CRH Simon Safety Challenge

On 3rd July 2007 CRH announced that it was joining forces with the Simon Communities of Ireland and Simon Northern Ireland in rolling out an ambitious new charity venture that proposed the building giant making an annual contribution of up to €1 million towards the campaign to end homelessness while achieving improved safety in the workplace.

The CRH Simon Safety Challenge is an all-island initiative and assists in Simon's important work in tackling homelessness north and south of the border. For every accident free quarter (3 months) achieved at any CRH company location across the island of Ireland, a sum of money is donated to the Simon Community operating in that region.

Company locations that achieve a full accident-free year will get to donate an additional 25% bonus paument on top of the four combined quarterly donations. Simon Communities in Dublin, Dundalk, Cork, Galway, the Midlands, the Mid West, the North West and the South East and Simon Community Northern Ireland will all benefit from the challenege.

The monetary contribution from CRH to the Simon Communities around Ireland in the first two years of the CRH Simon Safety Challenege is €1.62 million.

Year one generated €777,062 and year saw €842,355 raised for the Simon Communities. The significant increase of funding made available to Simon via the initiative in year two marked a noted improvement in the health and safety record of CRH locations on the island of Ireland from year one to year two.

Launching the initiative, Donal Dempsey, Regional Managing Director with CRH said the theme of shelter provision was all-important. "CRH is one of the largest building material suppliers in teh world and we see an immediate connection with an organisation like SImon, who are synonomous with helping to shelter and house the most vulnerable members of our society. Every single member of our 7,000 strong workforce north and south will be involved in the success of this every worthy project."

According to Patrick Burke, CEO of the Simon Communities of Ireland "Being homeless is more than being without a roof over your head; it's about a lack of security, lack of belonging, lack of privacy and a lack of safety. We are delighted this project will deliver a twin benefit in the form of much needed funding for important homelessness projects while helping to imporve health and safety standards within CRH. We look forward to working in partnership on these important initiatives."

In addition to raising funding, the initiative has also helped to increase general awareness of the local Simon Community's work as well as the issue of homelessness to specific audiences. The Simon Communities of Ireland has undertaken a number of direct communications initiatives with CRH employees to inform staff of the outputs of the funds raised. CRH and the Simon Communities of Ireland have also worked together to profile the initiative through a public relations campaign. This has had the effect of helping to keep the issue of homelessness on the public agenda whilst underlining the importance of large corporate donors like CRH playing their part in helping some of the most vulnerable members of our society.

Simon and CRH place huge importance both on workplace safety and the continued commitment that this innovative approach to corporate social responsbility brings.

The companies participating in the Challenge include the building materials providers Roadstone, Northstone and John A Wood as well as Ireland's largest cement producer Irish Cement Ltd.

CRH Simon Safety Challenge at a glance:

  • Annual contribution of up to €1 million to be invested by CRH towards the campaign to end homelessness
  • To date €1.62 million has been raised by the initiative
  • For every accident free quarter achieved at any company location in Ireland, a sum of money will be donated to the Simon Community operating in that region
  • For a full accident-free year a 25% bonus payment will be donated on top of 4 quarterly contributions
  • Simon Communities in Cork, Dublin, Dundalk, Galway, Midlands, Mid West, North West, South East and Simon Community Northern Ireland will all benefit from the Challenege

CRH Simon Safety Challenge - An Award Winning Partnership

  • PRII Excellence Award - CRH and Drury Communications were successful in winning an Excellence Award for the CRH Simon Safety Challenge in the category "Corporate Communications - Corporate Social Responsibility" in July 2008
  • Chambers Ireland President's Awards for Corporate Social Responsibility - CRH Ireland were awarded the overall winner in the "Responsible Employer" category in September 2009