We are pleased to announce HOST have won silver in the final of the HPC Excellence Awards for the category Community Contribution.

The awards celebrate the 13 top performers across two themes Project Delivery and People and Behaviours. The Gala Awards Ceremony took place at the Winter Gardens Pavilion in Weston-Super-Mare on Wednesday 23^rd November, were each winner of gold, silver and bronze was announced. 

Our Nomination:

HOST’s ethos as a business is to have a positive impact on people’s lives and the local community in which we operate which we aim to do in a number of ways and I why I believe we should be considered for this award. 

HOST have for a number of years been partnered with Foxes Academy in Minehead and offers work experience to the students who are studying hospitality with them. Details of the partnership can be found here https://www.host-rhm.com/case-studies/foxes-academy this has had a huge impact on the students who need the work experience as part of their 3rd year studies. Our third set of 6 students are due to start with us this September and will have weekly work experience sessions with us until June. 

Supported Traineeships – HOST signed up to this project wide scheme for the second time. From the first cohort in 2018 we were able to offer permanent, paid employment to all 3 of our placements and 2 of those are still in their positions now 4 years later. 

HOST had a regeneration of the pillows at the campuses and donated over 400 of our old (yet completely usable) pillows to two local charities the local YMCA and Arc. Quote from Arc:

"Many of our clients come to Arc with next to nothing. Bedding and comfort are things that a lot of us take for granted, so being given a fresh set on arrival can have such a positive impact on our residents as well as a warm welcome to the next steps of their journey. It is thanks to our fantastic supporters, like yourselves, that we are able to provide good quality, second-hand bedding that may have otherwise been discarded. This not only reduces our costs, but also reduces waste and our impact on the environment, something that we feel passionately about. 

The 100 pillows donated by HPC are being distributed to Arc residents who are currently experiencing homelessness. We have around 170 clients at any one time, and you are supporting so many of them with your generosity. As a small and local charity, it can be difficult to afford the purchase of so much bedding and we are therefore very grateful that you chose to donate to us."

As part of the government funded kickstart project HOST offered a placement as a general administrator, as the placement came to an end we secured a maternity cover position within the company and also enrolled them onto a training course in GDPR to ensure they would have a good chance of securing a role after the maternity cover ended. With training and mentoring they have now secured a full-time role within the project and have started on their career path. 

Old electrical equipment laptops/phones etc and old branded stationary are all donated to the local schools/charities in the area and we have approached the local job centre about our older unused Front Office uniforms (shirts and suit jackets) to see if they would like them for job seekers who might not have anything smart to wear to interviews. 

At Easter HOST held a collection of Eggs and Arts and Crafts items for our nominated charity, The Children’s Hospice South-West. We collected over 60 items and delivered them to children staying at our local hospice in Devon in time for Easter.