UKRAINE: Premier Inn has partnered with humanitarian aid charity Hope and Aid Direct to donate and convoy up to 2,000 mattresses to support people impacted by the war in Ukraine.
The partnership follows 50,000 duvet and pillow sets already donated to those affected by events in Turkey as well as Ukraine plus a £500,000 commitment by parent company Whitbread to the Disasters Emergency Committee.
The project was the idea of supply chain manager Nathan Philip, who identified an opportunity to align Premier Inn’s bed replacement scheme – believed to be the biggest of its kind in UK history – with the firm’s long standing Force for Good sustainability strategy.
As part of the project many of Premier Inn’s suppliers were asked to donate, store and deliver the items ahead of donation to shelters.
Philip explained that when the war in Ukraine started the company was already going through its bedding replacement programme, upgrading tens of thousands of duvets and pillows – as well as all of the mattresses across its hotels.
“While the mattresses were at the end of their commercial life, they weren’t at the end of their useful life, so we identified an opportunity to donate them to people displaced by the war, ” he said.
Premier Inn, in partnership with Hope and Aid Direct and Ukraine-based charitable partner Ukraine on Palms worked together to deliver the items.
Charles Storer MBE, head of operations, Hope and Aid Direct said: “Hope and Aid is a bridge between corporates and charities – we take aid, not sides. But when it comes to giving aid, many companies don’t know where to start as humanitarian aid logistics aren’t as simple as they seem.
“We have a unique relationship with Premier Inn in that we work directly with them to form a plan of action to quickly get those things where they need to be.”
“I implore other companies to follow Whitbread’s lead,” he added.
Hope and Aid Direct have donation points across the UK.
In November Accor partnered with bed manufacturer Hilding Anders International AB to give a second life to beds and mattresses in Spain and Portugal. More than 6,700 beds and mattresses were rehomed, mainly through charity shops, in-need people associations and homeless shelters.
Accor initiative sees thousands of hotel beds and mattresses get a second life