Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group celebrated its 10th Responsible Business Action Month in September. The group’s hotels across Europe, the Middle East and Africa organised almost 700 activities and raised £205,000 for charity during the month, including £90,000 for Carlson Rezidor’s charity partner, World Childhood Foundation. Childhood is an organisation under the patronage of Queen Silvia of Sweden, and is focused on aiding children at risk for abuse and exploitation.
An additional £115,000 was collected for a series of local charities in more than 260 communities in 70 countries. In the UK, 34 hotels joined forces to raise just under £30,000 in support of national charity partner, Variety, the Children’s Charity, and a number of other worthwhile causes.
“We have raised more funds than ever before,” enthuses Wolfgang M Neumann, president and CEO at Rezidor. “I want to thank each and every one of our 35,000 employees who have participated in this year’s Responsible Business Action Month. We want to do sustainable business and support the hundreds of local communities we are living in – this is how we make a difference.”
Carlson Rezidor raised some of the money through the Quids for Kids scheme in the UK, which saw guests of all 34 hotels given the option to add a £1 donation to their bill. The money raised was split equally between Variety and the World Childhood Foundation.
UK hotel team members actively pursued charity funds in a number of other ways throughout the month, including participation in the challenging Man vs Mountain challenge on Snowdonia and the Great North Run, car boot sales, cake and cookie sales, an innovative Penny Board draw and team cycle challenges.
Carlson Rezidor also brought Responsible Business Action Month online. With the support of suppliers and business partners, an eBay auction for World Childhood Foundation sold hotel stays and exclusive products, collecting ¬9000 in total. Furthermore, members of Club Carlson, the global loyalty programme of Carlson Rezidor, donated close to 2,300,000 points to World Childhood Foundation in conjunction with the campaign. The Carlson Family Foundation then matched the value of these donations.
