InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has announced that 160,000 colleagues from its hotels and corporate offices in 88 countries around the world took part in its second annual Giving for Good month, which is dedicated to making a positive difference to communities.

For each IHG colleague that took part, the group contributed funds totalling USD 400,000 to charitable organisations supporting four causes important to the hotel in the areas of water and sanitation; waste reduction; hospitality skills building; and disaster relief.

During the month of September, IHG colleagues were invited to come together and give back through activities focused on volunteering; making a positive difference to the environment; or organising an activity focused on health, fitness and wellbeing; and Giving for Good month 2019 was once again a truly global effort.

Tens of thousands of colleague activities took place around the world. These included beach clean-ups in Thailand, charity concerts in China, reforestation in Mexico, a hospitality work shadowing day in Dubai, food harvests in the US, and hot meals for the homeless in Germany. Together, over the course of the month, IHG colleagues achieved 188,113 hours of volunteering, 46,571 acts of care for the environment, 33,566 donations of food and belongings and 5,741 blood donations.

Keith Barr, chief executive officer at IHG commented: “Every day, our hotels and teams give back to the communities of which they’re such a big part – it’s what our purpose of providing true hospitality for everyone is all about. I’m incredibly proud of how our colleagues got involved during this dedicated month of giving, which has such a real and meaningful impact.”