Archives: 2017

Leabhar Love

Elaine Dunne, Home School Community Liaison, St. Kevin’s BNS, Finglas shares her perspectives on Time to Read This is the 3rd year that the boys in St. Kevin’s B.N.S. in Finglas have been lucky enough to be involved with the Time to Read programme with ESB. In my role I work with the children to create

Employees from top companies in Ireland volunteer to support and mentor students in Ireland

Business in the Community Ireland’s Student Mentoring Programme celebrates the latest graduates of the programme. 205 targeted schools across the country have been partnered with businesses since 2000 impacting 39,864 students.

‘Seeing is Believing’ For STEM Teachers

STEM ‘Seeing Is Believing’ (SIB) is a BITCI initiative which also supports ‘Smart Futures’, a collaborative industry and education framework, raising awareness of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths) careers at post-primary level. The goal of this initiative is to give STEM teachers and guidance counsellors a deep and engaging insight into leading STEM sector companies and

Dawn Meats Carroll’s Cross, EirGrid and RTÉ achieve the Business Working Responsibly Mark

The Mark is operated by Business in the Community Ireland (BITCI), the non-profit organisation dedicated to sustainability and it is third-party audited by the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI). 25 organisations in Ireland have now achieved the Business Working Responsibly Mark

Photo Captions – May 2017

Students from Beneavin College, Finglas, Dublin, enjoyed being engineers & technicians for the day at the Gas Networks Site. Students from C.B.S Westland Row, Dublin 2, en route to KPMG offices to meet their mentors. Conor Neil from Scoil Iosagáin, Limerick, reads with his Time to Read volunteer Eoin Hanrahan from Analog Devices Ltd. Christian Abragan from St. Vincents CBS, Glasnevin, Dublin, being interviewed

Volunteer Viewpoint

– Amanda McGannon, HR, Athy International Concentrates (AIC). AIC has been partnered with Athy Community College for the last four years. We are involved with the Skills @ Work programme. One of the best parts of the programme is the site visit and tour of AIC. The students always enjoy seeing our facility and meeting with members of staff

Results are the Best Recognition

In April, BITCI celebrated the wonderful achievement of five businesses reaching a milestone of ten years in partnership with their local school.  It is a great testimony to all involved who have provided leadership and support during that time. Below are some reflections from those involved. Q. As a teacher, what positive outcomes have you seen the

Talk Back with Louise Durand

Name: Louise Durand, Performer at Stomp & Freelance Presenter, London 1. Tell us about your involvement with BITCI: I attended St Paul’s CC in Waterford between the years 2002 – 2008 and in 5th & 6th year of Secondary school I was involved in the mentoring programme. I was matched with Anne Woods who was working at

Ulster Bank launched its annual Sustainability Report

Last month, Ulster Bank in Ireland published its 2016 Sustainability Report. The Report captures the bank’s activities and achievements in 2016, and its progress in building a more sustainable bank – one that is agile in responding to the changing needs of customers, becoming a great place to work and continuing to support its local

Three Ireland supporting Community Development skills in Limerick

Three Ireland and An Cosán Virtual Community College (VCC), in partnership with Limerick Youth Service , announce a new fully funded online community development programme for Limerick’s young adults. Beginning in early May, the ‘Introduction to Community Development’ programme is a six-week programme and is aimed at young people (18+) who are interested in gaining skills in digital literacy, social action and youth leadership while

Ricoh Ireland donates €175K managed print and document solution to Temple Street Hospital

   Ricoh Ireland announced that it has donated print and document management devices worth more than €175,000 to Temple Street Children’s University Hospital , allowing the hospital to make significant savings. The savings will now be redistributed within the overall hospital budget and can be used to fund medical devices and equipment. Ricoh donated the suite of 44 nearly-new print and

Spotlight on our Board – In Conversation with Kyran Johnson

In the first of a new series, BITCI board member Kyran Johnson, General Manager Janssen Supply Chain Ireland discusses his views on sustainability and why it matters to business.

Biodiversity- Tips and Tricks for Creating a Wildflower Meadow

  On Tuesday 26th of April, BITC Ireland held the first Learning Network meeting for this year with the theme:Biodiversity, Wellbeing and Employee Engagement.

Engineers Work Together to Inspire Local Children

Volunteers teamed up with Pupils from Holycross National School and Scoil Ursula to build the roller coasters and in the process learn about working together and taking advantage of different skills to create innovative inventions.

Business Impact Map Social Media Reach 28th-30th March 2017

Millennial Employee Engagement Study

  Three-quarters (76%) of Millennials consider a company’s social and environmental commitments when deciding where to work and nearly two-thirds (64%) won’t take a job if a potential employer doesn’t have strong corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices, according to the 2016 Cone Communications Millennial Employee Engagement Study.

Power point presentation from Business Impact Map event

The Business Impact Map on March 29th 2017 were hosted by BT Ireland A PDF of the slides can be found here .

Welcome to our new Chairperson – Ronan Murphy

We are delighted to announce that Ronan Murphy has been appointed as the new Chairperson of our Board. Ronan brings with him a wealth of experience, being former Senior Partner of PwC Ireland. Ronan is currently a non-executive director of J&E Davy, Liberty Insurance and ICON plc.

PwC: Winning the fight for female talent

To mark international’s Women’s Day, PwC published a report following a major international piece of research amongst nearly 4,000 professionals (women and men) in 70 countries including Ireland entitled “Winning the fight for female talent”. The report found that opportunities for career progression is among the top three most attractive employer traits for both women

International Women’s Day: A&L Goodbody

  A&L Goodbody (A&LG) marked International Women’s Day on March 8th by organising two events for their employees. On the morning of International Women’s Day, the firm organised complimentary tea/coffee and pastries in the Restaurant for everyone to celebrate the contribution that women make to the success of the firm. In the evening, A&LG hosted a panel

KPMG take action on literacy

World Book Day was on 2 March and KPMG used this opportunity to formally launch and celebrate the KPMG Families For Literacy (KFFL) initiative and all the work we do as a firm as part of our commitment to lifelong learning and more specifically literacy.

Your insights on European companies and the SDGs

Business in the Community Ireland, in partnership with CSR Europe and  GlobeScan , invite you to participate in a short survey of European business experts to explore how European companies are engaging with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  Results of the survey will be presented at the European Business Summit in Brussels on May 22, 2017,

Shocking & Unsettling – Why taking time to understand human rights risks has to be prioritised

Parul Sharma engaged all seated at 10 am in A&L Goodbody on March 21, 2017 for the BITCI Workshop on Identifying & Addressing Human Rights Risks in Company Operations & the Supply Chain.

Business and Human Rights

Business and Human Rights is a vast topic and while it is a relatively new concept to some organisations, it is material to all business sectors. The prevalence of human right abuses as a result of corporate operations has no geographic boundary and with increasingly globalised supply chains, the time to act is now.  

56 Companies in Ireland Contributed Over €32 million and 227,144 hours to Charities and Community Groups in 2016 

Wednesday March 29th: 56 socially-minded Irish companies have formed almost 7000 community partnerships and donated over €32 million in cash donations, in-kind donations and employee fundraising to local charities and community groups.

In Conversation with Leslee O’Loughlin, Group HR Manager for Enterprise Rent-A-Car

In this month of our In Conversation with series we are delighted to talk to Leslee O’Loughlin, Group HR Manager for Enterprise Rent-A-Car.

The Participation is far from Petite at Pettitt’s Supervalu

Louise Casey, Regional Coordinator, BITCI reports on Enniscorthy Vocational School’s partnership with their local Supervalu. Enniscorthy Vocational School (EVS) are partnered with Pettitt’s Supervalu for their Skills @ Work Programme. Pettitt’s SuperValu have a strong reputation for being customer and community focused and EVS would echo this sentiment. This link was launched in September 2012

Student Scoop on Shell

Eimear Cowman a student from St. Brendan’s College gives her account: “My personal experience of our visit to the Bellanaboy Gas Terminal was exceptionally enjoyable. We were welcomed onto the site and all members of staff were very friendly and accommodating. We were brought into a meeting room and given a presentation about the company. Then

Photo Captions

Photo Captions – Top to Bottom Children from Scoil Mhuire Fatima, Cork visit Blackpool library with their Time to Read Volunteers from Gas Networks Ireland. Scoil Cholmchille, Dublin are joined by their partners Friends First to enjoy World Book Day at Storytime at Dun Laoghaire Library. St. Brigid’s Primary School Kildare celebrated World Book Day by presenting

Alkermes Milestone is a First for the Midlands

Orla O’ Dwyer, Regional Coordinator, BITCI acknowledges Alkermes achievement. This year marks the 10th Anniversary of our partnership between Alkermes and St Aloysius College in Athlone. Alkermes becomes the first company in the Midlands to achieve this status. Alkermes who are based in a business park just outside town develops and manufactures medicines, aiming to provide innovative