DENHAM, UK, 2016-Nov-17 — /Travel PR News/ — InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG®), one of the world’s leading hotel companies, has today announced that over 120,000 colleagues from its hotels and corporate offices worldwide joined this year’s week of global awareness and fundraising activities in aid of the IHG® Foundation. The activities, which took place during September’s inaugural IHG® Foundation Week, have raised more than $350,000 for the IHG Foundation.
Kate Gibson, Vice President Corporate Responsibility, IHG, commented: “We are delighted with the success of our first ever week of fundraising activity for the IHG Foundation. The momentum behind the event, the level of support, and the variety of activities our colleagues took part in has been fantastic. As a global business with a presence in almost 100 countries, we have a significant opportunity to make a real difference to communities around the world. The tremendous support from our colleagues across the world demonstrates the strong sense of shared purpose that is embedded throughout the culture of our organisation.”
IHG colleagues were encouraged to pledge and take part in as many different activities as they could outside of their daily routines. Highlights included:
Launched in February 2016, the IHG Foundation is an independent charity, which focuses its activities on four key areas – helping communities to develop skills in hospitality, providing support for those impacted by disasters, encouraging grassroots community support and protecting the environment.
IHG Foundation’s initial beneficiaries included CARE International UK, Goodwill Industries International, Youth Career Initiative, British Red Cross, The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, Rede Cidadã and Sichuan Province Foundation for Poverty Alleviation. It has since issued a further 18 grants to organisations globally, including to charities in four cities working to create positive change for local people:
- Bottomless Closet
New York-based Bottomless Closet supports disadvantaged women to get back into the workplace, providing professional clothing, job preparation and post-employment training to help them become self-sufficient, enter the workforce and achieve success. The grant from the IHG Foundation will help provide services such as interview training, post-hire support, professional development and business clothing.
- New Life Farm
New Life Farm is a Hong Kong-based organisation dedicated to supporting the wellness of people in recovery of mental illness. The charity supports the families of those recovering and has a number of initiatives in place to encourage equal opportunities, social inclusion and acceptance of those who have suffered with mental illness.
- The Passage
The Passage runs London’s largest voluntary resource for the homeless and vulnerable, helping those in need to transform their lives. The grant from the IHG Foundation contributes towards costs for staff training and skills development for volunteers, in partnership with the City of Westminster College.
- Bali Life Foundation
Bali Life Foundation provides care and support to disadvantaged people in Bali. By running projects, women’s and children’s centres and sustainability programmes, the charity aims to give people hope and purpose. The IHG Foundation is helping to fund a project at Suwung, Kuta, Bali’s largest waste dump, where women and children sort through waste each day. The project provides education, training, medical support and food and clothing supplies.
SOURCE: InterContinental Hotels Group
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For further information please contact:
Elena Phillipson
elena.phillipson@ihg.com
+44 (0)1895 512 786
About IHG
IHG® (InterContinental Hotels Group) [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)] is a global organisation with a broad portfolio of hotel brands, including InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Kimpton® Hotels & Restaurants, HUALUXE® Hotels and Resorts, Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo®, EVEN® Hotels, Holiday Inn® Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn Express®, Staybridge Suites® and Candlewood Suites®.
IHG franchises, leases, manages or owns nearly 5,100 hotels and more than 750,000 guest rooms in almost 100 countries, with nearly 1,500 hotels in its development pipeline. IHG also manages IHG® Rewards Club, the world’s first and largest hotel loyalty programme, with nearly 99 million members worldwide.
InterContinental Hotels Group PLC is the Group’s holding company and is incorporated in Great Britain and registered in England and Wales. More than 350,000 people work across IHG’s hotels and corporate offices globally.
Visit www.ihg.com for hotel information and reservations and www.ihgrewardsclub.com for more on IHG Rewards Club. For our latest news, visit: www.ihg.com/media and follow us on social media at: www.twitter.com/ihg, www.facebook.com/ihg and www.youtube.com/ihgplc.
About the IHG Foundation
The IHG® Foundation is a charity registered in England and Wales (no. 1164791) and a 501(c)3 organisation in the United States. In China, the IHG Foundation is brought to life through a partnership with the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation. 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 is 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.org.