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Creating bright futures for children who are deaf and hearing impaired

FoundationHighlightsCreating Brighter Futures for Young People

Registered Charity No. 1084220 (England and Wales) 038995 (Scotland) Edition 73 - December 2014

December 2014 2hilton-foundation.org.uk

On Saturday 22 November we were delighted to hold the annual Hilton in the Community Foundation Ball at Hilton London on Park Lane, sponsored by McAleer & Rushe. The night was an incredible success, and raised over £400,000 for the work of the Foundation; our highest amount to date. Simon Vincent, Chairman of Hilton in the Community Foundation welcomed guests to the Las Vegas themed extravaganza in the Ball Room which had been transformed for the night. The room was decked out in sumptuous yellow and purple, and an incredible moving screen shone out the Las Vegas sign - with an HCF twist!

We launched straight into heads and tails, where the 700 guests competed for a chance to win a luxury trip to Las Vegas, in keeping with our theme for the evening. Guests then sat down to an incredible feast prepared by Anthony Marshall, Executive Chef and catering team at Hilton on Park Lane, which included a Waldorf Salad complete with delicious edible flowers and finished off with mini macaron pops, as the Hilton London on Park Lane choir took to the stage for the very first time! Team members, including General Manager Michael Shepherd, sang a beautiful version of “You Raise Me Up”, complete with table-pointer light show.

Throughout the night guests had the chance to bid on lots of wonderful prizes in the silent auction, via touch-screen tablets on tables, provided by BidTech who ran the auction.

HCF Trustee Dame Maureen and Stephen Burnett

Guests were treated to a delicious glass of champagne

http://www.hilton-foundation.org.uk


Celebrity auctioneer Charles Hanson ran the auction, encouraging guests to bid with his boundless enthusiasm and lucky winners went home with incredible prizes such as a guitar signed by Coldplay, a trip to the brand new Hilton Paris Opera for New Year and much more.

Nikki Scott from Scotty’s Little Soldiers (see page 5 for more info) spoke about the charity, and requested pledges to help support families who have lost a parent in the line of action. In total pledges raised over £20,000 for Scotty’s Little Soldiers.

Guests were treated to an amazing performance by the Derek Paravicini Quartet. Derek is blind and has autism. Later on a fabulous Vegas-themed show featured performers from top west end shows, led by Kim Ismay. The dancers, singers and musicians dazzled the crowd with incredible dancing, a lot of glitz, and even some impressive acrobatics. Finally, live disco group China Grove closed the ball with guests taking to the dance floor for a boogie.

HCF Chairman Simon Vincent with Kim Ismay and the Las Vegas performers

Clockwise from top left: The yellow and purple themed tables; the fabulous Las Vegas stage; a group of our wonderful volunteers; and Amy Hill performs. Centre: a Las Vegas showgirl dances.


The Foundation Ball takes place thanks to a lot of hard work and generosity by a lot of people. We would like to take the opportunity to say thank you to the people who make it happen.

Thanks first go to our sponsor, McAleer & Rushe, for their incredibly generous support, without which the evening wouldn’t have

been able to happen. Special thanks go to Dame Maureen Thomas, Trustee and Foundation Ball Chairman and Simon Vincent,

Foundation Chairman, for their leadership and vision. Thanks must also go to all of the Foundation Ball Committee members

Francesca Barham, Bruce Beardwood, Andreas Lackner, Sarah Leeson, David Morris-Jones, Noel de Munck, Reg Parsons, Leri

Price, Simon Sheehan, Michael Shepherd and Anthony Worrall for their hard work and support.

Thank you to the team at London Hilton on Park Lane and to Ian Carter, Patrick Fitzgibbon, Nick Smart, as well as Paul Farrow and

the entire Supply Management Team as well as the team at Production Plus. Special thanks to our fantastic volunteers, Amir Butt,

Rachel Cornelius, Mark Dixon, Adem Duran, Gemma Eagle, Samantha Hill, Carl Jones, Clare Kaveney, Ryan Moss, Claudia Nertz,

Ana Paluca, Dianne Perrin, Angela Row, Howard Weinberg, Angela Wimborne and Lauren Young,

We would like to thank all the departments at the Hilton International Headquarters for their support and especially acknowledge

the Supply Management and Development teams at Hilton Worldwide for all their help – not just with this event but with all the

Foundation events which take place across the region. We also wish to acknowledge all those hotels across the world that

supported our event with prizes - your generosity enabled us to raise over £409,000 net. In addition to table hosts and advertisers,

Hilton in the Community Foundation thanks those listed below, without whom the evening simply wouldn’t have been possible:

AB InBev UK Limited, Adana Hilton SA, Adare International, AG Barr, Alphabet (GB) Ltd, Annodata Ltd, Bacardi, Barry and

Fitzwilliam, BIC Graphic & Norwood Europe, BMW, Boss, Brakes Foodservice Ltd, Brintons Carpets Ltd, British Airways, Broad

Gallery, Burberry Group Plc, Catalyst, Cellar Trends Ltd, Centerprise International Ltd, Central Facilities Group Operations Ltd,

Chamberlain, CheeseCellar, Chris Ring, Classic Fine Foods, Clyde & Co., Coca Cola Enterprises Ltd, Colliers International Property

Consultants Ltd, Conrad Algarve, Conrad Bali, Conrad Beijing, Conrad Dubai, Conrad Hong Kong, Conrad Istanbul, Conrad Koh

Samui, Conrad Maldives Rangali Island, Conrad Pezula Resort & Spa, Cumberland Construction, Cygnet Properties & Leisure plc,

Daval Construction Company, Delfont Mackintosh Theatres, Delice de France, Dentons, Designer Flowers, Destiny Food, Diageo

Plc, Direct Seafoods, Diversey Ltd, DoubleTree by Hilton - Oyster Bay Dar es Salaam, DoubleTree by Hilton Amsterdam Centraal

Station, DoubleTree by Hilton Cape Town Upper Eastside, DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel & Conference Centre La Mola, Entremettier,

EPR Architects Ltd, Fairfax Meadow, Faucets, First Drinks, P Fitzgibbon, Fortnum & Mason, Forward 3D Limited, Frankonia Bread,

Fresh Cut fruit/Veg, Fresh Olive Company – Belazu, Galvin Restaurants, GP Management, H & B Cheese, Hamlins LLP, Hatch,

Heineken UK Ltd, Hilton Al Hamra Beach & Golf Resort, Hilton Antwerp, Hilton Athens, Hilton Cape Town, Hilton Capital Grand Abu

Dhabi, Hilton Cardiff, Hilton Giardini Naxos, Hilton Imperial Dubrovnik, Hilton Istanbul Bomonti Hotel & Conference Centre, Hilton

London Kensington, Hilton Los Cabos Beach and Golf Resort, Hilton Malta, Hilton Mauritius Resort & Spa, Hilton Milan, Hilton

Molino Stucky Venice, Hilton Montreal Bonaventura, Hilton Okinawa Chatan Resort, Hilton Concorde Paris Opera, Hilton ParkSA

Isanbul, Hilton Seychelles Northolme Resort & Spa, Hilton Vienna, Hilton Vienna Danube, Hilton Vienna Plaza, Hilton Worldwide,

Hilton Worldwide - International Division, Hymans Robertson LLP, IDeaS, Indigo Art, Investec Wealth & Investment Limited, J.Mower,

JC Leisure Solutions, John Mower & Co Ltd, Julian Stoneman Associates, Laurent-Perrier UK Ltd, Liddell Linens, London Hilton

on Park Lane, Madhus Ltd, Magners GB Limited, MARS DRINKS, Matthew Clark, Maxxium, McAleer & Rushe Group, Michels &

Taylor, Moet, Natoora Limited, Neil King, Nespresso, Nestle Ray Kemish, Nick Smart, Panaz Ltd, Pernod Ricard, PlayNetwork,

Pommery, Porta Romana, Procurement Team, Production Plus, Rakuten Marketing, Ribble Industrial Estates, Right Formula,

Ritter Courivaud Ltd, Rosemary & Thyme, Russel Hume, Russell Investments, Seafood Holdings, SealedAir, Sekers Fabrics Ltd,

Sema4 LLP, Serta Mattress, Servest, Show Racism the Red Card, Sisk, Splendid

Hotels, Staples Advantage, Steelite International, Swan Mill Paper Company Ltd,

Sysco Guest Supply, T.K.Trading, Tag Worldwide, Tchibo Coffee International,

The Guild of Freemen of the City of London, The United Fresh Consortium Ltd,

Tiger, Town & Country Fine Foods, Translations.com, VingCard Elsafe, Waldorf

Astoria Amsterdam, Waldorf Astoria Berlin, Waldorf Astoria Dubai Palm Jumeirah,

Waldorf Astoria Edinburgh - The Caledonian, Waldorf Astoria Rome Cavalieri,

Waldorf Astoria Shanghai on the Bund, Westmont Hospitality, Xafinity Consulting,

Yoshikawa UK LTD T/A TK trading.


Helping bereaved children smile again - Scotty’s Little Soldiers

Scotty’s Little Soldiers is dedicated to supporting the children of men and women killed whilst serving in the British Armed Forces. The charity was founded by Nikki Scott after her husband was killed in action and she knew her children would grow up without their father in their lives. The charity was nominated as the recipient of the Foundation’s appeal at the Park Lane Ball and will receive over £20,000 thanks to our generous guests.

From those killed in active service to those who lost their fight to an illness or have sadly died in an accident, Scotty’s Little Soldiers is here to support bereaved children. The charity supports them through their childhood as they try to deal with their grief and encourages them to grow and develop as well as enabling them to smile again. Scotty’s Little Soldiers supports these brave children in three different ways:

Support - The charity helps the children come to terms with their loss and deal with their emotions. They send the children on trips and experiences to help them to express their feelings and improve their confidence and they have just started to build a relationship and partnership with Winston’s Wish to enable Scotty’s to offer counselling. Over the past four years the charity has been able to purchase three stunning holiday homes, all located at Haven sites within the UK. The children and their families can go and stay at the lodges totally free of charge when they need some respite.

Strides - To support the children as they get older and to further their development and education. As a charity Scotty’s are still developing this level of support but have started by providing each child with a Scotty Allowance to help fund after school activities and encourage their development.

Smiles - Scotty’s Little Soldier’s helps them to smile and make some new happy memories. The charity helps them to meet other children in the same situation to help make new bonds and friendships. In order to achieve this, the charity sends the children gifts at the toughest times of the year such as birthdays and Christmas as well as vouchers at remembrance and the anniversary of their parents’ death. In December Scotty’s puts on a big Christmas Party for all the members to come together and meet other children in the same situation as themselves. This years party will be in Manchester and is called ‘Scotty’s Fun Fair Christmas Party’.

We are delighted to be able to support the excellent work that Scotty’s Little Soldiers does through collecting pledges at the Hilton in the Community Foundation Ball. Thank you so much to everyone who pledged £477 to support a family at a very difficult time.

Nikki with daughter Brooke at one of the Scotty’s cabins


The Elizabeth Foundation

At the beginning of 2014, HCF was delighted to award the Elizabeth Foundation with a grant for £10,407 to support their Bright Futures project. The Elizabeth Foundation provides a range of early intervention and support services for very young deaf children and babies, and their families. This includes emotional support and advice for families at the time of diagnosis, nursery group education programmes, one to one education and support, and a home learning programme. The Bright Futures project focussed on supporting over 60 young children, through the refurbishment of a room to enhance the learning environment and in turn to help the children ‘catch up’ with non-deaf peers by the age of five with a view to going on to learn alongside them. The refurbished room included an observation window, storage units, a new carpet and a sound system.

Pete Harris, a teacher at the school said: “As a Teacher of the Deaf I know that it is absolutely crucial that children are provided with a bright, clean and stimulating environment in order to help maximize their learning potential.”

A parent of one of the pupils at the school said: “I found it so difficult to leave my child as he always cried when I walked out of the classroom; although the teachers assured me that with gentle encouragement he would soon settle and join in, I still always left feeling very anxious and not really knowing how to help my son. The observation window has taken away all my fears as I can see him calm down almost instantly, and watch how he responds to his teacher and classmates. I can now relax, and gain a much better understanding of how he learns. This will mean that I, and his Dad, can help progress his language at home, talking through what he has learnt and what he will be doing next.”Parents find the observation window very helpful.


Global Week of ServiceWe’ve had loads of updates from your Global Week of Service activities, where you have chosen to support a HCF charity partner or grantee in your activites. We’ve really enjoyed hearing about all the brilliant and worthwhile projects you undertook during October to help our charity partners.

A musical extravaganza in

Budapest

For their Global Week of Service activities Hilton Budapest decided to raise awareness of children who are living with blindness. They organised a Music Art Day for a group of 40 school children, of whom 25 had visual impairments. They played games which are designed to explore the different senses, where they could only use touch or sound.

A musical performance by Talamba’s Percussion Group was the highlight of the day, as they played music from a variety of cultures and countries including Hungarian Folk music, Balkan music and more. The children had a chance to try their hand at playing the percussion instruments afterwards, with the assistance of volunteers from Hilton Budapest.

Offering people with disabilities a Real Choice

Real Choice are an independent, north east regional specialist day college for people with learning disabilities. Their aim is to give learners the opportunity to further their vocational knowledge, skills and understanding, their functional skills and personal and social development. Real choice has minimal resources, so for Global Week of Service team members from Hilton Newcastle Gateshead volunteered to paint classrooms to assist the College. Team members Martin Robinson, General Manager; Sally Bennett, Director of Operations; Dan Slater, Fitness Instructor; James Pike,

Room Attendant; Emily Rugg, Business Center Co-ordinator; Marta Winiarska, Restaurant Manager and Sharon Hay, HR Officer, volunteered their time to paint three classrooms for the students. Marie Matthewson, Education/Quality Manager at Real Choice said that the staff and students were delighted. The Hilton Newcastle Gateshead Blue Energy team were also scheduled to visit Real Choice again this November to provide and deliver Afternoon Tea to the teachers in recognition of their hard work.


HCF granted £10,000 to ice cool kids to purchase new skiing equipment for children with disabilities. They purchased 3 new ski sits (2 snow gliders and 1 Tessier bi-unique) and 2 new standing frames. The specialist equipment is in high demand, so having more means that families don’t have to wait as long to use the equipment, and as a result the number of children on each slope has increased. As well as providing dry-slope equipment here in the UK, Ice Cool Kids also take groups to France to experience skiing on real snow, as you can see by these great photos.

“We have continued to run monthly ski sessions for disabled children at the dry ski slope at Penmbry Country Park and the new equipment has been a tremendous help, it has allowed us to increase the number of disabled children on the sessions/lessons. We have so many children attending our sessions who need the specialist equipment, now they don’t have to wait so long for their turn. We run weekend residential trips to Llangrannog twice a year and have used the equipment there as well. In addition we have also used the equipment on snow, giving disabled children the opportunity of experiencing the thrill of skiing on real snow.” Julie Harvey, Vice Chairperson of Ice Cool Kids told us.

We are delighted to continue supporting young people to gain access to fabulous opportunities like this, and look forward to hearing more about Ice Cool Kids in the future.

Ice Cool Kids


Learning about hospitality in Athens

Hilton Athens opened up the hotel to local children. Two days full of experiences were organised by the team for the children of two Athenian orphanages. The agenda included a swimming lesson from a lifeguard in the indoor pool of Hiltonia Spa, a “Healthy Cooking” session by their Executive Chef and his team, a “Healthy Living” training seminar by the Hiltonia Spa personal trainers and a “Building Your Career” seminar by our Training Manager.

Tina Toribaba told us “The kids really enjoyed their day at the Hilton Athens since they had the chance to learn some useful things for their lives while having fun. Based on their enthusiastic feedback , we think that we have already planted in them “the seed of hospitality” for their future career.”

Children decorate chef hats for a cooking session

For their Global Week of Service activities this year, team members from Hilton Manchester Airport supported the Together Trust. The Together Trust has a number of residential homes in the community where children in care live; the foundation has supported them with over £2,4000 to date. A team of carers work at the house to provide the children with around the clock care. This year team members from Hilton Manchester volunteered their time to helped repaint walls in the living room, and then painted the summer house and shed in the garden.

Foundation Star of the Month

This month’s Foundation Stars are the Concierge team at Hilton London Kensington. Team members Anthony Lynch and Tim Quye attended HCF Grantee Rugby Portobello Trust’s Christmas Fayre on 18 and 19 November. As well as promoting the hotel in the community, together they sold over 80 sets of ducks, an incredible amount in just two days! Congratulations and massive thanks go to Anthony and Tim, and all the concierge team.

Together in Manchester

Anthony with Charlie Chaplain at this year’s Prohibition Ball Tim and the ducks

Children learn about how to build their career


The stars shine bright in Liverpool

Hilton Hotel Liverpool One hosted their fifth annual Star Ball on Saturday 18 October to support Hilton in the Community Foundation and Claire House, a Children’s Hospice based in Wirral.

The glamorous ball was jointly hosted by Radio City Breakfast Presenter Simon Ross and City Talk’s Peter Price. Guests were welcomed with a Champagne Reception and canapés, followed by a sumptuous four course dinner.

Celebrity guests joining General Manager Marcus Magee included Claire Sweeney who was with her partner Daniel Reilly, John Barnes who was with his wife Andrea, actress and TV presenter Terri Dwyer who was with husband Sean Marley, and actress Gillian Kearney.

Entertainment included performances from Alan Cross and Ashley Morgan, before the American Drifters filled the dance floor with a party set of motown classics. The event raised over £33,000 for the charities with some amazing auction prizes including a 10 night stay in a Deluxe Garden view room at the luxury resort Conrad Bali including a £1,500 flight voucher, a Boodles diamond set Love Letter necklace, VIP tickets for celebrity Big Brother including a behind the scenes experience and a round of golf with football star Steven Gerrard.

Photo top: The Star Ball lived up to its name. Photos above: The gorgeous ball room; and party-goers enjoy the evening.


Hilton Liverpool General Manager, Marcus Magee, said “I am delighted that the fifth Hilton Liverpool Star Ball has raised much needed funds to support disadvantaged children and young people. I would also like to sincerely thank our team at the Hilton, sponsors, those who have donated prizes and bid for prizes and most of all those who came along to support our ball”.

HCF would like to thank Seafood Direct, Deli-Fresh, Matthew Clark and Town & City Foods for all their support.Thanks so much to everyone who was involved in making the ball such a success for all your hard work and congratulations on holding a fantastic event.

Top: Singer Alan Cross wows the crowd. Bottom: An appreciative audience take in the glamorous surroundings


Adam* was 23 years old when he was referred to the BYHP Unlocking Potential Programme. At this point in his life, Adam was homeless. When a person loses their home, they lose far more than just the roof over their head. In Adam’s case he had already experienced several losses in his life; the loss of a parent, an unstable home environment and a breakdown in family relationships. Adam didn’t gain any formal qualifications during his school years and his overall experience of the education system was a negative one. His self-esteem and motivation at the time of joining the programme was non-existent, as he had never worked in his life.

HCF provided £10,000 for BYHP to run a three year programme, Unlocking Potential. This project provides training and mentoring for young vulnerable people who are not in education, employment or training. They train approximately 80 young people a year and have a job club where they support them to find and apply for work.

Adam said to the Unlocking Potential trainer, Aida, “Good luck with finding me work experience, no one else has ever been able to!” His joblessness also contributed to building friction in the family home with the

consequence of him becoming homeless.

Through their person-centred approach BYHP slowly started working with Adam, drawing out positives in his life, building on these and gradually gaining his trust. Throughout the course Adam began to realise that he did have a lot to offer, resulting in a new desire in him to get a full time job that would enable him to get a house of his own.

Adam completed BYHP’s 6 week training programme and was given work experience AT BYHP’s on a Roll, their social enterprise Pantry, where he exceeded expectations. This was his first ever experience of work and he began to really believe in himself. BYHP kept supporting him with job applications, CV tailoring, and he attended their Job Club searching for work. They found an advertisement for a local three month contract with the possibility of leading to a permanent position, which support workers thought Adam would be great at. They discussed the position with him, and after his enthusiastic response managed to secure an interview; a few days later he was offered the position. Adam absolutely flourished in this working environment, finished the three month trial and was offered a permanent, full-time position. He has now been there for over a year and thoroughly enjoys his job.

Deb Parker, the action CEO of BYHP told us: “Adam is a different boy to the one who came through our door. With his salary, he has managed to rent a place for himself, at last a place to call home and he is able to budget for his food and cover all his necessities. He has learned a great deal of new skills in his job, and he now has a sense of belonging, a purpose in life and is really happy.”

*Adam’s real name has been changed to protect his identity

Helping disadvantaged young people unlock their potential


Hilton Stanstead Airport received a visit from pupils of Columbus School, Chelmsford recently. The visiting pupils spent time with hotel staff who taught them some important life skills, including learning how to cook a pizza, make beds, hoover and much more. The children had a great day, as you can see by this lovely artwork that they made to say thank you to the staff. Team members at Hilton Stanstead had a great time too, and are hoping to roll out the initiative to other schools in the area.

Cooking classes at Stanstead

Training the brain in Newbury North

Team members from Livingwell Health Club in Hilton Newbury North put their general knowledge to the test recently, when they held a charity pub quiz. The winning team took home a fantastic prize of a three course meal at Hilton Newbury Centre and the event raised just over £1000 for HCF. Thanks very much to everyone who took part. Pictured left is the winning team!

On 25 October, the 25th Keighley Beavers, Cubs, Scouts & Leaders visited Hilton Leeds. Hannah and Janet McAteer met the group at the station and took them to the Hotel, where they spent time with Housekeeping in two of the bedrooms, learning about hospitality and taking on the challenge of a bed making competition. They also visited F&B and learned how to fold napkins and lay a table. Thierry the Chef hosted cupcake decorating in their City 3 Restaurant. All of the winners from each competition were awarded for their

efforts. Janet told us “It was a great opportunity, once again to showcase our wonderful hotel to a younger audience.”

Scouting around in Leeds

Clowning around in Florence

Hilton Hotels in Florence partnered with Dynamo Academy, based at Dynamo Camp in Limestre (Pistoia province) in a beautiful 900-acre WWF-affiliated Oasis, for GWS. The camp runs recreational therapy programmes for children who are sick, and all of the profits raised by hiring out their facilities goes back into the running of the camp.

Team members joined Dynamo staff early in the morning who warmly welcomed and introduced them to the organisation, structure and goals. They were then taken on a tour of the whole Camp, part of the WWF Oasis and the recreational facilities. After having lunch in the canteen with staff and children they were trained as jugglers by a professional teacher, put on make up and costumes and performed a clown routine for the children, before finishing off the day by dining together.

Valentina Sostegni, Training Manager at Hilton Florence Metropole said: “The whole experience was moving, intense and priceless. We are so thankful for the opportunity to focus on such important Community issues and to live this exceptional human experience.”


Bake it better at DT London West EndThe DoubleTree by Hilton London West End team took part in BAKE IT BETTER, hosted by Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH). DoubleTree’s Chef provided attendants with 100 DT delicious cookies and all the cookie decorating equipment they needed. Team members helped children to decorate cookies which were then sold on to make money for GOSH.

GOSH is one of the world’s leading hospitals specializing in care for sick children, and HCF has granted them over £8,000 to date. The money raised through the bake sale will help fund the building of a state-of-the-art clinical building which will ensure patients receive world-class care in the best possible facilities. The day also featured a special guest in the form of Great British Bake Off star Richard Burr who judged the very special Bake Off at Great Ormond Street Hospital. Richard also met patients, who joined him to decorate the cookies.

Supporting young people in Portugal

DoubleTree By Hilton Lisbon – Fontana Park partnered with Raizes, Associação de Apoio à Criança e ao Jovem. Raizes is a Portuguese charity which promotes the inclusion and the improvement of the quality of life for those vulnerable to social risks, in particular children and young people without family support.

A group joined with children from Raizes to paint three study rooms and one computer room (100 m2 in total) which are used by the children for study support activities, computer courses and preparation of audiovisual content. Team members also collected and donated school supplies for children of the

Claquete project belonging to Raízes Association. The hotel also offered a two day internship to young people who were interested, to give them an insight into the world of hospitality and Hilton Worldwide.

Over the past 12 months the Blue Energy Team at Hilton Coylumbridge have been assisting the local Aviemore Primary School with their gardening project and this work will continue in the foreseeable future. HCF awarded the school £300 earlier this year to assist with the provision of a pond in the school grounds which is part of the children’s environmental project.

Creating outdoor spaces


Les Mills rocks out

Following sell out events in London, Glasgow and Belfast Les Mills’ GFX series took over the ACC Liverpool in November for the final event in the GFX series and delivered a day-long festival of cutting-edge fitness, bringing together more than 2,000 fitness experts, instructors and enthusiasts alike. Hosting the hottest dance, high intensity interval training, martial arts, indoor cycling and mind body workouts, GFX demonstrated to the North-West what group fitness is all about in true Les Mills style!

Dave Kyle, UK head trainer for Les Mills UK says: “Liverpool was the biggest and best GFX event we have hosted so far. The atmosphere was electric and it was inspiring to see so many people taking part and really getting stuck in with the Les Mills programmes – it really showed the power of group exercise. The reason we host such showcase events like this is to demonstrate best practice. It’s great to show, on a big stage and shows how great trainers and instructors can captivate an audience and inspire consumers with our group training programmes. The feedback is always extremely positive and we know the consumers and indeed instructors who attend (about a 50:50 split of consumers and instructors) return to their clubs feeling energised and engaged with the programmes.”

Local charity, the Steven Gerrard Foundation received a £3,500 donation from the Les Mills Fund for Children, a charitable fund set up by Les Mills UK and operated by Hilton in the Community Foundation, and the main man himself took time out of his busy schedule to come along and personally accept the cheque and learn about how Les Mills is creating a fitter planet.

Steven Gerrard said: “It was great to see the event itself, and the Les Mills Fund for Children is doing a fantastic job. Health and Fitness is definitely becoming more popular and events such as these are a fantastic opportunity to increase awareness of the benefits a healthy lifestyle can have. We are very grateful to all involved with choosing my foundation to receive this donation.”


Coffee, umbrellas and entertainment: GWS in PragueAs part of Global Week of Service Hilton Prague Hotel and Hilton Prague Old Town organised “Coffee Training” to support HCF’s partner organization Café Martin. Café Martin is a training coffee room for young people with mental disabilities. These young people have difficulties finding work and Café Martin helps them to find self-confidence, motivation and to improve and develop skills needed for working in hospitality. The young people were invited to the hotels and given a tour of the facilities. Training was organized in the popular Hilton Prague sky bar Cloud 9 where team members gave participants training on the preparation and service of different types of coffee and special non-alcoholic cucumber lemonade. Café Martin clients then had

the chance to prepare cappuccino and lemonade for themselves, and at the end of the day they received a present of books with information about coffee, service, basic English phrases with full phonetic description and translations. The feedback was very positive and Hilton Hotels in Prague plan to continue offering support and cooperation.

Hilton Hotels in Prague also organized a Garage Sale to support the Wild Goose Foundation. The Foundation provides support to smaller charities in the social and healthcare sectors. Furniture, kitchenware, bedding, books and so much more was offered to Team Members for some great prices. The Garage Sale was held over two days and thanks to all team members who supported they were able to raise more than €3,500. There was also a Charity Auction which featured umbrellas painted by Czech celebrities for team members and special guests to bid on. The auction was accompanied by a fashion show where the celebrities showed off their umbrella creations. The auctioneer Karel Vorisek (a popular TV news broadcaster) created a relaxed and friendly atmosphere full of fun and energy for the event. Altogether they were able to raise another €3,000.

Carrying on with their good work, Hilton Hotels in Prague organised dinner for 50 local senior citizens, which was also in celebration of the Worldwide Day of Seniors. Executive teams of Hilton Hotels in Prague and partner companies were introduced as waiters for the evening. A fantastic programme of entertainment was organized for the event which

included a delicious three-course-dinner and live songs.

Enormous thanks and congratulations go to everyone at Hilton Hotels in Prague who have worked so hard to make such a big difference to so many people and in their community.

Photos, from top: Cafe Martin teaches young people how to make coffee; a beautifully painted umbrella; and the seniors dinner.


Putting on the glitz

On 15 November Hilton Avisford Park held their 2014 ball “Putting on the Glitz”. As well as supporting HCF they partnered with The Sussex Snowdrop Trust - a charity that provides nursing care at home for children with life-threatening or terminal illnesses. The hotel welcomed over 220 guests for a very busy and glamorous evening of entertainment. Guests were able to take part in a Champagne raffle, a Lucky ticket competition, a table game, a silent auction, a raffle and casino tables. Throughout the evening they were entertained by a live band and took to the floor to dance to the DJ and disco. The ball raised £13,000 for Hilton in the Community Foundation and The Sussex Snowdrop Trust, a fantastic achievement.

Philippa Redwood, from the Hilton Avisford Park Executive Office told us “It was a great evening with feedback from our guests being very positive.”

Special thanks go to Matthew Clark for their generous support, and enormous thanks and huge congratulations go to everyone involved in making it such a special evening.

Top: Philippa Redwood 9right) presents a prize voucher to the winner. Above left: The decorated tables. Right: The top-hat centrepiece created by Chief Engineer Mervyn Woodruff and his Assistant John Rawlings


South East Simon Community has been providing services to people experiencing homelessness and at risk of homelessness throughout the South East Region of Ireland since 2004. John Keane, one of South East Simon Community’s Keyworkers, talked to us about the project.

With HCF funding the charity was able to deliver a self-development and self-advocacy project for 15 young adults aged 17-25 with the aim to equip them with the confidence, self-belief, skills and knowledge to become active participants in their local community.

The 11 month programme consisted of both group interactive fortnightly workshops and one to work support with a dedicated support worker from the charity. The aim of the project was two-fold; to empower the young people to identify and develop areas in their lives that would support them in gaining employment (self-esteem, education, CV writing, interview skills, job searching, positive use of time and local resources) and secondly to gain the ability and self-confidence to speak for themselves (self-advocacy skills and knowledge of their own rights and entitlements).

All 15 participants successfully took part in the programme and this project has helped young people such as Charlie and Rory.

Charlie

At the start, Charlie was living with his mother, who has poor mental health. His life was chaotic and his living arrangements precarious. Charlie had poor mental health, little expectations from himself and he saw himself as a failure. Charlie has dropped out of school and has been in the care of the state on several occasions.

By engaging in this Project, Charlie has identified areas in his life that he wants to develop, such as continuing his education, getting a job and getting his own place. He has also been empowered to make positive changes in his life in order achieve his personal goals. Charlie has achieved sourcing and maintaining his own tenancy in a flat; he has put in significant efforts in building up his self-esteem and self-belief and has now applied for a cookery course.

Rory

At the start of this work, Rory was homeless and was considering dropping out of school. He was feeling down and hopeless all the time; he was misusing alcohol and was leading a chaotic life.

By engaging with this Project, Rory learned what his entitlements are and how to deal with landlords. He has also learned how to communicate with landlords and with other service providers. At present Rory has found a flat and he is maintaining his tenancy, overcoming his homelessness. The most significant impact that this Project had on Rory is the fact that he is continuing his education, having identified the need to complete it in order to secure employment. Rory is also managing his mental wellbeing and his alcohol misuse through the activities undertaken during this Project.

Helping young homeless people back into employment

South East Simon Community Keyworker John Keane


Team members from Hilton Cobham have been working with HCF partner Jigsaw, to help improve their facilities. Jigsaw CABAS school opened in 1999 for children with Autism Spectrum disorders. It’s one of a few schools in the UK offering a structured programme of intensive intervention based on the principles of Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA). Jigsaw, with funding of over £20,000 from HCF, opened the Café on the Park in 2012. The café offers young people and adults with autism work and training experience in hospitality.

Hilton Cobham team members have been volunteering at the café since it opened. For Global Week of Service they wanted to help improve the appearance of the front of the café. They told us:

“With our royal contacts at Cobham we decided to approach The Royal Gardens at Hampton Court. When they heard about our plan and the benefits this would bring to JIGSAW School they happily donated two wonderful Bay trees and a number of other beautiful evergreen plants.”

With the assistance of Maple Court, who donated wood and trellis, they got to work creating planters. Over the course of the day, and with the help of some Jigsaw volunteers, they transformed the front of the café. Jigsaw team members were completely delighted, and Noelle who runs the Cafe passed on the following:

“A BIG BIG thank you from all of us here at the Café. Honestly we have received nothing but high praise this morning – it just looks, and is, fab! We feel very ‘posh’ and honoured and we have now added the ‘maintenance’ of this area to our work experience opportunities.”

A royal makeover for Jigsaw

Giving back in Amsterdam

Team members from DoubleTree by Hilton Amsterdam Centraal Station visited HCF grantee Stichting Heppie. Ronald de Lange, along with Front Office Manager Douwe Bakker, went to volunteer at the centre for the day.

Stichting Heppie runs activities and holidays for disadvantaged children in the Netherlands. HCF has granted the charity with over £14,000 of grants since 2008. Volunteers from DoubleTree spent the day playing with the kids, cleaning and making dinner. It was a great success and lots of fun.

The team with their finished handywork

The beautiful trees donated by The Royal Gardens


Wednesday 3/12/2014

Friday 5/12/2014

Saturday 06/12/2014

Sunday 07/12/2014

Wednesday 10/12/2014


Friday 12/12/2014



Thursday 1/1/2015

Thursday 01/01/2015

Saturday 31/01/2015

Ankara HiltonSA

Panathlon Christmas Lunch

Athénéé Palace Hilton Bucharest

Hilton Watford

Hilton Sofia

Hilton Sofia

Hilton Molino Stucky Venice

Hilton Munich Park

Hilton The Hague

Hilton Paris La Défense

Hilton Milan

Hilton Munich Park

Cankaya Municipality

Hilton London Stanstead

Christmas Trees with Mia’s Children

Children’s Christmas Party

Christmas Fundraiser

IWC Charity Bazaar

Christmas Charity Lottery

Stollenverkauf

Ronald Mac Donald house/cash box

Party

Raffle of the Epiphany

Flomarkt

If you would like to attend any of these events, please visit the events page on our website to book. If you have any other events not shown, do tell us at [email protected].

If you have activities that you would like to be included in the next edition of Highlights please contact us on [email protected]

We wish you the best of luck with all of your HCF activities and thank you for creating brighter futures.

Upcoming events for your diary:

Children enjoy a break thanks to HCF grantee Scotty’s Little Soldiers

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