Inspire and share
2030 Goals: Schools programme, giving 1% of resources & profit
KEY MILESTONES
This goal is all about giving back and sharing our skills and expertise for greater impact.
It could be helping to solve sustainable tourism issues, upskilling a charity partner to develop knowledge and improve results or inspiring the next generation about the world of work.
We also recognise that all of us have charities and causes that are important to us, so we want to make sure our team have an opportunity to support them.
Partnering with local schools
We partner with the Careers & Enterprise Network to connect with schools and support their career development strategies to prepare young people for the world of work. This can include careers fairs, mock interview sessions, visits to our campus and sessions on roles and skills.
Seeing an opportunity to have greater impact by really inspiring and engaging students, we're now working with a local comprehensive school to deliver a full careers programme from Year 7 to Year 13, ultimately resulting in apprenticeship opportunities.
And as part of our work with schools and young people we also offer work experience. We recognise the quality of the experience can vary hugely and so we're developing a programme to make sure it's relevant, hands on and engaging.
Apprenticeships
At the moment we offer Level 4 apprenticeship programmes for people looking to move into software development. Previously these were only offered to internal applicants however, in 2022 we launched our first external apprenticeship opportunity to become a Software Engineer and we plan to launch our first programme to school leavers in 2023.
We're also exploring apprenticeships across other roles in the business.
HX Volunteering Programme
As an organisation we've always supported the local community with volunteering, but on an ad hoc basis. To increase the hours given, but also increase the positive impact we can have, we're looking to establish an internal volunteering programme. We hope to be able to provide more information on this soon… watch this space!
Sponsorships and Charity Donations
Each year we allocate a budget to be used to support local charities and causes. We get requests directly from external organisations, but our team can also send in requests.
Our aim is to support those organisations aligned to our own purpose and strategy, balanced with supporting causes that are important to our people.
We aim to improve and develop how we allocate and drive funds as well as increasing contributions from Holiday Extras.
See what we've been up to
Sponsored Skate Programme with F51 Folkestone
During Summer 2022, we sponsored and helped out in a local Holiday Activities and Food programme for children on free school meals. The 4 week programme gave children the chance to design and build a skateboard from scratch, ending with putting wheels on their boards and taking them home!
The Evie Dove Foundation
A charity close to our heart.
The foundation helps sick children and save young lives by sponsoring the education and training of talented and passionate paediatric medical professionals. Who, with help and financial support, will develop their skills and expertise to provide cutting edge medical and pastoral care when children and their families need it most.
To date we've raised almost £2k for this charity and continue to look for new and creative ways to raise money and awareness for this incredible cause.
Kings College Hospital Charity
Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation is dedicated to life-changing care, providing specialist and local health services to over one million people in South-East London and Kent, as well as critical care. Together Holiday Extras has raised over £60k for this important charity through pub quizzes, comedy nights, sponsored walks and even a Custard Election where the team voted for who would receive a custard pie to the face!
HX Gives Back
Started in 2020, HX Gives Back was created by a passionate group of people wanting to make a difference.
This Christmas, the team provided hot lunches for those in need with Action Homeless, organised nearly 60 presents and toy hampers, donated by HXers, to be delivered to our local Women's Refuges and collected and delivered food donations to local food banks. Throughou the year, they also arrange regular beach cleans and a variety of charity events. It's all about having a positive impact in our local communities.
Volunteering at FareShare
Since 2020 Holiday Extras volunteers have supported Fareshare with over 1000 hours!
FareShare is the UK's longest running food redistribution charity, born out of the belief that no good food should go to waste, especially when people are going hungry.
Nationwide they have redistributed over 24,000 tonnes of food to charities and food banks and support nearly over 900,000 people per week.
India's 28-mile litter-pick paddle trip
A keen paddleboarder and SUP (stand up paddleboard) yoga teacher, our very own India Pearson raised money for a brand new beach clean board in Hythe by paddling 28 miles along the Royal Military Canal, removing rubbish as she went.
A few years ago India spotted a board with litter pickers and bags attached in Cornwall. It asked people to spend two minutes cleaning the beach, to take a photo of their beach clean and post it on social media with the hashtag #2MinuteBeachClean, encouraging others to do the same.
This inspired her to raise awareness of litter and plastic pollution and raise enough money to pay for one of these boards at Hythe beach. Her idea was to paddle the full length of the Royal Military Canal.
At 7am on the 16th June 2020, India started her paddle in Rye. 12 hours and 28 miles later she arrived at the end of the canal in Seabrook having raised more than £650 – enough for the new board! Along the way she collected cans, crisp packets, plastic bottles, but also a tyre, three big oil containers and a toy boat.
The Beehive Project
The Beehive project is a second hand clothing shop that started as a pop-up shop in Ashford, Kent. The idea was that they wanted to offer a beautiful shopping experience with good quality second-hand clothing, donated from the community, for the community.
At the very heart of The Beehive is a place where women who can't afford clothing can be referred by local services to come and get clothes for free. They are not a 'charity' shop, but a place of dignity and beauty where paying customers and referred women share the same boutique experience. The only difference is that when the clothes are scanned into the till, the referred women's total clocks up to £0.
They had to move their shop location and were keen to get the shop back open again – but before that they needed help painting the shop which is where we came in!
Our 4 sustainable goals
Leave only footprints
Our commitment to helping our customers and people travel and live sustainably
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Unleashing potential
Our commitment to developing a purpose led diverse and inclusive team, unleashing potential for everyone
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Inspire & share
Our commitment to giving back to our communities and inspiring future generations
Find out more