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Culture
TEAM GREEN
We believe positive change comes from within, connecting our teams to our sustainable mission is one of the most important aspects of our business. With this in mind we have set up some initiatives that our team members can get involved in. Here you can find out all about what we've done prior to the outbreak of COVID-19 to make a difference and what we plan on getting back to once we are together again…
PLANTING TREES
Every team member that we employ has one paid volunteering day per year. Last year we have added Tree Planting to our volunteering programme in association with the Cool Planet Experience Future Forest Fund which enables businesses to offset our carbon emissions by planting native forestry in Ireland. Forestry is one way to take carbon out of the atmosphere and our teams love the idea that we can work towards creating a future forest and bonding with colleagues at the same time. On climate change, we believe in being part of the solution, so we also only source green electricity for our stores, coming from 100% renewable wind energy.
CLEANING BEACHES
Another volunteer day for our team members is helping Clean Coasts to clean up beaches in our local areas. So far we have cleaned beaches in Dublin and Galway with plans to do even more. As Clean Coasts say this activity is a tangible and immediate improvement on Ireland’s coastal environment which leads to the protection and care for Ireland’s waterways, coastline, seas, ocean and marine life.
WELLNESS AT WORK
The well-being of our team is also very important as we believe that sustaining our incredible staff is key to our business. We are looking forward to bringing back our wellness initiatives to our stores once we reopen our doors, teams can enjoy complimentary Yoga before the work day starts and wellness days where healthy snacks and treats are supplied to treat everyone.
LIVING SUSTAINABLY EVERY DAY
We're passionate about fighting plastic waste in our oceans and have removed all single-use plastic bottles, coffee cups, plastic bags, QTips, wipes and ecommerce plastic fillers from our business. We encourage our team to sip their morning coffee from our very own Brown Thomas reusable cups. This way we are all taking on the challenge to swap plastics for these more sustainable options.
SUPPORTING OUR COMMUNITY
Our stores thrive on the communities that surround them, that’s why supporting them in any way we can through charity fundraising and volunteering is so important. Our teams like to contribute in many ways by raising funds, doing sporting events and bake days for homelessness or charities close to their hearts. We also like to support our great cultural heritage, we are proud partners of the Abbey Theatre in Dublin and last summer we worked with Cork City Council and the artist Shane O’Driscoll to brighten up an abandoned building on Caroline Street in Cork with his incredible artwork, as a way of enhancing the beauty of the city for everyone. To see some of the inspiring submissions Shane and over 600 other artists contributed to our Call to Art initiative then follow the link below.
GIVING A HELPING HAND
We support a variety of charities including: SVP, Temple Street Children's Hospital, Pieta House, Crumlin Children's Hospital, Cancer Care West, Children's Grief Centre, Cancer Support House, these are chosen by our team members and supported through our 'Helping Hands' charity partners. Each year different fundraisers are organised and we as a business match what the team raises, up to €100,000. During the COVID-19 crisis, we’ve been donating to hospitals and volunteering including running a helpline for our retired community in self-isolation.