BANYAN TREE PHUKET DRIVES CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY INITIATIVES FOR ITS SEEDLINGS PROGRAMME

Phuket, Thailand, 14 April 2009 – As part of Banyan Tree Phuket’s Seedlings mentorship programme, the resort’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Committee arranged for a group of its young mentees to participate in the annual Laguna Phuket Turtle Release Ceremony. Organised by Laguna Phuket, this meaningful event is an ongoing effort to protect Thailand’s endangered sea turtles. On 3 April 2009, two young participants aged 13 and 15 years old from the Seedlings programme were invited to join in the festivities and play their part in turtle conservation.

Leading up to the actual release ceremony, the children were given the rare opportunity to hold the young hatchlings in their hands before an emotional send-off that saw them disappear from the shoreline and into the Andaman Sea. Banyan Tree Phuket’s associates and residents from the Laguna Phuket area also came to observe the momentous event, signaling a strong commitment from the resort and the community towards preserving the local culture and tradition, as well as the protection and conservation of these endangered species.

About Seedlings Programme
Initiated in 2007 by Banyan Tree Hotels and Resorts, Seedlings is a tri-phase community outreach programme that aims to offer opportunity and support to children considered at risk of societal exclusion. This initiative is broken into three stages of mentorship, scholarship and internship to provide children with the motivation and means to complete their education and successfully enter the labour force as adults.

Mentorship, the first phase of the programme, mobilises associates from Banyan Tree resorts to inspire youths between the age of 12 and 18 to achieve what previously might have been beyond their means. To effectively mentor youths, associates from Banyan Tree undergo training implemented by the University of Wales which has facilitated national mentoring schemes in over five countries.

Scholarships to cover school fees are offered to youths who cannot afford to continue their education. Internships within the supporting Banyan Tree resort will provide job training and valuable work experience in any of the resort’s operational areas upon the completion of school and at the option of the youths. This could include housekeeping, food and beverage, engineering, frontline customer service, marketing, reservations, procurement, security or landscape architecture.

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