By Rafiq Vayani
DUBAI: UAE-headquartered hospitality company TIME Hotels, has delivered on its commitment to staff welfare and the environment, steadfastly supporting local community initiatives, after a half-year review of the group’s 2021 CSR strategic plan.
The annual campaign, which is based on TIME Hotels’ four CSR pillars of workplace, marketplace community and environment, has been the backbone of TIME Hotels’ commitment to improving social awareness amongst its stakeholders and its peers in the rest of the corporate world.
“CSR is not a random project it must be an integral part of every corporate strategy. It is an ongoing plan, a corporate state of mind.
“And that is as true today as it has ever been. In economic terms, although the hospitality and travel sector has been disproportionately affected by the pandemic, charities and those less well off in society have suffered as well. It is our duty as good corporate citizens to help whenever we can,” said Eddie Ignatius, Corporate Director of Quality & Business Excellence, TIME Hotels.
Each month, TIME focuses on a different theme and kicked off in January with team building and strengthening bonds within the workplace. A range of health initiatives followed in the first half of the year, with a cleanup drive to support environmental goals and a focus on female employees as part of International Women’s Day.
As part of their health initiatives, TIME Hotels also managed to donate AED 14,000 to the Shefaa Al Orman Hospital in Luxor, Egypt. The cancer hospital provides free treatment for any patient, regardless of age, creed or colour.
“We were particularly pleased that we could support this hospital. With so much poverty in the world, many members of society who can’t afford medical treatment, often go on suffering. We would encourage any hospital in the region to join Shefaa Al Orman Hospital, in this type of heart-warming initiative,” commented Ignatius.
During Ramadan, TIME Hotels supported the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and their rice collection initiative to fight hunger. TIME invited staff to contribute a two, four or six kilo, packet of rice, (for ease of distribution) and in total, just under 1,600kg of rice was collected in 2 weeks.
Happiness day this year was supported by 70% of staff, who took part in the company’s initiative to wear national dress every Thursday, which provided an opportunity to interact with guests and discover their culture and heritage.
As part of International Women’s Day, female staff members celebrated by participating in pizza-making classes and ladies staying at the hotel were treated to general cooking classes.
In terms of supporting the local community, TIME Hotels employees collected and donated over 60kgs of aluminium cans to the Emirates Environmental Group can collection drive. Employees also volunteered to pick up trash and clean the hotel surroundings.
“We are totally onboard with the concept of giving back to the communities in which we operate, to improve everybody’s lived experience,” concluded Ignatius.
Further initiatives to come in the second half of this year include a blood donation drive, donations to celebrate International Day of Charity, which is in September. Breast cancer and prostate cancer awareness follow in October and November and then finally to round out the year, TIME’s annual waiters’ race and in December of course, a visit from a rather ‘Sneaky Santa’.
