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At Core, it is our aim to leave a lasting and positive legacy for our business, and our wider industry, in the areas of corporate social responsibility, sustainability and inclusion.

In 2020, our sustainability team began to review standards across the company in aligning with ISO 26000. This provides guidance for organisations on aligning their business with internationally-recognised standards relating to social responsibility. Focusing on the environment, the team was able to identify key areas on which our business has an impact, and subsequently developed a fully-fledged environmental policy.

Workplace Diversity And Inclusion

We’re honoured to continue our D&I journey with Investors in Diversity, having achieved a silver standard for the second time. We are now working on our path to gold accreditation. For the second year running, we have also been awarded one of the Best Workplaces for Women, from the Great Place to Work Institute, for 2021. This recognition is particularly special, as we are one of only 22 businesses across Ireland to have achieved this standard.

We focus on creating awareness of all areas of diversity and inclusion by celebrating events that have cultural signifigance for our employees. In 2020, we introduced a blog series called ‘Today Is’. Our employees contribute blog posts on dates of importancee and helped to celebrate events such as Rosh Hashana, Africa Day and Eid al-Fitr.

Core annually invests in training around the topic of unconscious bias. This training brings awareness among our colleagues of our biases and allows us to address them in appropriate ways. This year, to enhance the diversity in how we recruit, we committed to working with several diverse organisations, including AsIAm. We also encourage all candidates to reach out directly if they require additional accommodations with their recruitment and interview experiences.

In Association with

HUGS

Each year, Core fundraises for HUGS, a charity that works in conjunction with the Terry Child Support Centre in Kenya. It gives orphans and other less fortunate children access to a better quality of life through education, resources and amenities. While our annual trip to Kenya couldn’t happen this year, team member Aoibhín Lennon, supported by our CSR committee, hosted a virtual concert and talent show through Zoom, raising €15,085 for the charity.  One of the most notable contributions that our employees make to HUGS is through salary donation every month – an amazing gesture of which we are all proud. Our employees donate €5 each month, on top of what they raise through events and fundraising. Core matches the funds raised.

Simon Community And Jigsaw

Where Core would usually spend money on Easter eggs each year for employees, in 2021, this money was equally split between the Simon Community and Jigsaw. We also battled, team versus team, in a fundraising event for the Simon Community, asking colleagues to rack up as many kilometres as they could while fundraising in June and July. The CSR committee also hosted a gaming livestream in July, to help raise funds for Jigsaw.

Junior Achievement Ireland

JAI adapted its programmes for 2021 to a virtual setting. Our Dragons’ Den did not go ahead this year. Instead, there were career story-sharing sessions and interview workshops. We partnered with three schools for our interview workshops: St Paul’s CBS, Brunswick Street; Our Lady of Mercy College; in Beaumont; and Loreto College, in Crumlin.

Time To Read

Our volunteers continued to enjoy Time to Read during the year of remote working, through virtual book clubs. We’re delighted to have been involved with Business in the Community Ireland’s scheme since 2018. Reading sessions are half an hour long, with each child working one-on-one with a Core volunteer.

Photo: Time to Read initiative