InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has announced the launch of the IHG® Foundation, alongside details of its first beneficiaries. The IHG Foundation will run as an independent charity, and focus its activities on four key areas – helping communities to develop skills in hospitality, providing support for those impacted by disasters, facilitating local community investment and protecting the environment.
The IHG Foundation will build on the positive impact the company has driven through its corporate responsibility initiatives over a number of years. These include the pioneering IHG Academy programme, a global collaboration between IHG hotels, local education providers and community organisations, which offers education and skills training in hospitality to local people. IHG Academy celebrated its 10th year in 2015 and now has more than 1,200 programmes operating in 68 countries.
IHG’s successful group-wide sustainability programme, IHG Green Engage™ system continues to help hotels track, measure and report their carbon footprint, energy and water consumption. It became a global brand standard in 2015. IHG’s disaster relief programme, IHG® Shelter in a Storm, has responded to 66 disasters in 26 countries since its launch in 2011, contributing both monetary donations and in-kind support to impacted communities around the world.
IHG Academy and the IHG Green Engage system will continue to be delivered in IHG’s hotels. Disaster relief activity previously activated through IHG Shelter in a Storm will be incorporated into the IHG Foundation, to provide assistance to communities impacted by disasters on a broader scale.
Richard Solomons, Chief Executive Officer, IHG, commented: “We have a long-standing commitment to Responsible Business practices, which underpin our strategy and are brought to life through our leading corporate responsibility initiatives – IHG Academy, IHG Green Engage and IHG Shelter in a Storm.
“We are proud to launch the IHG Foundation as the latest evolution of this and are delighted by the diverse nature of its first grant recipients. They provide a powerful early sign of the positive impact the Foundation will deliver, helping to set the foundations for stronger, healthier, and more prosperous communities around the world.”
IHG Foundation – initial beneficiaries
The first wave of grant funding from the IHG Foundation will provide support to projects working across all four key areas of focus: hospitality skills development, disaster relief, local community investment and environmental sustainability.
CARE International UK
The IHG Foundation will collaborate with CARE’s emergency shelter team to enhance its ability to prepare for and respond to disasters. The work will enable CARE to help vulnerable people in communities around the world increase their ability to recover from disasters, manage risks, address causes of vulnerability and ultimately improve their lives.
Goodwill Industries International
Goodwill Industries International will receive a grant to develop, maintain and enhance the hospitality sections of its online career services and mentoring platform, ‘GoodProspects®’. The investment will enable Goodwill® to significantly enhance career explorers’ knowledge of career paths and training that can help prepare them for employment in the hospitality sector.
Youth Career Initiative (YCI)
The IHG Foundation is collaborating with YCI to transform the lives of survivors of human trafficking. It will provide them with support, training and mentoring in life skills, as well as opportunities to build the knowledge and skills to secure employment in the hospitality industry or other service sectors. The collaboration will help ensure rehabilitated survivors of human trafficking are able to overcome the trauma of their past and to build a brighter future.
British Red Cross
British Red Cross will receive funds to support a flood recovery programme for people impacted by the flooding in Cumbria, UK, in December 2015. Through this programme, more than 2,000 local people will receive the immediate and longer-term support they need to recover from this disaster.
The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT)
WWT will receive support to enhance the visitor experience at its London Wetland Centre through the construction of a sustainable drainage system. The new system will comprise a number of wetland features, which will harvest rainwater runoff from the surrounding buildings. It will also enable WWT to showcase innovative ways of managing water resources to the centre’s almost 190,000 annual visitors.
About the IHG Foundation
The IHG Foundation is a charity registered in England and Wales (registered no 1164791). The Foundation operates independently from, is not affiliated with, does not act for the commercial benefit of and (with the exception of arm’s-length commercial agreements) is not otherwise connected to InterContinental Hotels Group PLC and its group of companies (‘IHG’).
The IHG Foundation will be funded through a variety of sources, including donations from IHG, fundraising events and donations from IHG Rewards Club members.
The IHG Foundation adopts a targeted approach to grant funding focused on supporting a small number of beneficiaries. As a result, IHG Foundation does not accept speculative requests for funding. For more information, visit: www.ihgfoundation.com
