Community
Eagle Star's corporate citizenship efforts include participating in Plato,
supporting non-profit organisations and activities that serve the communities
in which we live and work and also encouraging employee volunteering.
Plato
Eagle Star has been actively involved for the last two years in an organisation
called Plato. Plato Ireland Ltd. was established
in 1995 to provide small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with a unique business
support forum for exploring business growth and expansion.
A unique aspect of Plato is the participation
of large local parent companies like Eagle Star that offer Plato participants
access to the full range of management expertise. Each participating parent
company releases its executives on a part-time basis to serve as Plato group
leaders. Two senior Eagle Star managers have freely given of their time and
expertise to the benefit of participating SME's. These company representatives
have acted as group leaders holding training sessions and workshops for on average
10 to 15 small companies. These are a sharing of skills and combined knowledge
to help the companies work towards meeting their business needs whether it is
drafting a business plan, working on strategy or examining how they can break
into new markets.
Practical Community Support
Eagle Star endeavours to respond positively to charitable requests, which have
a strong community ethos, making financial contributions to both local and national
causes on an annual basis. Some recent examples are the Retirement Planning
Council of Ireland, The Irish Youth Foundation and the Simon Community. Eagle
Star donates money to the Simon Community's House of Cards Appeal instead of
sending corporate Christmas cards to customers. We also support charitable events
through a number of employee 'casual' days each year.
Employee Volunteering
Eagle Star actively supports and encourages employee volunteering. For example,
for the Special Olympics 2003,
the company will allow those who are volunteering, 1 extra day's annual leave
from the company for every 2 days leave taken by the staff member.
In total, staff will donate 110 days of their time for this important event.
Involvement with the Business Community
As a member of the Chambers of Commerce, Eagle Star supports their aims to
be a voice in business, to provide inspiring leadership, influence, and partnership
in the community, in which we live and work. The Chambers provide a cohesive
and focused voice to influence the Government of the day on the issues that
are important for our business and for the general economic environment. Our
company representatives participate in the Chambers' extensive networking activities.
Eagle Star Life is a member of the following Chambers of Commerce: Ireland,
Dublin, Cork, Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown and Blackrock.
Enriching the Community through the Arts
"... Business as major stakeholders in their communities can use the
magical power of the arts to demonstrate their corporate social responsibility."
Brigid Roden, Chief Executive, Business2Arts, May 2002
Eagle Star won the Special Recognition Award at the Business2Arts, Sponsor
of the Year Awards 2002 for its sponsorship of Monet, Renoir and the Impressionist
Landscape at the National Gallery
of Ireland in 2002. This exhibition was the first of its kind to ever come
to Dublin and it marked the opening of the new Millennium Wing of the National
Gallery. The popularity of this was immense and having the Eagle Star Brand
associated with such a major success and something which was of importance to
the community as a whole, fits well with our broader commitment to good corporate
citizenship in all its aspects.
Brigid Roden, Chief Executive, Business2Arts, at the award ceremony said, "The
awards congratulate Irish business as a whole for its invaluable contribution
to the arts, which enriches the wider community of which we are all a part."
Monet, Renoir and the Impressionist Landscape, 22nd January - 14th April 2002
The objective of the sponsorship was to further our commitment to the community
and at the same time encourage an appreciation of the arts. Through Eagle Star's
support of this exhibition the public was given a unique opportunity to visit
an international exhibition in Dublin. The exhibition had universal appeal and
by its close on 14th April 2002, almost 130,000 visitors including 15,000 school
children had viewed the exhibition.
Employee involvement was actively encouraged at every level and a sizeable portion
of Eagle Star's allocation of visitor tickets was used for staff members, their
family and friends to visit the exhibition and so further encourage their personal
interest in the visual arts. The sponsorship laid the foundation for Eagle Star
and the National Gallery to work
together into the future and encouraged other companies to support the arts.
Community Summary
Eagle Star Life brings significant benefits to the community as a member of
Plato, by giving financial support to local
and national charities and through support of the arts. Our location in the
centre of Blackrock creates a need for many services from the local community
which has a positive impact on local employment. We also strive to develop positive
relationships with the local community as a member of the various Chambers of
Commerce.
Over the next year Eagle Star aims to:
- Look at strategising our community involvement as a whole, particularly
in the area of volunteering.
- Communicate to employees the financial contributions we make as a company
to local and national causes, via the intranet and inform them about our policy
on charitable giving.
- Document the impact of existing activities undertaken.
