Disability awareness at Airelles
In 2022, Airelles is taking steps to become more informed and sensitive to issues around disability, putting several procedures in place both for their hotel and office-based staff.
Here are some figures to explain our reasons: 80% of disabilities are invisible, 80% of disabilities are caused by an accident, and one in six people is affected by a disability. In other words, anyone can potentially be touched. Airelles wants to do more than simply meet their legal obligations, they want to educate their staff about disability: what form it can take, when and why you should declare yourself as a worker with a disability, what advantages are there, both for the employer and the employee, and how to support someone with a disability, whether a colleague or a client.
An information campaign at Airelles
At the end of January, the winter hotel and the Paris and Annecy office staff saw large posters in bright colours with surprising statements: David Beckham is asthmatic, Kim Kardashian suffers from psoriasis and Lady Gaga has .
This campaign aims to demystify disability. A series of emails was sent with video messages from staff talking about their invisible disabilities. Finally, our staff have had access to and external and confidential counselling service.
This campaign will be launched in July in our summer hotels.
Training to help staff welcome clients with disabilities
Another important subject within our industry is how best to support clients with disabilities. Our hotels are equipped with the appropriate equipment. But before our guests arrive at reception, how can we help during the reservation procedure? How can we go further?
Julie and Evelyne, co-founders of HASC (le Handicap Au Services de Compétences) have been helping staff at Airelles Saint Tropez and Gordes with these issues, ahead of the summer season. The two trainers, who both have disabilities themselves, ran their course with simple good humour, with the help of Raven, Julie’s guide dog, who has become an Airelles mascot! The training day included a little theory and a lot of practice, with plenty of role-playing exercises.
The team were very enthusiastic about the training and keen to try to view things from the perspective of a person with a disability.
This autumn, the teams at Airelles Courchevel and Val d’Isère will do the same course.
The group is also taking other steps, such as employing an intern with disabilities in IT at the Parisian office.
LOV Group and Airelles are proud to be educating their staff in disability issues.
One year at charity Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque’s side
Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque, the charity which fixes the hearts of children from all over the world, celebrated its 25th birthday in 2021.
Over its 25 years, 3700 children have come from 70 countries over the world to have heart operations in France, all expenses paid. They stay with volunteer host families and their care continues when they return to their own countries.
Mécénat doesn’t count its support in terms of money, but in the number of children it can provide operations for. Every fundraising event, every partnership, every donation helps them to fund surgery for a child with heart problems.
One year ago almost to the day, LOV Group decided to help the charity and to mobilise its staff in this benevolent venture.
We started with a month-long sporting challenge, during which 126 Airelles staff members from the hotels and Paris office walked or ran 18000 km to help pay for the operation for three-year-old Mariam Soubounou from Mali. She suffers from a rare heart condition called Tertalogy of Fallot – and was the 3700th child treated thanks to Mécénat !
Mariam was successfully operated on in Strasbourg in July, and can now live an almost normal life, according to her family. This event held for her helped motivate others too and the success of this challenge resulted in two more being organised. In 2022, Banijay and Betclic are holding sporting challenges which will raise funds for operations for two more children.
As for LOV Group and Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque, we also took part in Trophée du Cœur de St Nom la Bretèche, ran the Ecotrail for the charity and on July 10 this year, we have a cyclist taking part in the ceremonial ‘depart’ of the Tour de France stage between Briançon et l’Alpe d’Huez.
Our Airelles hotels regularly donate all-inclusive stays to raffles and auctions organised by the charity, and our many staff receive birthday cards from which proceeds are donated to the organisation, as well as all the Happy New Year cards in 2022.
Taking part as well as giving it at the heart of our ethos: on December 17 at Parc Floral de Vincennes, a team of ten Airelles staff helped volunteers put on a Christmas sale which raised enough for operations for 20 children – a record. Our brands Ladurée and Fouquet had stands for three days and their products were very popular!
The year 2021 was emotional and enriching for us all. We are delighted to be continuing the partnership between LOV Group and Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque in 2022.
Journey to the land of Father Christmas with the Carlesimo charity for 46 sick children
Between December 10 and 13, 46 children left their hospital beds for three magical days in Lapland. The Louis Carlesimo charity was named after its founder’s brother who died of cancer in 1981, 40 years ago.
One of many events organised each year by the charity’s devoted volunteers, this was the eighth annual trip to North Finland which was fortunately able to go ahead in 2021, in spite of the complication Covid restrictions.
‘It would be unthinkable to take this gift away from these sick children,’ said the charity’s president Honoré Carlesimo, who moved heaven and Earth to make this trip happen. The energy and drive of this 77-year-old man is incredible. As well as taking on the organisation of the trip, he also dressed up as Father Christmas for the outward flight, before passing on the task to the ‘real’ Saint Nicholas in Finland. Here, the children were welcomed into his cosy house, tucked away in a snowy Finnish forest.
The children came from hospitals in the Île de France (Institut Gustave Roussy, Kremlin-Bicêtre), as well as hospitals in Martinique, Guadaloupe and Guyana. The biggest shock was the temperature – a drop of 40 degrees for the children who came from the ‘outre mer’ territories!
Aged between 6 and 13, the children were suffering from cancer, leukaemia, or had undergone organ transplants. This trip let them escape their day-to-day medical environment to a magical place for a few days.
Meeting Father Christmas, receiving presents, delivering letters, playing traditional Lapland games, crossing frozen lakes, carriage and husky-sled rides…the children returned with stars in their eyes, and with some extra emotional strength to help them bear the burden of their illnesses.
Maëva Coucke, Miss France 2018 and a devoted supporter of the charity joined the trip with two doctors and several nurses.
LOV Group is delighted to have contributed to this trip, and is always keen to support this charity in helping sick children make their dreams come true.
More
DUODAY 2021: A day for people with disabilities hosted by LOV Group
Thursday November 18 : for DUODAY, LOV Group and Airelles welcomed many people with disabilities to Paris, Versailles and Annecy. The participants, who have invisible disabilities (like 80% of people with disabilities!), were keen to learn about the various departments within the group.
In Paris, Yohan spent a day with the IT service, Claudine in marketing, and Julie with the manager of the sustainability department.
Claudine and Julie went on to explore one of the pearls of the Airelles collection, the Grand Controle Hotel, where they were welcomed by the HR team. On the programme : a tour and a royal afternoon tea, during which Julie made a presentation about her agency HASC which offers advice about disability to companies.
In Annecy, Anne spent time with the accounting department and the HR coordinator.
The day was immersive in two ways – into the world of business and also into that of disability – sharing experiences. It was aimed at busting preconceptions and prejudices, demystifying disability, talking freely and spending a day together.
This exciting DUODAY in a professional setting was about sharing skills and perspectives and talking about how things can be improved for you.
One to watch!
LOV Group supports Muco Sans Frontieres
A top-level meeting…On the summit of mont Blanc, between young sportsmen suffering with cystic fibrosis and the dangerous icy slopes of the highest mountain in Europe.
In June 2021, 3 teams composed with 3 patients (Fiona and Leslie, 33, and Louis, 27), guides and cameramen took up a difficult challenge, climbing at the top of mont Blanc, with the financial help of several partners among which LOV group’s endowment fund.
The climbers spent 3 days and 2 nights up there, and realized 3000m positive altitude change !
2 teams reached the top (4810 m), and the third had to stop at le Refuge Vallot, up to 4362m, due to cold weather and lack of oxygen.
2 teams, 2 summits, 2 achievements, and a beautiful message of hope !
When they got down, they had the surprise to find their family and friends who had come to welcome and congrat them.
This crazy project was initiated by Fiona Malagutti, a thirty-something sport and adventure lover, suffering with cystic fibrosis, and her boyfriend Nicolas, a confirmed sportsman willing to take up challenges.
In 2019, Fiona decided to create Muco Sans Frontieres. The first project got the couple in South America for a great road trip through the continent : 9 countries in 10 months, and the climbing of a 6000 meters high bolivian summit.
Since this achievement, the charity has organized sport challenges in order to raise funds to support health research and to increase patients media exposure.
Every 3 days, a child is born with cystic fibrosis, and more than 2 millions French people are healthy carriers of the gene, meaning that there is a risk of transmitting the disease to their children.
LOV Group is proud to support medical research to struggle against cystic fibrosis through the beautiful projects of the charity.
More
LOV Group and Airelles teams engage with Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque
In april 2021, 126 staff took up a sport and solidarity challenge aiming at fundraising the cost of a child heart surgery.
During one month, people walked, ran, rode bicycles, practiced yoga, cardio-training, meditation or even gardening, among multiple activities recorded in their smartphone through United Heroes, the partner app of Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque.
The goal was to accumulate points, later transformed in money, to participate in Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque’s process to save a child with heart disease : his trip to France, his welcoming in a volunteer family, his surgery in one of the nine French hospitals, his recovering and his trip back home, with a brand new heart.
Thanks to the joyful efforts of 126 staff who accumulated more than 150 000 points, LOV Group and Airelles collected 12 000 euros to pay for the child surgery.
From Saint-Tropez to Paris, and on to Courchevel, Val d’Isère, Annecy and Lyon, in hotels as in offices, the staff ‘s involvement and determination remained constant and intact.
More than 18 000 kms have been travelled in 1 month !
Thanks to this beautiful performance, Mariam, a 2 years-old malian little girl, has undergone heart surgery in May in Strasbourg. She was suffering from the tetralogy of Fallot, usually called "The blue disease", as it causes cyanosis. After recovering with her hosting family, she got back to Mali and joined her parents and her elder sister. She is now perfectly well!
LOV Group keep on being engaged with Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque after this first successful partnership.
More Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque
LOV Group recycles hotel soaps with Unisoap
Soap goes through centuries, millennia even, without ever going out of fashion. It is one of the essential components of human life, used universally but unique in function.
Hygiene is life, health, self-esteem and social inclusion. And in these troubled, virus-ridden times, the use of soap in its simplest form is on the rise.
It is for all these important reasons, and as part of its CSR policy, that the group has formed a partnership with Unisoap , the first French company to recycle hotel soaps and distribute them to people in need.
This winter, the Unisoap teams has collected used soaps from Mademoiselle in Val d'Isère and Pan Dei Palais in Saint Tropez. From now, the partnership is extending to Le Grand Contrôle in Versailles, La Bastide in Gordes, Le Château de la Messardière and next winter season to Les Airelles and Aman le Mélézin in Courchevel. These soaps will be treated in a recycling centre at a French ‘Etablissement et Service d’Aide par le Travail’ in Lyon – where people with disabilities are given the opportunity to work.
The recycled soaps will be then donated to local and national partner associations with knowledge of the field and an understanding of the hygiene needs of underprivileged people.
LOV Group is proud to participate in this environmental, humanitarian and social drive.
More: Unisoap
LOV Group launches a partnership with the social platform Vendredi
Showing dedication and time to a cause is sometimes hard while working. Some people manage to volunteer on their free time, others make donations. Yet it is not always possible, however strong is the will.
The social startup Vendredi gives to employees the opportunity to get committed on their working time. The online platform gathers hundreds of associations and missions as well. A few minute a week, a couple of hours a month, several days a year, people can choose a cause and, following the time they are given by their company, help an association, live or online, with skills related to their job or not.
At LOV Group’s, the partnership has been launched in february. In 2021, about 400 employees will be concerned, at Betclic’s, Banijays’, Airelles’ and the parisian corporate headquarters. A wider deployment is expected in a close future.
Being engaged with Les restos du Cœur, helping vulnerable young people find a job with Solidarités Nouvelles Face au Chômage, giving a hand creating an accounting system for 2400 Sourires à Madagascar, interact with a young person helped by Aide Sociale à l'Enfance with FACE, translating greeting cards with Vision du Monde, helping recruiting volunteers at Unicef, coaching a disabled person with H'Up Entrepreneurs, taking care of animals with SPA...
LOV Group employees can now dedicate several days a year to charitable causes.
More : Vendredi
Banijay goes green!
There are certain industries that act as mirrors for our society – the film and television industry is one of them, holding an important responsibility to both document the era we live in and pick up on signals that change needs to happen. This sector is unfortunately also responsible for the release of millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year.
But at Banijay there is a growing awareness about the urgency of the situation and the need to reduce the carbon footprint of filming, and to make the audiovisual sector greener. Always front-runners in this area, various Nordic countries with growing responsible initiatives have provided inspiration to the group.
A green ambassador now ensures that responsible content is created and that the group moves towards a zero-plastic future while focusing on healthier practices inside the company. At Banijay, eco-friendly actions have been extensively deployed since the acquisition of the Endemol Shine Group, and a new initiative, entitled “ We are Green”, is underway to ensure the company as a whole strives for eco-friendly productions wherever filming is taking place globally.
More
https://www.banijay.com/life-at-banijay/
Betclic, a commited company
Deeply committed to ensuring their clients are never encouraged to engage in unhealthy practices, Betclic has developed a sustainable approach to play that encourages compliance and protects customers with a passion for sport. In a safe and responsible gaming environment, Betclic encourages its players to practice moderate gaming while carefully monitoring the occasional problematic behaviour pattern. For more than 15 years, Betclic's philosophy has been about focusing on the pleasure derived from the game. This is why the company is committed to ensuring its customers are safe from any of the adverse effects of gambling by using an artificial intelligence-based algorithm that detects the first signs of potential addiction very early on. By doing this, Betclic provides its players with the best protection possible.
Betclic chose to move the company headquarters to Bordeaux in 2018 for a variety of reasons, one of which was environmental, as the new ergonomic premises offered a very high standard of energy consumption. As a result, the company limits its production of waste as much as possible (including paper and plastic thanks to selective sorting in offices).
Thanks to new initiatives regarding remote working, Betclic has been able to reduce the amount of travel done by its employees – and in future, the Group will promote a green commute by setting up a bicycle bonus from 2021 .
Societal aid is also important to the group, and in the Betclic Malta office, teams regularly participate in mass cleaning initiatives to protect the local environment, and also work with various associations that help people in precarious situations.
Finally, with employees from more than 35 different nationalities making up the team, Betclic has proven its skill in managing diversity and inclusion, and in listening to its employees. All positions are open to people with disabilities. And concerned about the well-being of its employees, the company has set up monthly and annual satisfaction barometers with the objective of continuously improving the quality of life at work.