Taxback Group supports the programme “Investing in Human Capital to Invest in the Future of Karin Dom”
Taxback Group and Karin Dom in Bulgaria have launched a project called “Investing in Human Capital to Invest in the Future of Karin Dom” which aims to support the long-term vision of the center by increasing the focus and investment on the retention and the development of their specialists.
Why supporting your employees is important?
Human capital is one of the most important factors for the success of any organization, no matter its size or field of operation. Charitable organizations are no exception. Building a team where people feel trusted, supported and motivated is one of the top priorities when it comes to retaining professionals in the company.
Karin Dom works with around 300 children on annual basis. All this is done by a team of devoted and highly educated professionals. However, as rewarding as the work done by Karim Dom’s professionals is, it can be incredibly emotionally challenging. They naturally find it difficult to switch off from the stories and problems faced by their service users on a daily basis, and this can often lead to them suffering from burnout.
One of the coping mechanisms, widely used in the social sector, is the so called professional supervisions. Thanks to this program, Karin Dom’s professionals can get much needed support and have a safe and confidential place to express their thoughts and emotions. Professional supervision is a positive and enabling process that allows them to take control of their emotions and reflect on their work practice.
Taxback Group supported the first series of professional supervisions for the Karin Dom team, which were organized before the Covid-19 pandemic. Having witnessed the positive impact of these professional supervisions, we had no hesitations about continuing our support of this programme long-term.
Being a People-First company
One of the things that distinguishes Taxback Group from other companies in our industry is that we always put people first. Prioritizing employee wellbeing and development has been instrumental to our success in Bulgaria over the past 20 years, where we now employ over 1000 staff.
In 2021, we launched our global Employee Assistance Program, which ensures a first-line response to providing prevention, triage and short-term problem resolution services to our team members and their family members. It aims to support our employees through any personal or work-related issues they might have. With this, we want to ensure that our employees feel supported by the company no matter what they go through so that they are able to bring their best selves to work.
“True leadership is about not only developing such wellbeing practices in the workplace but also sharing and encouraging them in the communities in which we live and operate. Supporting Karin Dom’s program was a natural extension of our desire to support the sustainable development of human resources management. We hope that with this initiative we’ll bring our society and other employer’s attention to topics such as supporting and taking care of their employees.” – shared Ekaterina Hristova, HR Manager of Taxback Group in Bulgaria.
#TaxbackGiveBack Supports Temple Street’s Pet Therapy Program
For the past 6 years and counting we have been proudly sponsoring the Pet Therapy Programme in Temple Street Children’s Hospital, Dublin. This programme helps to provide respite to patients during their stay in Temple Street whilst giving them something to look forward to during the week. We decided to take a trip up to Temple Street to get an insight into the work that these two wonder dogs do for the patients. Our Engagement and Communications Officer, Rachael O’Shea met the two amazing dogs, Buster and Schui and their owner Jeanette Gregg.
Jeanette was a part of a group, the Dublin Dog Training’s in Swords, County Dublin doing obedience training with Buster and Schui when she first got the idea to become a pet therapy dog owner. Jeanette met someone who had a dog in a yellow coat and asked them about it. It was here that Jeanette decided to get involved, she first started working in a nursing home and then later moved onto Temple Street Children’s Hospital. Buster and Schui help to take the children’s minds off the sometimes very difficult situations that they face. These two wonder dogs give both the families and patients something to enjoy and smile about when they arrive each Thursday with their owner Jeanette Gregg and Julie Collins who is a play specialist in Temple Street. It was truly inspiring to see the smiles and joy that these two dogs create and we are delighted to able to sponsor this programme for the past 6 years and hope to continue doing so in the future.
Taxback Take on the Jungle-In Aid of St. Patricks
Located on Kells Road, Kilkenny, St. Patrick’s Special Needs School caters for autistic pupils and pupils with moderate and severe & profound needs. At present, they have 82 pupils, 16 teachers and 32 special needs assistants.
Last year, our CSR Team visited St. Patrick’s Special School after they contacted us seeking sponsorship for Samsung Tablets. When we visited the school, we were absolutely blown away by the work they do and the level of care that they provide. The school’s Principal, Jane Dowling, showed us around and explained that they were hoping to start a fundraising journey to upgrade their playground as it was installed over 16 years ago. The existing playground is very basic, and there’s nothing for a child in a wheelchair, or who has difficulty climbing, to enjoy. The floor is tarmac meaning that if a child falls, they can pick up an injury very easily.
They want their new playground to be a place where the children can have fun and integrate in an environment where they feel safe and secure. This playground will have padded flooring, equipment for everyone and sensory activities that can really excite the children and motivate them to explore their surroundings. The cost of upgrading their playground is in the region of €20,000 which is undoubtedly a significant amount for a school that has very little government funding. Our CSR Team made the decision to help St. Patrick’s organise a fundraising event and after a lot of research, we decided to run “I’m a Celeb, Get me out of Here!”
The main event took place on Friday, November 15th and our Engagement and Communications Officer, Rachael O’Shea, was one of the brave contestants who took part on the night.
We were amazed and overwhelmed by the amount of people who came to support this worthy cause. It was great fun, the night involved watching Rachael gag at drinks and food, discuss her fear of enclosed spaces and run with a banana between her legs. We really enjoyed ourselves and most importantly, we helped to raise a whopping €74,830 for St. Patrick’s Special School.
Thank you to everyone who came out and supported this amazing school and we hope that the children have as much fun in their new playground and we did on the night!
Take a look at the highlights below.
Team TBG take part in the 8th annual JJ Reddy Danesfort Run!
Sunday September 15th 2019 marked the 8th instalment of the annual JJ Reddy Danesfort Run, an event that Taxback Group were once again, proud to be gold sponsors of. Over 1,200 runners turned up to Danesfort GAA on a gorgeous, sunny day to show their support.
The run, which is in memory of the late JJ Reddy, supports a number of causes each year with the overall beneficiaries being Danesfort GAA and Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin. This year’s run also supported Just2minutes.ie’s #Run13for13 initiative. The Run 13 for 13 initiative aims to raise awareness for the 13 people in Ireland that are affected by cardiac arrest daily. It was a powerful message that definitely served its purpose of raising awareness. We were delighted to send our own group of 13 runners to take part in the event and on behalf of all at Taxback Group, we’d like to thank Team TBG for taking part.
We’re already counting down the days to next year’s run! If you’re interested in taking part, you can find out more on jjreddydanesfortrun.com.
Varna Business Run 2019
We were delighted to take part in the second Varna Business Run organized by Begach Runners Club on the morning of Sunday, 9th June.
Business Run is the largest team building event in Bulgaria and takes place at the Bulyard shipping factory. Two teams from Taxback Group took part in the 4km relay race which takes in some seriously breath-taking views. In 2018, over 1,600 runners from 200 of the biggest companies took part in Business Runs across Sofia, Varna and Plovdiv.
Not only is the Business Run a really great day out, it’s also a great way to give back to charity as 30% of the registration fees from the Business Run are donated to “Life with Down Syndrome”, an organization that support families and children with Down syndrome. Further to that, the Business Run was also nominated for two awards at the Bulgarian Charity Forum.
On behalf of Taxback Group, we would like to thank Kaloyan Vitanov, Aleksandar Kadanov, Stanislav Ivanov, Klimentina Rasheva, Sergey Ushakov, Petya Petrova, Yasen Petrov, Elka Kolemanova and Marina Nedelcheva for their participation. We can’t wait for next year’s run!
We walked and ran for the Twomey Family Remorial Weekend!
On Friday, May 17th, Taxback Group held our annual 5k in aid of the Twomey Family Remorial Weekend.
While on a family holiday to Devon in 2012, tragedy struck as the Twomey Family were involved in a horrific crash with Marek [RIP], a suicidal driver. Regretfully, the crash claimed the lives of Elber’s husband Con, 16 month old Oisín and their unborn daughter, baby Elber Marie. Elber established the Twomey Family Remorial Weekend, an action-packed weekend of sport and fun, to remember with love and to honour Connie, baba Oisín and baby Elber Marie. Their mission is to promote the value of how precious life is.
This year’s Twomey Remorial takes place in Meelin, Newmarket, Co.Cork (the highest village in Ireland) on June 8th and June 9th with something to suit everyone. There’s still time left to register, and you can do so here. If you can’t make it but would still like to help, you can donate online or simply support them by liking their Facebook page.
Nigel O’Donovan [Taxback International] and his wife Marguerite are life-long friends of Elber Twomey and her late husband Con, and needless to say, the charity has become very close to all of our hearts here at Taxback Group. To date, the Twomey Family Remorial has raised over €150,000 for a number of organisations and charities that help those in need including Torbay Hospital in Torquay, Devon, Pieta House, ReachOut, Brú Columbanus and many more.
Teac Tom, a local mental health support facility in Kilkenny, are one of the beneficiaries of this year’s Remorial Weekend. Teac Tom is part of the Thomas Hayes Trust, which was established in 2014 by Angela Hayes, her family and friends following the tragic loss of her son, Thomas to suicide (2010) on the anniversary of his dad’s suicide. The trust’s goal is to offer free and immediate counselling, in a safe and nurturing environment for those directly affected and their families, those suffering from suicidal ideation and emotional distress.
They offer a number of services including emergency response to suicide, counselling services, a 24 hour help-line [056-7796592], and both a school and work liaison service. Their centre on Ormonde Road in Kilkenny opens Monday to Friday from 9:30am – 4:30pm and no appointment is needed. A listening ear in a safe and confidential space, Teac Tom give hope to those that need it the most.
It was an honour to have both Elber Twomey and Angela Hayes attend our event and we’re extremely proud of our employees for getting out and supporting this cause. We’d also like to take this opportunity to say a massive thank you to Gillian and all of the team in VHI Healthcare who come out in numbers every year for this event.