ESG Watch (October 2022)

ComeOn Group wears pink for breast cancer

October was Breast Cancer Awareness month, with a number of firms doing various initiatives to raise awareness and generate money for charity.

The main initiative was for staff members to wear pink and come together to raise awareness about the early stages of diagnosis of breast cancer.

In a post on LinkedIn, ComeOn Group said: “In October, we wear pink. Our colleagues across our offices dressed in pink and enjoyed some treats whilst embracing the colour as a way to give strength to the campaign for prevention and awareness about the early diagnosis of breast cancer. Stay safe and remember that prevention is better than cure.”

Videoslots raises €600 for World Food Day

World Food Day was on 16 October to commemorate the date of the founding of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation in 1945.

This year’s theme was “Leave NO ONE behind” and highlighted the fact that due to the after-effects of the pandemic, global warming, rising prices and international conflict that there is a growing issue around global food security.

This year’s theme aims to build a sustainable world where everyone, everywhere, has regular access to nutritious food.

To honour this year’s theme, Videoslots asked employees to donate food which could be passed on to local NGOs that help vulnerable families.

The firm also raised €600 (£516.17) to help buy further food for those most in need.

DraftKings hosts annual Pink ‘Em charity initiative

US operator DraftKings has launched its annual Pink ‘Em charity initiative, which first started back in 2019 and lasted for the entire month of October.

The initiative is run in collaboration with The Larry Fitzgerald Foundation, with the original goal of donating $10,000 towards breast cancer research.

Up to this point, DraftKings has received over $330,000 (£287,413.50) in donations through free-to-play, pick ‘em pools during the NFL’s slate of October fixtures.

On how much has been raised during this initiative, Jason Robins, DraftKings CEO, said: “With millions of football fans playing on DraftKings every week of the NFL season, we have an exciting opportunity to leverage our platform to empower significant causes like Breast Cancer Awareness Month through our Pink ‘Em initiative.

“Raising over $330,000 for The Larry Fitzgerald Foundation with this programme is no small feat, and I look forward to seeing our player community engaged once again to reach our donation goal this October.”

This initiative is part of the firm’s overarching S.E.R.V.E.S model, which stands for service, equity, responsibility, vitality, entrepreneurship and sports. The model aims to create relationships between the operator’s staff members, customers and the wider community to try and help make real change.

Microgaming shares environmental impact improvements during Recycle Week

Slots developer Microgaming announced that it had slashed electricity usage by 8% in the first half of 2022 and, despite an increase in the number of staff across its offices, has kept waste generated to a minimum.

In a post on LI, Microgaming said: “At Microgaming, we take our responsibility to the environment seriously, and we’re always looking for ways to make a real difference.

“Just one of those ways is our simple waste segregation system, which makes it as easy as possible for our people to recycle, whilst reducing contamination – a key message in this year’s campaign. Although the system is already proving successful, we’re really ready to ramp up recycling by bringing even better colour-coded waste bins to our HQ soon.”

Originally slated for earlier this year, Recycle Week was moved to the 17-23 October due to the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. This year’s theme was “Let’s Get Real”, which aimed to challenge the perceptions and myths around recycling and target contamination to improve recycling behaviour.