelerating action on climate and sustainability issues in Ireland.

the planet. They provide simple and eﬀective PRtostrategiesenhanceabrand’s reputation.

SuperValu’s Save the Bees campaign raised awareness of the importance of pollinators and supported biodiversity in Irish communities. Every primary school received a Save the Bees Pollinator Pack. This pack was co-created with All-Ireland Pollinator Plan and contains guidebooks, posters, bookmarks and a wildflower garden-kit with native seeds to allow every school to create their own wildflower patch. SuperValu wants to help local communities, schools and families lead the way in creating an Ireland where pollinators thrive. It’s vital that bees have enough flowers to forage. The campaign launched in March and not only helped schools understand pollinators but also helped them make Ireland more pollinator friendly. To promote awareness and action, families could collect Save the Bees cards in SuperValu. They are added to each school‚ Save the Bees poster which can be entered into a draw to win a share of €50,000 for the school.

SuperValuSuperValuSave the Bees

81 *Large Indigenous Company | **Multinational Company

Sustainable PR Sustainable PR

Excellence in CSR Communication LIC

Since 2019 Sustainable PR have worked with smart, eco-conscious brands that care about the planet. They provide simple and effective PR strategies to enhance a brand’s reputation. Sustainable PR helps brands tell their unique story through social media, brand strategy, press releases, events, photocalls, influencer marketing and everything creative. Their team has an in-depth knowledge of the PR and communications industry in Ireland, therefore with their media network they aim to secure the bestfit features in print or online, radio, podcast, and TV.

In 2018, Fyffes was in the newspapers for human rights and labour rights issues at its melon farm in Honduras. From March to December 2020, they built a new website, highlighting the ethical journey Fyffes has taken to be one of the most ambitious companies in its sector with regards to sustainability and ethical conduct. Fyffes website and publications bring the viewer through the history of Fyffes and emphasise the company’s sustainability credentials. There is a clear link to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the company’s commitment to human rights, ethical conduct, environmental stewardship, and the promotion of healthy food. The previous website was ignorant to the concerns of customers and stakeholders. It also had a confusing taxonomy with multiple, out of date competitions and unrelated content. The website is now interactive, easy to navigate and has enabled better SEO and allows them to promote content on social media.

Excellence in CSR Communication MNC

FyffesFyffesRebrand Restores Reputation

In order to bring our global teams together in strong local communities, regardless of where people choose to work from - collaboration hubs (sites), home offices, or other places. Shifting to a distributed-first work model has heightened the importance of staying close as a community, retaining our strong VMware culture and the rich interactions we have with one another.

Working at VMware is more than just being a part of a great company and delivering amazing products to our customers. It is about being a part of a community, having an impact, and being empowered to be the change you want to see. VMware has established 11 regional communities to drive an inclusive One VMware culture, to amplify corporate strategy on a local level, and to ensure everyone in the regions is enabled and empowered, regardless of where and how our team members choose to work.

In line with its value of always putting people first, Liberty launched The Greatest Gift, a campaign based on a aimdemonstrate,experimentneuropsychologicaltowiththeoftechnology,that

VMware The Future of Work

affection and love have a much greater emotional impact than material gifts. With this campaign, Liberty wanted to highlight the importance of promoting emotional wellbeing and initiate a chain of affection and gratitude by inviting all its employees and its wider audiences to give the gift of love. Liberty wanted to emphasise that we have immense power to give affection and help others feel included, protected, and safe. This campaign was developed for the four countries in which Liberty is present in Europe (Spain, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Portugal) and was carried out in three languages. In addition, it was executed through a communicationcomprehensiveplanthat managed to impact the different audiences through the most efficient channels and formats.

82 *Large Indigenous Company | **Multinational Company

Aldi Ireland Better Everyday

Liberty Insurance Liberty Communications: The Greatest Gift

Aldi understands that business growth must go hand-in-hand with a robust CR strategy and that business activities can have a significant impact on climate and the environment. Communication is vitally important for Aldi to highlight the work that the business engages in, sharing best practice and knowledge both internally and externally. An audit of the business was completed by Business in the Community Ireland in 2020. From interviewing staff across multiple areas of the business, it was clear there were varying levels of engagement with CR with some keen promoters, but also a lack of awareness amongst some staff. To ensure improved staff awareness of Aldi’s CR achievements, a new CR brand was adopted. The Better Everyday communication plan was launched to improve communications internally with employees on the company’s work and engagement, externally with charity partners, and most importantly with customers and external business stakeholders.

By December 2021, an estimated 3 to 4 million people had left Afghanistan; with hundreds of thousands more on the move. With existing commitments and the small size of their legal teams, the Irish Refugee Council and the Immigrant Council of Ireland were unable to meet the enormous demands placed on their services. A&L Goodbody, Arthur Cox, Matheson and Philip Lee responded and quickly assembled legal teams to assist the Afghan/ Irish community. It meant clients had access to legal representation at a critical, deeply stressful point in time, when the lives of their family members were at signiﬁcant risk. It resulted in greater access to legal representation in discretionary family reuniﬁcation applications and latterly through the AAP than could otherwise have been reached by the law centres acting alone.

A&L Goodbody Afghan community in Ireland supported with pro bono legal assistance

Excellence in Community – PARTNERSHIP WITH A CHARITY (LIC)

The GOAL Mile is a tradition in communities throughout Ireland and across the world, with 20,000+ people participating in physical and virtual events over the Christmas period to raise funds for some of the world’s most vulnerable communities. In 2021, AIB became the new headline sponsor with the aim of reaching more communities throughout Ireland and, virtually, across the globe than previous years. The additional funds raised as a result of increasing the scale of the event have empowered GOAL to have an even greater impact on the lives of communities in the Global South that are worst impacted by climate change. AIB launched an internal and external communications campaign in September 2021 which ran over a three month period raising awareness, increasing participation levels and donations for the event.

The exciting union between these two very progressive organisations who share a similar vision will oﬀer inclusive opportunities that are aligned to the needs of their community - the award-winning Carndonagh social enterprise, Spraoi agus Spórt (Spraoi), and Inishowen Co-op, who have been supporting and serving the Inishowen community for almost 60 years. In keeping with that theme, the Co-op have recently stepped forward as one of the primary sponsors of the new FabLab creative workspace provided by Spraoi. This support will help them continue to bring high end digital technology to the Inishowen community. As one of nine FabLabs across the country, Spraoi is determined that Inishowen will be to the forefront in terms of providing easy access to all types of digital technologies.

The GOAL Mile is a tradition in communitiesthroughout Ireland and across the world, with 20,000+ people participating in physical and mostfundsperiodtheeventsvirtualoverChristmastoraiseforsomeoftheworld’svulnerablecommunities.

83 *Large Indigenous Company | **Multinational Company

AIBAIBpartnership with GOAL on the GOAL Mile ﬂagship event

Inishowen Co-op Supporting Spraoi agus Spórt

AIB

Inishowen Co-op

Trigon Hotels

KPMGKPMG&Children’s Books Ireland Junior Juries Volunteering

Trigon Hotels

Hundreds of groups of young readers around the country signed up to be Junior Juries as part of the KPMG Children’s Books Ireland Awards. Over the past few months, they read some of the best Irish children’s books of the year and it is their job to score the titles they have read and decide the winner of the Junior Juries Award. KPMG volunteers have been busy helping the Junior Juries with this task. On 28 April, 80 KPMG volunteers visited Junior Juries in 50 diﬀerent schools across the country to help them get excited about reading. The volunteers engaged in several interactive sessions including reading from the shortlisted books, hosting quizzes, helping the class to design a book cover and presenting them with certiﬁcates. This initiative reinforces KPMG’s commitment to literacy and passion for learning in general and reading in particular

CHARITY (LIC)

Trigon Ability@workengagedHotelswith to source applicants that were ready to Theyemployment.commencereviewed positions available and adapted atomethodstrainingassistinsmooth transition into the workplace.

Excellence in Community – PARTNERSHIP WITH A

84 *Large Indigenous Company | **Multinational Company

Trigon Hotels in Partnership with Cope Foundation

Trigon Hotels engaged with Ability@work to source applicants that were ready to commence employment. They reviewed positions available and adapted training methods to assist in a smooth transition into the workplace. They met regularly with the job coaches who worked with Trigon’s teams, providing training to them on how to adapt methods to suit the participants. They also introduced JAM (Just A Minute) cards to the hotels. All team members are trained on these cards and it also forms part of the induction process. The cards allow team members to identify when someone just needs a minute and how best to respond to them. Trigon were the ﬁrst hotel group in Ireland to introduce these. They also came up with the idea of a sensory garden at Cope. Over the past number of months both participants from Bonington Training Centre and Trigon Hotels have been working on this project.

VMware Ireland

Aldi Ireland

Excellence in Community – PARTNERSHIP WITH A CHARITY (MNC)

The Barnardos Big Active, supported by Aldi; Research on Food Poverty and Dedicated Forum ‘Food Poverty; The Lifelong Impact for Vulnerable Children and Families’; Go Green for Barnardos; The Late Late Toy Show Competition; On Pack Donations Through Flower Bouquets, Stationery, Cards and Cakes; Back to School Radio and Colouring Competition; Milk Carton Creative; Stock Donations; Pennies from Heaven Payroll Scheme; Staff Step Challenges; Abseil Event; IRFU Ticket Raffle; Aldi’s Fittest Team; Text to Donate; Donations through IRFU Cookbook sales.

With over 45,000 people in Ireland receiving a cancer diagnosis each year, it’s an ever-prevalent disease. As a health and wellbeing retailer Boots, helps customers lead more joyful lives through better health. Boots has 91 stores spread across the country, so is well placed to utilise the expertise of all its team members in helping to support this agenda through its partnership with the Irish Cancer Society. Through the support of team members and customers Boots has raised over €2.5 million for the Night Nursing service. They also support those affected by cancer through the skills of the Boots Irish Cancer Society Information Pharmacists, and Boots Cancer Beauty Advisors, both of whom have received training in conjunction with the Irish Cancer Society.

raise funds and awareness for Age Action Ireland.

Lidl has long been a supporter of women in sport, their female workforce, and the 1.5 million customers they serve every week. Lidl developed the first dedicated initiative by a retailer in the world to combat the growing issue of period poverty in communities - one that has been exacerbated by the pandemic. Lidl developed a multi-prong approach to provide period products to those who require urgent access. They launched a monthly coupon through the app Lidl Plus, where those who had access to a smartphone could sign up to receive a free period product each month. Not all of those affected by period poverty would have access to a smartphone so Lidl utilised its existing relationship with The Simon Communities of Ireland and committed to quarterly donations to these products. They also distributed these through the network of Ladies Gaelic Football clubs.

85 *Large Indigenous Company | **Multinational Company

Lidl Ireland

Aldi and PartnershipBarnardos

Through the initiative, the team curated content celebrating children and adults alike. They reached across generations by telling and immortalising stories from the older people in their lives in the app and book, effectively capturing and honouring a moment in time forever. Over the first six months, almost €5,000 was raised and donated to Age Action Ireland.

Boots Ireland Boots and Irish Cancer Society

Over the course of six months, the Team at VMware Ireland partnered with Age Action Ireland to develop an app and launch a book celebrating connections.intergenerationalTheaimwasto

Lidl Ireland’s Combatting Period Poverty with Dignity

The partnership formed based on the combined interest in helping communities, families, and children. The work of Barnardos is remarkable, and it became clear that Aldi could contribute too. Therefore, it was agreed that all funds raised through the partnership would go towards Barnardos Early Years and Family Support Services, including providing vulnerable children with healthy breakfasts, hot meals, and nutritious snacks. Fundraising and awareness campaigns include:

The Stories That Bind UsVMware Ireland and Age Action

86 *Large Indigenous Company | **Multinational Company

Excellence in Community VOLUNTEERING

As a company, AWS is committed to making a positive impact in the communities closest to where its employees live and work. AWS employees care deeply about their local communities and have a strong desire to give back and be involved in causes they are passionate about. As part of the AWS InCommunities Take on a Cause initiative, AWS employees nominate a cause in the area where they live and work and gather a team of AWS volunteers to make a positive impact for that organisation, depending on their speciﬁc needs. The Take on a Cause initiative has been running in Ireland since 2018 and over 35 volunteer projects have been completed.

–

Intel Ireland

Take on a Cause initiative, AWS causenominateemployeesainthe area where they live and work and gather a team of AWS volunteers to make a positive impact for that organisation, depending on their speciﬁc needs.

Volunteering is a valued part of the culture at Intel. Throughout the company’s 50-plus year history, volunteering has been encouraged and facilitated to make it as meaningful and impactful as possible. Every year, employees volunteer thousands of hours in the communities where they live and work. Despite the continued challenges that were presented in the past year, once again people have found ways to support and help others. As a result, in 2021 Intel employees volunteered more hours than ever before. Each year Ireland has been proud to have volunteer ideas chosen for seed grants and shortlisted for the Global Intel Involved Award. Intel Ireland’s Matching Grant programme has allowed non-proﬁts invest in their organisations. The new missions programme empowers and motivates employees to do better, by completing activities like taking shorter showers, educating themselves on social equity, or random acts of kindness.

Microsoft Ireland Creating new Pathways for Life

The mission at Microsoft is to empower every person and organisation to achieve more. As technology permeates every aspect of our lives, it is critical that both young people and those within the workforce have the in-demand skills that are required in today’s digital world. With this mission in mind, Microsoft Ireland developed two new initiatives as part of their Pathways for Life education and training programme. StepIn2Tech is a digital skills programme which equips people aged 18 and above with the digital skills required to transfer into emerging and in-demand roles within the digital economy. Developed in partnership with Maynooth University, the STEM Passport for Inclusion project is addressing the low number of girls from disadvantaged backgrounds entering STEMrelated careers. It provides mentoring and access to the Microsoft Dream Space digital skills experience. Microsoft Ireland female leaders are some of those volunteering as part of the mentoring initiative.

Intel Ireland volunteering in our communities

As part of the InCommunitiAWSes

Amazon Web Services

Amazon Web Services (AWS) Take on a Cause

Citizen Philanthropy at VMware Ireland was designed to appeal to each of our employees, providing an opportunity to give to the community for each of our colleagues regardless of where they are located. Encouraging individuals to choose how and in what way they could make a positive impact to the community resulted in satisfied workers and an increase in the number of charities that were being positively impacted by our initiative. Due to Covid-19, there was a strong demand for remote volunteering. VMware Ireland also empowered individuals to seek volunteering opportunities within their local community, instead of the traditional methods which involved team efforts near their offices. There was a high level of engagement and over €180,000 directed to non-profits as a result of the volunteering initiatives undertaken.

TELUS gardenOfEcoIrelandInternational-TDOG(TelusDaysGiving):Communitybuild

50 TELUS team member volunteers came together to create an organic community garden, in the space of just 5 hours. This is the first publicly-accessible food growing space in Cork city, and one of very few in Ireland. 20 fruit and nut trees were planted, 18 large raised beds were built and filled with organic compost, thousands of wildflower seeds sown, and compost bays were built using upcycled pallets from their office. Bug hotels and bird feeders were installed and picnic benches from the office were also upcycled and painted. The garden will serve as an asset to local children from the nearby special needs school and the local Tidy Towns group, as well as nearby residents and visitors.

VMware Citizen Philanthropy at VMware Ireland

inchooseindividualsEncouragingtohowandwhatwaytheycouldmakea positive impact to the community resulted in satisfied workers and an increase in the number of charities that were being positively impacted by our initiative.

VMware

87 *Large Indigenous Company | **Multinational Company

Excellence in Community – VOLUNTEERING (LIC*)

The Free Legal fromwithwascollaborationphoneCentresAdvice(FLAC)clinicdevelopedArthurCoxanecessity

to ensure that informationtocouldcommunitiesmarginalisedcontinueaccesslegal during the pandemic.

Arthur Cox

Through this partnership, they launched the Blossom Fund and they pledged to raise over €100,000 yearly to enable the IYF to supports to where they are needed most‚ to be this educational projects or health and wellbeing programmes for young people nationwide. Applegreen have a comprehensive, targetled Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy. Applegreen want to give back to communities where they operate and have demonstrated this since 2009 by raising to date‚ €5 million for charities across Ireland.

The Free Legal Advice Centres (FLAC) phone clinic collaboration was developed with Arthur Cox from a necessity to ensure that marginalised communities could continue to access legal information during the pandemic. Traditional face-toface FLAC clinics were forced to close due to Covid restrictions. During the height of the pandemic, the information line became overwhelmed”“completelyandmany calls went unanswered. Arthur Cox offered assistance and a new collaborative project was established in July 2021. Arthur Cox volunteers underwent training with FLAC to assist with answering calls to its information line. The project has been a great support to FLAC and an opportunity for Arthur Cox lawyers to assist members of the community who might not otherwise have had access to answers to their legal queries. To date Arthur Cox volunteers have answered over 800 calls for FLAC ‚ these calls simply would otherwise have gone unanswered without their assistance.

Community is about reaching out with compassion, staying connected and sending love to each other. Rising to the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic, their priority focus was to support Covid-19toallavailablePoint,country,antigenmodelseven-day2021,acrossNursingtodeliveryouranddelivery,whichCommunityhumanensuredtheuniqueTakingcommunitiesgovernment,andbusinesses.advantageoftheirpresencewithincommunityAnPostconnectivitywithatouchthroughtheirFocusinitiativesincluded:newspapercheck-insonoldervulnerablepeopleincommunitiesandfreeofcardsandlettersandfromresidentsofandCarehomesthecountry.Intheyalsomovedtoaaweekdeliverytodistribute375,623testkitsacrossthecontinuedAddressmadeTrócaireboxesforcollectionatpostoffices,donatedtheIrishMusicIndustryEmergency

Arthur Cox Strengthening Access to Justice for Communities through FLAC’s Information Line

88 *Large Indigenous Company | **Multinational Company

Excellence in Community – COMMUNITY PROGRAMME (LIC*)

In 2018, partneredApplegreenwiththeIrish Youth Foundation (IYF), a national charity dedicated solely to meeting the needs of children and young people from reachhavethecommunitiesdirectlyandthebackgrounds.disadvantagedEveryday,IYFsupportsprojectsprogrammesworkingindisadvantagedtoensurethatyoungpeopletheretheopportunitytotheirfullpotential.

Relief Fund and supported UNICEF’s Get a Vaccine, Give a Vaccine campaign.

An Post’s sustainable action in a challenging year

FundApplegreenApplegreenBlossom

An Post

89 *Large Indigenous Company | **Multinational Company

Chevron College Volunteer Expo Wexford

With more than 150,000 votes cast by the Irish public through both their website and mobile app in 2021, the Bank was proud to announce Women’s Aid, Royal National Lifeboat Institution, Solas Cancer Support, Irish Guide Dogs For The Blind, Oranmore Maree Coastal Search Unit and Breast Cancer Ireland as its new partners. Numerous fundraising events were organised by their colleagues, including the Dive For Donations‚ a fundraising skydive which saw their colleagues jump from a plane in support of their Community Fund Partners. All money raised was match funded by the Bank for an overall donation of €210,000. In addition, each year the Fund extends its reach by providing funding and support to programming that addresses some of Ireland’s important social issues. Examples of this include their ongoing commitment to building aﬀordable family homes through their partnership with Ó Cualann and their support of the humanitarian relief eﬀorts in Ukraine, through a €250,000 donation to the Irish Red Cross and UNICEF.

Volunteer Expo Wexford showcases the expansive volunteer needs of charities; ranging from back office administrative and finance tasks to the provision of front line volunteering support to clients in need. The action taken by staff within Chevron College over a 3 month period included: Project Managing the entire event. Building a specific website for the event. Developing and Managing the online and offline marketing campaign for the event. Securing South East Radio as their media partner (free advertising) Securing The Talbot Hotel as their venue partner (free venue). Obtaining the support of the Wexford Volunteer Centre to promote the event to their database of volunteers and charities. Liaising with over 40 charities and community groups to promote exhibition opportunities and the benefits derived from same.

KPMG implemented a recurring LEGOTM afterschool activity club in Dublin’s Northeast Inner City (NEIC) for ten primary schools within a 1.5km radius of KPMG’s Harbourmaster office in IFSC. The activity is run in partnership with local community youth centres and school completion programmes. The LEGOTM club is instructor-led using LEGOTM therapy, a social skills intervention for schoolage children based around collaborative LEGOTM play. LEGOTM play motivates children to improve their emotion recognition skills, social interaction, as well as logistical and problemsolving skills. KPMG has provided funding which will go towards the purchase of LEGOTM pieces, storage, cleaning equipment and staff training. KPMG volunteers engaged in a four-week challenge assisting the children to build original creations with a sustainable twist. This programme is community driven, inline with KPMG’s current corporate citizenship programme, it is simple, sustainable and will make a tangible difference to the children within the NEIC.

KPMGKPMGLEGOTM Club

A&L Goodbody Career LEAP

A&L Goodbody (ALG) is one of the founding members of Career LEAP which was established in 2015. Career Leap is a work readiness training programme for young people aged 1825 from auniquelybackgrounds.marginalisedIthasbeendevelopedthroughpartnershipofcommunity

Excellence in Community – COMMUNITY PROGRAMME (LIC*)

groups, in particular Swan Youth Service, Trinity College Dublin and local businesses like ALG. They have come together to tackle youth unemployment in local communities in Dublin’s Northeast Inner City (NEIC). Career LEAP provides a two-week evidence-based training followed by a three-week work placement oﬀered by ALG and other local businesses. Mentor training is also provided to the business partners, and the community and youth workers. This is to ensure that the programme participants have the support needed during the work placement. ALG speciﬁcally supports the programme through funding, volunteering, and providing work placements.

Permanent TSB Elevating Our Social Impact Through The Permanent TSB Community Fund

Excellence in Community – COMMUNITY PROGRAMME (MNC)

Boots Ireland Boots and Dementia Understand Together Campaign

VMware Ireland TechStart with VMware Ireland and Digital Skillnet

ErasmusRyanairStudent Network Partnership

Hi Digital is a new 5-year initiative from Vodafone Ireland Foundation in collaboration with charity partners Active Retirement Ireland (ARI) and ALONE to help bridge the generational digital divide. Ireland has one of the lowest levels of digital literacy in 65+ year olds in the EU. The “Hi Digital” programme is a comprehensive CSR initiative which consists of three strands. 1. A simple, user-friendly online platform www.hidigital.ie where anyone can start learning basic and essential online skills (includes a mentor guide for those that need support). 2. In-person group classes run by ARI and delivered in a variety of community venues nationwide including Public Broadband Connection Points (BCPs). 3. Digital champion workshops run by ALONE: Training individuals from organisations that support older people to become Digital Champions. The Public NBIpartnershipGovernmentisConnectionBroadbandPointnetworkaninitiativeoftheofIreland,inwithVodafone,andlocalauthorities.

Since 2017, Ryanair has been the exclusive airline partner of the Erasmus Student Network (ESN), offering all Erasmus students the opportunity to travel, connect with their peers across Europe & develop their competences and civic engagement while fulfilling their education in an alternative cultural environment, through the provision of accessible travel, which includes 10% discount on four one-way (or two return) Ryanair flights; free 20kg check-in Bag on four one-way (or two return); dedicated section on Ryanair website; social media activities and joint events; Ryanair’s leading role in European connectivity made Ryanair a natural partner for the Erasmus programme, and Ryanair has carried over 10 million Erasmus students since the launch five years ago; it shouldn’t be more difficult for less well-off students or those from regional European locations to take part in learning mobility and Ryanair’s partnership with ESN has been a testament to that.

Since partnering on the Dementia Understand Together campaign, Boots Ireland have worked in helping their colleagues become aware and provide a dementia inclusive experience in their stores. 1. 2017 - Created Dementia Champion training programme in collaboration with the dementia elevator programme with DCU to champion one person per store and exceeded that with >100 completions. 2. 2018Carried out in person training to their CSR champions. 3. 2019 - In person session with over 200 pharmacists and 90 Store Managers with a dementia ambassador sharing their lived experience of having been diagnosed with dementia. 4. 2020Developed and launched a Dementia Awareness e-Learning module available to all their colleagues - 97% completion. 5. 2021 / 2022 - Held focus groups to understand feedback from a virtual store walk with dementia patients and members of the Dementia Carer’s Campaign Network. 6. 2022 - Promoted the ASI mobile unit alongside their stores.

Vodafone Ireland Hi Digital

This programme, co-run with Digital Skillnet, is a proven path for unemployed women to get full time employment with high-tech companies. It runs initially over a 12week high intensity training program followed by 12 weeks of highly structured, well scaffolded, mentoring and work experience. The programme, tailored to suit cloud computing companies, in its present incarnation, comprises of intense technical training combined with several focussed soft skills modules. theirveryprofessionstendersphysiotherapists,wereTheyveinhastechhomogeneityThismature,ItsincesuccessarecollaborationCommunication,andcollegiality,thecornerstonesoftheofthisprogramitsinceptionin2010.isasourceofveryrich,anddiverse,talent.programmedisruptstheofstandardhiringprogramsanddeliveredaveryrichoftalentforVMware.havepeoplethatnurses,careworkers,chefs,barandmanyotherthathaveforgedsuccessfulcareerswithcompany.

90 *Large Indigenous Company | **Multinational Company

Gardiner Family Apothecary prides itself on being a skincare brand that goes more than skin-deep. They understand the responsibility they have as a company manufacturing in Ireland to the environment as a whole. All of their packaging is 100% recyclable and their recent brand redesign allowed them to reduce their carbon footprint by 85%. They adhere to the highest European and Global standards, such as the SEDEX Ethical Supply Chain Standards, to ensure they follow the highest ethical standards across their global supply chain. They adhere to the EnvironmentalISO14001Standard, which is an international standard that specifies requirements for an effective environmental management system. This allows Gardiner Family Apothecary to follow an established environmental performance framework. A number of their products are Natural and Organic certified by ECOCERT, meaning 99% of the total ingredients are from natural origin and 20% of the total ingredients are from organic farming.

•trucksTrialled the use of Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil for ﬂeet fuel

Over 90% of Dairygold’s total emissions originate from farms, speciﬁcally cows and farming practices, like fertilizer use. Since 2019, their awardwinning ‘Milk Sustainable Bonus’ incentivises farmers to increase milk solids/cow, to c.50kg in solids/cow/year through a high-yield breeding programme. Their ‘Green Grow Soil Health’ programme provides tailored soil health maps, localising chemical fertilizer spread and its reduction by c.20 kg/ hectare/ year. In 2020, Dairygold set -40% intensity target by 2030 and developed 10 sign post farms. In 2021, 40,000 native trees were planted, improving farm biota and aiming for net zero carbon. The cumulative impact enabled low carbon against peers for three consecutive years. At factory, carbon is linked to energy use. c.96% energy consumption is covered under ISO 50001 Energy Management System with an annual 3% energy intensity reduction target. Dairygold operates on renewable electricity since 2020 evading c.14,000 tCO2e and c.10% biogas evading c.4,000 tonnes of carbon annually.

As the operators of one of Ireland’s largest vehicle ﬂeets and with over 2m square feet of property under management, the transition to a sustainable ﬂeet and renewable energy is core to An Post’s decarbonisation strategy. In 2021 they:

• Installed 300 EV chargers

• Partnership with An Taisce’s ‘Green-Schools and Clean Coasts’ Think Before You Flush

• Decreased emissions from road transport by 68% due to changes in reporting, more kilometres travelled in their electric ﬂeet, and the purchase of 38 HGV euro 6

• Implementing solutions, such as sludge reed beds and Integrated Constructed Wetlands

Irish Water

Delivering Sustainable Water Services

In 2021, Irish Water made signiﬁcant progress in improving the sustainability and resilience of water services for businesses and communities through:

An Post An Post’s Decarbonisation Strategy

• Implementing an Energy Eﬃcient Design (EED) Standard

Dairygold CoOperative Society

•nationallyDelivery of 1,000th Battery Electric Vehicle

• Expert water partner in GAA Green Clubs programme

Excellence in Environment (LIC*)

• Continued to purchase 100% green electricity.

• Became the ﬁrst postal service in the world to attain zero emission delivery status in all major cities

• Have 142 heating controls to allow managers to adjust and monitor heating times and temperatures

91 *Large Indigenous Company | **Multinational Company

• Reduced scope 1 and 2 emissions by 4% due to improved ﬂeet and energy management, including the installation of more heating and air conditioning systems in their properties

• Implementing an Energy Eﬃciency Programme

• Planting 18,500 native trees and implementing biodiversity enhancement measures for 140 sites

Dairygold Farm to Factory Carbon Reduction Roadmap

• Progressing a circular economy model for our sludges, with almost 90% of our water sludge now going to circular economy outlets

• Working in partnership with businesses, providing water stewardship training

Gardiner ProductGardinerApothecaryFamilyFamilyApothecaryRedesign

William Fry William Fry’s Environmental Partnership with Hometree

Winelab launched an innovative closed-loop recycling system in 2019 as a pilot scheme in Dublin and the greater east coast. This was met with overwhelmingly positive feedback and uptake resulting in full island-wide coverage by 2021. The initiative also expanded beyond the provision of wine on tap with the popular introduction of kegged premium cocktails, thus greater reducing the carbon footprint and overall sustainability effort. The benefits to Irish On-Trade extend far beyond greater efficiencies within the logistics of the business but also contribute in an authentic way to the green credentials of the client. Kegs are fully recyclable, use 90% less packaging than glass bottles, and the empty kegs are collected as part of our closed-loop recycling system.

92 *Large Indigenous Company | **Multinational Company

The Rose Hotel

recyclingWinelabWinelabclosed-loopsystem

What started as William Fry donating a tree for every attendee at the Amcham Thanksgiving Lunch in 2019 has grown into a whichmeaningfulmulti-facetedpartnershipencouragesauthentic engagement between William Fry and Hometree in promoting and supporting the protection of Ireland’s biodiversity. Since 2019, through the partnership, William Fry has provided over 400 hours of legal and non-legal pro bono support through their Social Impact+ programme across various legal and non-legal departments; contributed to the funding of an education centre which has already seen over 400 visitors since build completion in late 2021; raised monies for the planting of over 1000 native Irish trees; and seen more than 120 staﬀ engage in fundraising and education opportunities with Hometree, which is now expanding to include client engagement opportunities.

The Rose Hotel Green Journey

Excellence in Environment (LIC*)

The Rose Hotel Executive Head Chef, Odran Lucey, was the driving force behind the hotel’s initiative. Engaging with 50 Shades Greener was the first step. This fully funded Green Business programme helped realise significant savings on energy, water and waste costs. In 2021, Odran implemented an environmental management system with many different reduction initiatives including; changing all bulbs to LED across the Hotel, installing sensor lighting, replacing seals in all windows, collaborating with a local garden centre to utilise disposed of coffee, provide training to all employees, forming a green team, and actively monitoring utilities and CO2 every month. In August 2021, The Rose Hotel was the first hotel in Kerry to complete the 50 Shades Greener Programme and became an approved Green Business. In April 2022, Odran became the first person in the world to successfully complete a brand-new qualification for Environmental Sustainability Management in Hospitality

In August 2021, The Rose Hotel was the ﬁrst hotel in Kerry to complete the 50 Shades Business.approvedandProgrammeGreenerbecameanGreen

The Rose Hotel

MSD Ireland ‘See Green Be Green’

NetPathwayRyanairtoZero

Sustainable Kildare is an environmental action project, in collaboration with County Kildare Chamber, to help change businesses’ and employees’ lifestyle habits, to reduce their personal emissions and to improve on their overall sustainability. Through challengesinteractiveandeducational

workshops, such as SDG Climate Impact or a UN Climate course, businesses and employees have the opportunity to increase their knowledge on sustainability while putting it all into action. Using the Ducky App, employees take part in threeweek challenges that allow them to track their personal emissions and compete against fellow employees and other businesses on the topic of Climate Change.

better Air Traffic Management

93 *Large Indigenous Company | **Multinational Company

Canada Life Reinsurance worked with community group, Bloomin Crumlin, to deliver over 1,200 fruit trees to their community; and an additional 100 were delivered to Cabra and Canada Life Reinsurance staff. Along with the benefits of carbon sequestering the trees will have, it will enable residents in the community to source fruit locally, therefore reducing Greenhouse Gas emissions of transport. Canada Life Reinsurance have also donated a customised cargo bike and trailer to support the logistics of the tree planting and other projects in the community without the use of fossil fuels. Bloomin Crumlin is run entirely by volunteers from the community who work tirelessly on improving the environment of their community. Canada Life Reinsurance are honoured to have been working with this community over the last three years on this project and look forward to a partnership for many more years to come.

Intel SustainableIrelandKildare

•(SAF)2% decarbonisation through technological and operational improvements

Ryanair’s Pathway to Net Zero emissions by 2050 aligns with the Paris Agreement and the aviation industry’s Destination 2050 initiative. Ryanair’s pathway shows that decarbonisation and alignment with EU climate targets is possible. This strategy outlines four core strategic pillars to achieve net carbon zero by

• 24% throughdecarbonisationoffsettingandother economic measures

The ‘See Green, Be Green’ initiative launched on Earth Day 2021 and a special webinar was held to mark Ireland’s Overshoot Day in May 2021. During the year, MSD Ireland partnered with Grow It Yourself (GIY) to educate all employees on living sustainably. MSD sponsored the provision of Grow Boxes, enabling employees to grow their own vegetables at home during 2021. 350 employees availed of the offer to grow many different vegetables. MSD sites competed for points using the GIY app by completing growing challenges and quizzes. All employees were invited to monthly GIY online seminars to learn about food sustainability, food packaging waste, sustainable shopping and farming challenges. These activities created a buzz and employees shared their pictures and stories helping to raise sustainability awareness in MSD Ireland. This year, MSD have kicked off their webinar series in an effort to highlight individual case studies of employees’ sustainability stories.

•2050:34% decarbonisation through the increased use of sustainable aviation fuels

One-third of decarbonisation is to come from the increased use of SAF and to accomplish this Ryanair is working closely with the EU and fuel suppliers to accelerate the supply. Ryanair continues to invest in new technology and purchased 210 Boeing 737-8200 ‘Gamechanger’ aircraft - which carry 4% more passengers, are 16% more fuel and CO2 efficient, and lower noise emissions by 40%.

Feedback from one company described the initiative: “Our participation was driven by our personal desire to do better for ourselves, our kids and their future through inspiring behavioural changes that promote conscientious sustainable habits, not only in our office, but also hopefully within our respective households and our community”.

Canada CommunityReinsuranceLifeOrchard

• 10% throughdecarbonisationtheintroduction of

Excellence in Environment (MNC**)

MSD Ireland

An Post’s WorkplaceSustainable

Staying healthy in body and mind was particularly important during Covid-19. An Post held webinars and support sessions on financial well-being, mental health, resilience and healthy eating. They also encouraged employees to be active during our Big Step Challenge. An Post focused on supporting line managers in assisting employees with health concerns. To complement its Occupational Health services, An Post introduced an Employee Assistance Programme. This 24/7/365 confidential digital platform provides access to advice, information and support on health, financial, well-being, and social issues. It also helps employees keep active by providing opportunities to engage in a digital gym. Employee safety was guaranteed through enhanced cleaning, the provision of medical grade masks and personal hand sanitiser, workfrom-home equipment, oneway systems, 2m distancing, and contactless deliveries. An Post continued monitoring safety KPIs and through its training programmes, decreased its Road Traffic Accident Rate.

Altada SolutionsTechnologyAltada’sSelf-careInitiative

In December 2021, Altada commenced a four-day work week pilot initiative for employees. The reason for this was three-fold. Firstly, they were conscious of their employees’ wellbeing. They wanted to provide them with a practical way to ‘make time’ by giving them time back. They increased their wellbeing by having a three-day weekend to participate in health-improving activities. Secondly, it allowed employees to enable a better distribution of caring responsibilities at home; whether as parents or caregivers. It also helped families reduce childcare costs, while simultaneously helping attract and retain excellent talent, as they appreciate that candidates are looking to work for companies who implement work-life balance strategies. Thirdly, this initiative had a positive impact on the environment as it helped employees play their part in reducing their carbon footprint by commuting less to the workplace.

ProgrammeAbbottLiveLifeWell

Excellence in Workplace (LIC*)

94 *Large Indigenous Company | **Multinational Company

An Post

It also simultaneouslycosts,childcarefamilieshelpedreducewhile helping attract and whoforlookingcandidatesappreciatetalent,excellentretainastheythataretoworkcompaniesimplement work-life balance strategies.

Altada SolutionsTechnology

Brown Thomas Arnotts (BTA) believe that a great Vision,Peopleexperiencecustomerstartswithagreatexperience.In2021,theyintroducedanewPurposeand

Brown Thomas Arnotts (BTA) believe that a great customer experience starts with a great People experience. In 2021, they introduced a new Vision, Purpose and Values (VPV) and embarked on an ambitious journey to redefine its team member workplace experience which aligned to their vision of Reinventing Retail. BTA imagines and creates a sustainable future for people, planet, and customers, and they do this by living their values: doing the right thing; driving innovation and creativity; and going above and beyond. To support a sustainable future for BTA’s team members, they are focusing on a robust DEI agenda and prioritising their health and wellbeing through the introduction of new experiences, benefits, policies and programmes that support team members wherever they may be on their life or career journey.

Liberty worked with its 2,000 employees across Europe to develop and implement a new work model aligned with the company’s global strategy of becoming a 100% cloudbased company. Through surveys and active listening across Ireland, Northern Ireland, Spain and Portugal, employees made it clear that they did not want to return to the company’s previous face-to-face working model.

95 *Large Indigenous Company | **Multinational Company

Excellence in Workplace (LIC*)

Brown Thomas ReinventingArnotts

Values (VPV) and embarked on an ambitious journey to redefine its team memberexperienceworkplace

Retail: Creating a Sustainable Future through Workplace Experience

LibertyInsuranceLibertyDigital Way

Brown Thomas Arnotts

96 *Large Indigenous Company | **Multinational Company

Community Power Power produced by the people for the people

(2) Volunteering: employees screen applicants to the SEI award-winning Ideas Academy. Members of the ﬁrm’s leadership team form part of the judging panel for SEI’s scale program.

Community Power is Ireland’s ﬁrst communityowned electricity supplier. They are a partnership of community energy groups working for a sustainable energy future for Ireland.

Community Power has been successful in partnering with Claremorris Energy Co-op in Mayo and Dunmore Energy Community in Galway to assist them with getting through the auction.

Excellence in Social Enterprise

A&L Goodbody

Alex’s Adventure has partnered with over 70 schools in Ireland to deliver a stellar workshop. The new e-learning programme is designed for 2nd year students and costs less than the price of a schoolbook per year to give a child a lifesaving education that is fun, interactive and delivers a crucial message that will stay with them forever. The innovation behind the ‘Build your own Ed-Venture’ programme makes Alex’s Adventure the ﬁrst drug education programme in Ireland to have a Virtual Tutor. Each lesson is animated, interactive, and guided, meaning that all the teacher must do is log in and press play. Alex’s Adventure oﬀers an alternative way of learning through running a programme with schools that is unbiased, fun and puts the students’ needs at the core of the learning process.

Alex’s Adventure

Alex’s Adventure Drug Talk with Nicole Ryan

SEI was the ﬁrst organisation dedicated to supporting social entrepreneurs; people who were developing new innovative solutions to address the entrenched social and (1)ways:providedpastSEIstrategicchallengesenvironmentalinIreland.ALG’spartnershipwithhasmaturedoverthedecadewithsupportinthreeprincipalFinancial:unrestricted

annual donation of €10,000.

The RESS is a State funded programme which now enables communities to become involved in energy generation projects. The ﬁrst RESS commencedprogrammein2020and

ALG and SEI collaborate to unlock the potential of social enterprise

3) Pro bono: SEI and all its alumni members are eligible to avail of legal support from ALG’s award-winning pro bono practice. This three-pronged approach ensures maximum potential for cross-collaboration and skills sharing between both organisations.

The innovation behind the ‘Build your AdventuremakesprogrammeEd-Venture’ownAlex’s the ﬁrst drug education programme in Ireland to have a Virtual Tutor.

Community Power grew out of Ireland’s ﬁrst community owned wind farm, Templederry Wind Farm in Co Tipperary, and they work with Irish communities to develop renewable energy projects owned by people. Community Power is assisting urban and rural communities throughout Ireland to become involved in the Renewable Energy Support Scheme (RESS) programme.

Stillgarden Social Botanist Project is a community of like-minded individuals who care about the environment and spaces people share together, run in partnership with Dublin City Council who donated plants and trees for the garden. In 2020 they cleared debris and rubbish from an unloved green space to create a public space for a community. They then gave unemployed members of the community pre-seeded botanical grow kits to take home and learn a new skill. They also grew a community garden with plants that had been grown by their social botanists. Since then, the project has grown from 10 members to 150 and over 100 trees have been planted in the Inchicore area. They also committed to the all-Ireland pollinator plan, launched monthly community clean-ups, introduced wormeries to the distillery grounds to aid composting, and conducted wildlife walks.

Recycle IT Community Electrical Recycling - Recycle IT

Recycle IT is a not-for-profit social enterprise based in Dublin. Their teams offer drop off and collection services for all types of domestic and commercial waste electric and electronic equipment to ensure safe recycling. Their teams break down IT equipment, destroy data, issue certs, and recycle all parts and materials for reuse. Recycle IT work within a closed-loop supply chain by partnering with WEEE Ireland, the largest waste electrical and electronic compliance scheme in Ireland. This partnership helps support recycling efforts by individuals, schools, colleges, charities and business organisations help create training and employment opportunities. People distanced from the labour market are engaged to work at Recycle IT. In 2021 Recycle IT, with the help of WEEE Ireland, recycled 652 tonnes of waste safely creating up to 20 training and employment positions.

97 *Large Indigenous Company | **Multinational Company

membersgrowntheEnterpriseSincethen,projecthasfrom10to150andover100treeshavebeenplantedintheInchicorearea. StillgardenDitillery

DistiStillgardenllerySocialBotanistProject

Excellence in Social

Techies Go Green

98 *Large Indigenous Company | **Multinational Company

Excellence in CSR (SME)

Cheveux Hair Salon is a state of the art, awardwinning hair salon located in Tullamore, Co. Offaly. The team of 20 at Cheveux provides a wide range of services from hair colour and highlights to extensions and wedding up-styles. Situated on the ground floor of Cheveux Hair Salon is The National Hair Loss & Scalp Clinic, which provides services to Oncology patients across the Midlands. Their CNC Systems are dermatologically tested and custom-made hair replacement systems. Cheveux Hair Salon also has a specialist Trichologist to assist clients with hair loss or scalp issues. They also provide Oxygen Therapy to help boost hair growth and restore scalps to a healthier state. Client-specific prescribed treatments for all hair types are also available.

Cheveux Hair Salon

Jiminy Eco Toys Inspiring a SustainablePlayfullyWorld

Cheveux, sustainable salon

DataSolutions

Bowsy is a start-up backed by Enterprise Ireland that was founded in 2020. They work with over 150 Irish businesses and are connected to over 90% of the third-level institutes in the Therecountry.isastrong social cause at the heart of Bowsy. In order to ensure diversity amongst students, they employ a national network of student ambassadors from key under-represented student communities such as DARE, HEAR, LGBTQI+ and Irish student refugees. The Bowsy platform is now expanding internationally, having incorporated in the USA in November 2021. They also completed project work in seven diﬀerent EU countries. In addition, students from the UK, Spain, France and Germany have registered on Bowsy. The progress of Bowsy has been recognised externally. They won Tech Start-up of 2020 at the National Irish Startup Awards. More recently, Bowsy was a ﬁnalist in the Irish Times Innovation Awards 2021.

Jiminy Eco Toys started in 2018, and in 2022 they reached a €0.5 million turnover, with a climate impact equivalent to planting 4,300 trees. They are shaking up the global toy industry, starting in Ireland, by: 1 )Sourcing innovative ecotoys that are climate-neutral and produced using recycled materials or plants. They now have over 650 eco-toys for all ages, from babies to 2)teenagers;Making these easy to get, by retailing them to the public on www.jiminy.ie, and supplying them wholesale to 3)shops;Sharing what they have learned about ecofriendly toys with the global toy industry. They recently launched a global sustainability learning community as part of Women in Toys, and they sit on the American Toy Association Sustainability Committee. They have spoken at the global bio!TOY conference and their toy sustainability presentation is on the curriculum of the world’s only toy design undergraduate course, at Otis College in Los Angeles.

GraduateBowsyDiversity

To achieve its goals, the group - which has 200+ signatories - hosts regular meetings with members to share knowledge and discuss what support can be given to help companies on their sustainability journeys. The group facilitates workshops that members can attend for free. To raise awareness for the wider community, the group conducts regular surveys on sustainability eﬀorts to highlight areas that need to be addressed to drive progress within the industry. These include extensive research involving end-users and channel professionals in Ireland and the UK. It also regularly surveys Techies Go Green signatories. This data provides statistics for the industry in terms of sustainability. It engages partners through website, social, email, and newsletter content and delivers the latest sustainability news and resources. An Autumn Webinar Series was also organised to educate signatories about the practical actions they can take to start their sustainability journeys.

The climate crisis requires a transformation in how businesses think and operate. Climate R|O aims to accelerate this transformation by raising awareness of the ﬁnancial-related risks (R) and opportunities (O) that climate change poses. To date, Ireland’s private sector has largely focused on reducing carbon emissions (mitigation). There has been less focus on adapting to the impacts (adaptation) that will occur as extreme weather becomes more frequent and severe, disrupting operations and supply chains and as markets shift in response to a new wave of climate regulation. To raise awareness of the need to adapt to the risks and opportunities, fromwhichdevelopedSustainabilityWorksClimateR|O,receivedfundingtheEPA.Theresearch

99 *Large Indigenous Company | **Multinational Company

Excellence in CSR (SME)

focused on five key sectors of the Irish economy. The outputs are a detailed report published on the EPA website and five short sector guides to support SMEs in identifying specific climate risks and opportunities facing their business.

(mitigation). There has been less focus on adapting to the impacts (adaptation) that will occur as extremebecomesweathermorefrequentandsevere.

ClimateWorksSustainabilityR|O

Sustainability Works

Shock of Grey Shock of Grey Handcrafted Jewellery

HelpingUrbanVoltcompanies

transition to clean energy

Founded in 2015, with the goal of providing Irish and international companies with energy-efficient services and reducing their carbon footprint, UrbanVolt developed its Light as a Service (LaaS) offering and has completed installations for clients across nine countries including the UK, USA and Germany. UrbanVolt partners with trusted in-market experts globally, resulting in a positive impact on local economies. Following the success of LaaS and in response to growing demand from the market, UrbanVolt entered the commercial and industrial rooftop solar business through the introduction of its Solar as a Service (SOLaaS) offering in early 2021. UrbanVolt is now the largest rooftop solar provider to SMEs in the country.

In the past year, Shock of Grey worked to do less harm to the environment and source local materials and services as much as possible. They source materials mostly from their neighbourhood in Dublin 8, or Dublin County. Otherwise, some materials come from family-run, responsible businesses. They also create their own shredded paper for packing and have zero emissions for their deliveries - either by hand, by trolley to An Post and as of 2022, by electric car. Their ecofriendly, recycled, bespoke packaging is beautifully designed to create a unique and sustainable unboxing experience. They hire art school graduates from the neighbouring National College of Art & Design. They also fundraised for the Ukrainian Red Cross and gave 100% of proﬁts from a key retailer to it. They additionally paired with The Scoop Foundation to make a bespoke piece in aid of their grass roots charity work.

To date, reducingprivateIreland’ssectorhaslargelyfocusedoncarbonemissions

BowsyBowsyDiversity Launch

Bowsy

KPMG, in partnership with Children’s Books Ireland launched the Free To Be Me reading guide to showcase the rich diversity of modern Ireland to ensure that every child can see themselves reﬂected in a book and learn about the lives of others whose experiences and perspectives diﬀer from their own. The reading guide contains over 360 recommendations compiled by a team of expert reviewers, each title chosen for its portrayal of diverse characters, themes and experiences. Throughout the year, KPMG volunteers hosted workshops in schools across the country to spread the Free To Be Me message and they donated Little Libraries of 100 books from the guide to each participating school. Inclusion is how we unleash the collective diversity of people. The Free To Be Me project has a similar ethos, it is hugely important in terms of showcasing diversity in children’s books and fostering belonging for everyone in society.

100 *Large Indigenous Company | **Multinational Company

UniversalAIB CampaignInclusion

Excellence in Diversity & Inclusion (LIC)

FreeKPMGToBe Me

There is a strong social cause at the heart of Bowsy and in order to ensure students,amongstdiversity they employ a ofnetworknationalstudent ambassadors from key understudentrepresented refugees.andHEAR,suchcommunitiesasDARE,LGBTQIrishstudent

Inclusion & Diversity (I&D) are often associated with minority groups, so those in the majority may not feel it is relevant to them. To tackle this perception and reach the hearts and minds of the ‘unconverted’, AIB embarked on a first ever bank-wide campaign with six elements: 1. January: Internal launch featuring employee video, high profile interview and Board/ ExCo support 2. February: Universal Inclusion graphics/ messages as desktop/MS Teams background, and digital displays in main offices 3. Feb-Apr: Call to action for teams to discuss I&D at a local level and submit an action pledge for 2022 4. Feb-Apr: Roadshow of internal campaign.initiJan-Mar:modulemasterclassantrainingincludingincreasemeetimeetiHalls,engagementsspeakingatTownSeniorManagementngsandlocalteamngs5.Feb-Jun:MajorinI&Deducation,mandatorynewforallemployees,inclusiveleadershipandnewtrainingforallleaders.6.Twonewexternalativesalignedwiththe

Bowsy is an Enterprise Ireland backed start-up that was founded in 2020 and is now working with over 150 Irish businesses and is connected to over 90% of the third level institutes in the country. There is a strong social cause at the heart of Bowsy and in order to ensure diversity amongst students, they employ a national network of student ambassadors from key under-represented student communities such as DARE, HEAR, LGBTQH and Irish student refugees. Their platform is expanding internationally, having incorporated in the USA in November 2021 and have completed project work in seven diﬀerent EU countries. Additionally, students from the UK, Spain, France and Germany have also registered on Bowsy. The progress of Bowsy has been recognised externally, winning Tech Start-up of 2020 at the National Irish Startup Awards and also recently as a ﬁnalist in the Irish Times Innovation Awards 2021.

people in DEIS and rural schools to try to increase diversity in law on the potential impact on law in life and as a career. This programme allows trainees to participate in, steer and make a difference in a programme that becomes integral to the William Fry traineeship. A key feature of this programme is the inclusivity approach which specifically targets DEIS schools and children in rural communities and which seeks to encourage a diverse representation of backgrounds and young people who set out to study law and enrol in universities. The course runs over a sixweek period, where each week a different area of the law is explored ranging from Constitutional Law to Criminal Law and more. The sessions include informal debates, quizzes and problem solving, and allows students to build confidence in legal topics and express their opinions.

Excellence in Diversity & Inclusion (LIC)

Marino Software

Following on from the completion of their Theory of Change document, it was decided that in order to avoid reaching capacity and to increase social impact, Triest Press would introduce an integrated employment/ training initiative that would see participants supported into competitive employment. Together with two years of work and training experience, a portfolio of skills learned and the support of Triest Press and other agencies, it is expected that participants will transition into the competitive labour market with the tools and support needed for sustainability.

Giving Charlie Back His Voice

Triest Press

101 *Large Indigenous Company | **Multinational Company

Marino Software’s developed an assistive technology platform which addresses the needs of people that have vocal issues, whether from an underlying progressive condition such as Multiple Sclerosis (MS) or Motor Neuron Disease (MND), from accident/injury or due to age. It also addresses the needs of people that have deteriorating conditions where they lose strength in their hands or legs. They give these people their voice back by using AI and machine learning technology to capture, categorise and facilitate using their own voices in everyday situations. They have worked with Irish broadcasting veteran, Charlie Bird, to keep his trademark voice, raise awareness for MND and fundraise over €3million for his cause.

FryTY is a initiResponsibletrainee-ledBusinessativeeducatingyoung

William Fry William Fry’s FryTY Programme

Triest Press ProgramTraining/EmploymentIntegrated

Sisk

102 *Large Indigenous Company | **Multinational Company

For the Paralympic Games, Liberty launched #LibertyMovedByValuesthe project. It arose as an opportunity to raise awareness of the Paralympic world in our society. The project’s main objective is to highlight the values of Paralympic sport in society and contribute to the integration of disability through sport taking the weight it deserves. An initiative that they have recently extended to other ambassadors encompassing all their DEI commitments. Liberty knows the road will be long but will continue to move forward with these actions and many others as part of their commitment to create a society in which everyone can progress and feel safe by Putting People First.

Excellence in Diversity & Inclusion (MNC)

At the end of 2020, Sisk launched its 2030 Sustainability Roadmap, ‘Building today, Caring for tomorrow’, which sets out its sustainability ambitions for the next 10 years and includes 21 targets. Target 9 includes sustainableestablishingpartnerships

supporting the successful restoration of peat bogs. Sisk have partnered with Green Restoration Ireland (GRI) on the rewetting and restoration of privately owned bogs. These projects are the first of their kind in Ireland. Sisk have commenced their partnership by rewetting one bog in County Mayo.

The Fund aims to work with organisations that empower young people and adults and break the negative cycle of poverty through education. The 2021-2024 Fund, supported by MHC, will see the largest ever amounts awarded since the project began, with five organisations receiving grants and non-financial supports packages. It was established in 2017 to provide support for projects that empower people through education to achieve their full potential and contribute to their communities. Among the successful projects this year are organisations that provide experiencingopportunitieseducationtopeoplemarginalisation, young people from the Traveller community, young people with disabilities, and people with migrant status. The fund is supported by MHC, Rethink Ireland, and the Department of Rural and Community Development via the Dormant Accounts Fund.

Sisk withpartneredhaveGreen IrelandRestoration(GRI) on the rewetting and restoration of Theseownedprivatelybogs.projects are the first of their kind in Ireland.

Liberty Insurance are partnering with DisabilityN, a not-for-profit disability inclusion organisation. Through this partnership they are learning new ways to help their employees around the world and create better products and services for customers.

Lackaduff raised bog restoration project

LibertyInsuranceLibertyDEICouncil

John Sisk & Son

Mason Hayes & TheCurranEngage & Educate Fund 2022

Forums, Group Support, 1to1 Counselling, iphone enabled You’re not alone when it ComeS to www.turn2me.orgCopinG what’s on your

104 *Large Indigenous Company | **Multinational Company

• Resilience and Growth mindset workshop

VMware, through its VMinclusion Ireland ERG, has completed 3 years of engagement in the UCC DSS mentorship programme with 40 employees, including senior leadership, involved as mentors throughout. The programme consists of: Kick-oﬀ event with mentors, mentees and site leadership; Regular meetings between mentors and mentees; An employability week consisting of VMware hosted events to support mentees

MentorshipVMwareprogramme with UCC Disability Services

• Career interest area in speciﬁc one-to-one meetings with employees

• Presentation from recent

•graduatesAclosing event with mentee and mentor presentations to share impact of the programme and recommendations from mentees to VMware on how to improve DE&I in the disability space.

Since 2019, Three Ireland has been working hard to enhance its culture of diversity, inclusion and belonging activity within its organisation. Taking guidance from the Irish Centre for Diversity, the company has built a best-inclass programme of activity. The programme is owned by a member of the Executive Leadership Team and led by a proactive employee committee. The programme is driven by employee insight and commenced with a new vision, mission and policy. Key activities within the programme include diversity training, dedicated innovative events, new policies, partnership with Trinity College for 25 STEM scholarships for women, new supplier code and mentoring. The programme is ever evolving and now has three key focus areas; Gender (including sexual orientation), Ethnicity, and Disability (including neurodiversity). Three Ireland’s work has achieved the Investors in Diversity Gold accreditation and is only one of four companies in Ireland to have achieved this recognition.

• Innovation session

Excellence in Diversity & Inclusion (MNC)

KnowledgeSSE Sharing Programme

Three Ireland Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging in Three Ireland

Three

Taking guidance from the Irish Centre classbuiltcompanyDiversity,forthehasabest-in-programme of activity. The aisprogrammeownedbymemberof the Executive TeamLeadershipandled by a proactive employee committee.

In 2021 SSE ran the Knowledge Sharing Programme with support from Business in the Community, focusing on women from migrant communities with representation from countries including Brazil and India. The women who participated were highly qualified in engineering or environmental roles in their home countries but since arriving in Ireland had found difficulties in obtaining employment in these sectors, resulting in some taking up roles which did not match their skill set. Participants took part in six sessions with colleagues across the business on topics such as Irish energy policy, biodiversity, windfarm operations, and grid operations. Human Resources also gave advice on applying for roles and offered to review participant CV’s on request. Members of Engineers Ireland provided advice on getting overseas qualifications recognised in Ireland. Subsequent to finishing the programme, two of the women have found employment in their fields, one as an engineer.

•including:CV,interview, and social media presence workshop

UNICEF is the world’s largest children’s organisation and works to create a better future for every child.

for every child, a future. If you choose to leave a gift in your Will to UNICEF Ireland, you will need the following details. Our Charity Number: 20008727 Registered Office: 33, Lower Ormond Quay, YouDublin.can also contact us directly to arrange a consultation with Pauline Murphy - our Gifts in Wills Manager and receive your Gifts in Wills guide. Tel. 01 878 3000 or Email: pauline@unicef.ie

Founded in 1946 after World War II to provide emergency relief for children in post war times, UNICEF has worked relentlessly since then, reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children around the world.

There is a special way for you to help UNICEF so we can be there for every child. You can include a gift in your Will to UNICEF and give children the start in life they need.

In terms of vaccines alone, UNICEF delivers over 2 billion vaccines doses each year, reaching 45% of the world’s children under five. But who will be there for children in the future?

InsightswithtransformationtoyourAcceleratejourneysustainableESG Download the document here

Sustainable Impact Business Awards 2022

Articles inside

Department of Rural and Community Development

BAM Ireland

An Post

One4All

Dairygold

Permanent TSB

MSD

Inishowen Co-Op

Applegreen

Shock of Grey

Boots

Telus

Alex’s Adventure

Jiminy Toys

Chevron College

Sustainability Works

Trigon Hotels

Cheveux Hair

Data Solutions

Stillgarden Distillery

A&L Goodbody

SSE Airtricity

Winelab

Mason Hayse & Curran

Lidl

Canada Life

Aldi

Liberty Insurance

Triest Press

Intel

Abbott

Three

Marino Software

Altada

The Rose Hotel

Brown Thomas

Vodafone

Arthur Cox

Abbott Ireland

SuperValu

KPMG

John Sisk & Son

William Fry

VMware

Gardiner Family Apothecary

Fyffes

Sustainable PR

Irish Water

Recycle IT

Community Power

Ryanair

Bowsy

Urbanvolt

Amazon Web Services

2022 Sustainable Business Impact Awards Judges