Social responsibility
“We are committed to offering the underprivileged communities an opportunity for a better and more sustainable future.”
As a pioneer of Corporate Social Responsibility in Mauritius, Fondation Espoir Développement Beachcomber (FED) aims at promoting the socio-economic development of Mauritius, as well as preserving its natural and cultural heritage so that the country remains an attractive touristic destination.
As part of our commitment to sustainable development, our numerous CSR projects help communities by offering training and employment opportunities to vulnerable youth, promoting small entrepreneurs, education, and more. You can view a selection of our current projects below.
Projet Employabilité Jeunes (PEJ)
The PEJ project trains young job seekers in the academic and social skills necessary for a healthy personal and professional life. Through the programme, these youths are trained for jobs in various departments of the hospitality industry, such as room service, maintenance, the kitchen, and more.
Beautiful localhands
The Beautiful Hands programme promotes the work of local craftsmen and traditional Mauritian crafts in the boutiques and hotels on the island.
Duke of Edinburgh Award
The Duke of Edinburgh Awards is a collaboration between the FED and the Ministry of Youth aimed at boys and girls aged 14-24. The programme helps them develop new skills by making them regularly participate in community service activities as well as sports. With the assistance of Beachcomber, Artisans, who are part of the FED member committee, help recruit, support, and encourage young people in their village to participate in the Duke of Edinburgh Award.
Regional committees for la Fondation Espoir et Développement (FED)
Each of our business units is part of a regional committee of the FED. Through these committees, we are able to bring about change through numerous social projects such as the following:
- Victoria Beachcomber and Pointe aux Piments Government School collaborate to fight absenteeism of pupils from vulnerable backgrounds and provide them with academic support.
- Trou-aux-Biches Beachcomber collaborates with Ecole Notre Dame de Fatima, a school which offers non-formal education to out-of-school youths. Artisans of the hotel provide training in hospitality skills to the pupils who also come for short educational visits and placements at the hotel.
- Artisans of Shandrani Beachcomber organize introduction sessions to Information Technology in the villages of the South-East in collaboration with the IT Caravan of the National Computer Board.
- An Artisan of Head Office who is also responsible of scouts groups in Curepipe has set up a roving library for the scouts. Freshly retired Beachcomber employees have also contributed to the project by sorting the books.
Beautiful neighbours
As good neighbours, Beachcomber invites children from the community to share a meal and play at the hotel with our guests’ children.
Are you interested in helping our community and protecting our environment? Please click here to find out more on how Beachcomber can provide you with the platform to do so!
Vulnerable youth in Mauritius are often unprepared for workplace realities and struggle to enter mainstream society. To help address this issue, the FED launched the Projet Employabilité Jeunes (Youth Employability Project, PEJ) in 2004.
The aim of the project is twofold: To train their academic and social skills and offer them work placements in Beachcomber hotels.
About the project
PEJ follows up on a successful pilot project in 2001, which saw four vulnerable youth from the Tamarin region securing full-time employment at Dinarobin Hotel Golf & Spa. The project was then implemented across Beachcomber hotels.
Since 2004, over 1,900 young people have benefited from the project, with half of them securing full-time employment. Some are pursuing an international career in tourism, while others have successfully moved into other fields.
In addition to helping them make a living for themselves and their families, former PEJ trainees are role models in their community, helping prove that hard work and willpower are a viable way out of poverty.
For the community
The success of the PEJ project and its trainees create a sense of opportunity in their communities. For the community, the Beachcomber hotels offer the tools for a rewarding and personal work-life, leading regional committees to encourage vulnerable youth to join the program.
In addition to this, the project serves as an ambassador for FED by helping them secure links with civil society organisations and various government authorities, allowing them more opportunities to continue their positive impact on society. In addition to the vocational training provided by the project, FED ensures that resource persons from NGOs come to provide training on specific themes such as drug addiction, AIDS, and labour law, further benefiting the community.
Mauritius is home to many talented craft workers. Many of which go unnoticed.
In 2006, Fondation Espoir Développement launched the Beautiful Localhands project to help these artisans by giving them the opportunity to develop their skills and sell their products to the tourist market. The project is a resounding success and generates income for vulnerable people, their communities, and helps preserve traditional crafts and cultural heritage.
Many of the 55 artisans who work regularly with FED are women who use their income to improve the quality of life of their families, and give their children a better education.
Helping vulnerable individuals
The project operates on a flexible structure which allows craft workers to set their own work schedules. They can either work from home or in the project’s workshop in Bambous. This system helps those unable to cope with the demands of a conventional business enterprise such as elderly women and the disabled to earn an income.
More than an economic advantage, the project helps these vulnerable individuals beat isolation by offering them a platform to share their experiences and struggles with others and in turn, improve their self-esteem.
Helping small businesses grow - Preserving our heritage
Many of the craft workers involved in the project have their own clientele. These small entrepreneurs are able to expand their business by selling part of their products through Beautiful Localhands and by enabling them to produce work of a higher quality, which attracts more clients.
By allowing these craftworkers to derive an income from traditional Mauritian handicraft techniques , Beautiful Localhands promotes these techniques and helps maintain our cultural heritage.
Our commitment to communities goes further than financial support or education. Open dialogue and advice are also important.
Our FED regional committees help support FED, local NGOs, government authorities, schools, and more via four regional committees run on a volunteer basis by Beachcomber employees. Through the committees we invite staff interested in social matters to provide these organisations with insights that can help improve social issues affecting their regions.
The significant projects run by FED regional committees are:
- A collaboration between Victoria Beachcomber and Pointe aux Piments Government School to prevent absenteeism and provide academic support to pupils from vulnerable backgrounds. The collaboration improved the success rate of end of primary school exams from 40% in 2003 to 60%. The collaboration also allows pupils to participate in the ritual Beautiful Neighbours at Victoria Beachcomber, which gives them the opportunity to discover and enjoy the facilities of the hotel.
- Trou-aux-Biches Beachcomber collaborates with Ecole Notre Dame de Fatima, a school that offers non-formal education to out-of-school youths. The employees of the hotel provide training in hospitality skills to the pupils who also come for short educational visits and placements at the hotel.
- Employees of Shandrani Beachcomber organize introductory sessions in Information Technology in the villages of the South-East in collaboration with the IT Caravan of the National Computer Board.
- An employee of Head Office who is also responsible for scouts groups in Curepipe has set up a roving library for the scouts. Freshly retired Beachcomber employees have also contributed to the project by sorting the books.
The Top FED initiative gives our guests the opportunity to have a positive impact on the Mauritian society. As part of the programme, invoices at Beachcomber hotels are now increased by Rs 100 per guest per stay* with all proceeds going to the FED. From 2018-2019 alone, the Top FED programme allowed us to collect Rs 4,000,000 to help the foundations’ projects.
Guests who do not wish to contribute should advise reception at checkout.
*Royal Palm Beachcomber has its own system to collect funds for Top FED.
Created in 1999, funded by Beachcomber and run with the participation of our hotels and personnel to empower vulnerable groups.
Our Key projects:
- Youth Employability (PEJ) : Training in work-oriented life skills and placements in companies to facilitate the integration of out-of-school youths in the labour market - 3500 beneficiaries to date.
- Beautiful LocalHands : Project launched in 2006 to help small-scale craftsmen sell their products made with local or recycled materials on the tourist market as well as through our boutiques within the Beachcomber hotels.
- Partnerships with NGOs, schools and associations.
Help us to help others
You can help and contribute to our Key projects by making a donation to FED
Via MCB Juice application or internet banking
Fondation Espoir Développement Ltée
c/o Beachcomber House - Botanical Garden Street - Curepipe 74213 – Mauritius
Account Number : 000430005415
Currency : MUR
BRN : C10045130