We take our social responsibility very seriously and have a few main pillars as to what we stand for.
1. The environment, we have always led the way on sustainability and green policies for the hotel and will continue to do so. Our membership of schemes like the Green Hospitality programme are testament to that.
As part of our environmental focus, the reduction of single-use plastics and a reduction in our carbon footprint in the hotel are key objectives of ours. We don’t think we can solve this all at once, but step by step we make improvements, often at a cost to the hotel which is a challenge for operations, but this is something we are willing to do. Single-use plastic are a major pollutant of our oceans and rivers, and not only that, our reliance on them is putting the environment in jeopardy in so many ways. As a large business in the area, we have the opportunity to lead the way and set an example for others to follow.
Here are just 20 activities, big and small, from an extensive and growing list of what we have been up to.
- Removal of milk portions in rooms
- Removal of plastic straws in bars
- Replacement of single use toiletries to large refillable units
- Removal of plastic laundry bags in rooms
- Switch to slippers without plastic packaging
- Organising an annual beach clean up
- Supporting other local businesses in their switch to plastic-free
- Discounts on hot drinks for using reusable cups
- Take away meal containers switched to compostable
- Reusable cups, bottle and straws for sale in pantry
- Paperless HR processes
- Large reduction in accounts department paper systems
- Switch to compostable coffee pods in rooms
- Removal of plastic water bottles in room to glass, and then to refill stations.
- Switch to Sustainable Bio LPG as our kitchen gas
- Commitment to 100% renewal electricity
- No dig, low carbon release farming method in Armada Farm
- Extensive native tree planting on Armada Farm
- Electric car charge points
- Local supplier replacing internationally shipped produce at every opportunity.
2. The wellbeing of young people in the county, introducing the Elevate Foundation
The Elevate Foundation is a dedicated philanthropic fund, founded by our owner John Burke, with the help of many of the Armada team, and has the aspiration of playing a small part in the wellness of young people in County Clare by funding the very best mental health and well-being professionals in their field to connect with young people in Co. Clare, through schools and youth organisations. Elevate fully funds mindfulness programmes, resilience workshops, powerful inspiration talks, emotional well-being workshops, youth community events, youth counselling, the annual YouthFest well-being events, and other great initiatives as they arise. Elevate also advocates government for better youth mental health services in the county. For more information check out their website page
3. The wellbeing of the people at work here, we are well aware of the importance of supporting all our teams mental health, and well-being, and while we know the hotel industry is a challenging environment to work in with peaks and troughs of business, along with irregular hours, we know that we can work together to ensure the Armada is a great place to work. We have an active Wellness Programme that encourages, funds, and organises active pursuits such as soccer, white collar boxing, running and surfing. We often reward people along the way for participation, we encourage positive downtime during breaks and support various other activities including a knitting club. We support stop smoking, healthy eating, free counselling, work life balance, good rostering, positive communication, and have strong positions on areas such as bullying and harassment in the work place. We reward length of service. Our Wellbeing Programme is dynamic to the needs of the team, we communicate on a closed Facebook group and on regular ezines, plus wellness AGM’s amongst other ways. We support people to stop smoking, encourage healthy eating and we offer free counselling. Other elements such as work-life balance, good rostering, and positive communication are key. We have strong positions in areas such as bullying and harassment in the workplace. We reward length of service.
4. Community support, we have and always will support community through support for sports, schools, the arts. In many other ways, we are active in organising events such as white collar boxing, beach clean-ups, concerts, well-being evenings plus much more. The hotel has and always will be a focal point of the community. We won’t forget where we have come from and always do our utmost to support our local area in many ways.
Goverence, To view the financial performance of the Armada Hotel, please click here
Local Supplier Expenditure Policy, to view our policy click here
